Personal profile

Biography

Hassan holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Khartoum, Sudan, and an MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Nottingham, completed in 2017. He began his career as a structural engineer, working for three years before his interests shifted towards water environments. This led him to pursue a second MSc in Sustainable Water Environments at the University of Glasgow in 2023, where he began developing his research focus as a river scientist. 

Hassan’s research centres on understanding the dynamics of fluvial ecosystems and their fundamental processes using a range of tools, including hydrodynamic modelling, remote sensing techniques, and field experiments. He aims to develop sustainable and effective water environment management solutions by translating complex scientific findings into actionable, policy-relevant outcomes.

He has been appointed as an Honorary Researcher at the University of Glasgow, advancing his MSc project titled “Assessing the Post-Restoration Impacts of Reach-Scale River Restoration on Transient Storage” His ongoing work aims to monitor and evaluate the effects of restoration on transient storage in a re-meandered stream in the Lake District. This involves utilising drone imagery, in-situ stream tracer tests, and one-dimensional modelling, with repeated measurements over seven years post-restoration. Hassan also worked at Atkinsrealis consultancy as a Wastewater Hydraulic Modeller for eight months before commencing his PhD at UEA.

 

Key Research Interests

Land-sourced waterborne pollutants can have a significant negative impact on the marine environment, including on aquatic health, food safety and pelagic biodiversity. Improved understanding and advice on the cumulative impacts of climate change and terrestrial pollutants on marine ecosystems is required to support the Government's ambitions for a whole-scale transformation of water management in the UK. Extensive sampling of terrestrial pollution inputs to the sea has been undertaken within the UK since 1990. This dataset provides an invaluable tool for understanding changing pressures and impacts on the UK's coastal waters and the ecosystem services they provide yet has not been comprehensively analysed at regional or local scales or within the context of climate change. This research will provide a more detailed analysis of these long-term data, alongside additional targeted sampling and analysis using the recently acquired total nutrients analyser, to develop a process-focused understanding of current and historical pollution inputs which is required to fully understand the effects of current and future policy, particularly in the context of a changing climate. Hassan sits at the interface between terrestrial and marine science, applying an integrated cross-disciplinary catchment-to-coast approach to address the overarching question: How and why the UK's terrestrial pollution inputs to coastal waters have changed in the past 30 years, and what has been the impact of this change on the health of the marine environment?

Education/Academic qualification

Master in Science, University of Glasgow

Sep 2022Sep 2023

Award Date: 5 Dec 2023

Master in Science, University of Nottingham

Sep 2016Sep 2017

Award Date: 13 Dec 2017

Bachelor of Science in Engineering, University of Khartoum

Sep 2010Sep 2015

Award Date: 26 Oct 2015