Three Bristol chemists have successfully secured a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Pushing the Frontiers grant for the research project entitled 'Discovering The Molecular Basis For Carbon Storage In Soil For Food Security And Climate Change Mitigation’.

Dr Ian Bull, Professor Richard Evershed, and Dr Tim Knowles will work in collaboration with scientists at the University of Exeter and Rothamsted Research on the project, which will develop and apply compound-specific radiocarbon dating methods to determine the how molecules with various functions are protected differently from mineralisation within soil. This will thereby create a new model for soil carbon stocks to predict future carbon segregation under different land management strategies.