Thomas Marquand
Contact
About
My work, part of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration programme, will help quantify chemical and microbial processes in soils which play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Working in the Fens, I will use measurements of traditional stable isotope ratios to refine models of biogeochemical processes in drained and restored peatlands. As the project progresses, I will measure the effects of changing environmental conditions (water table depth, temperature, soil type, fertiliser input, etc.) on soil carbon chemistry. Drained wetlands emit large amounts of greenhouse gas so refining our understanding of key soil carbon processes will help in the transition to more sustainable land management.
My previous project sought to use calcium, sulfur and carbon isotope ratios to better constrain chemical processes in the sediment pore waters of large lakes (another significant source of greenhouse emissions). Using samples from Lake Baikal, my work contributes to our understanding of redox processes, carbonate mineralisation and sulfur isotope fractionation in freshwater settings.
"Fungi mediate the global carbon cycle" (talk), Cambridge Mycological Society - MycoTalks, 1st March 2026
"Temporary Waterlogging of Drained Peat Reduces Carbon Dioxide Emissions with Negligible Methane Emissions" (talk), Goldschmidt 2025, 11th July 2025
"Using stable carbon isotopes to quantify the production and consumption of CO2 and CH4 in soils with changing water table depth" (talk), Geochemistry Group Research in Progress (GGRiP) 2025, 9th April 2025
"Competition for Substrate and Anaerobic Methane Oxidation Helps Explain Variability in Fenland Methane Emissions" (poster), AGU 2024, 12th December 2024.
"Understanding the role of anaerobic methane oxidation in modified peatlands" (poster), Gordon Research Conference: Geobiology 2024, 18th - 19th January 2024.
"Large sulfur isotope fractionation at low sulfate concentrations in Lake Baikal sediments" (poster), Gordon Research Seminar: Geobiology 2024, 14th January 2024.
"Seawater incursion into lowland peat: effects on the terrestrial carbon cycle", Marine Studies Group Shackleton Conference 2023, 28th September 2023.
"Effect of water table depth on greenhouse gas production and consumption in fenland peat" (poster), Goldschmidt Conference 2023, 10th July 2023. Abstract.
"A Brief Overview of the CLR, the Fens and Wetland Greenhouse Gases", Clare Hall Graduate Student Body, Student Research Day presentation, 29th April 2023.
"Effect of water table depth on greenhouse gas production and consumption in fenland peat" (poster), Geochemistry Group Research In Progress (GGRiP) 2023, 20th April 2023.
"The East Anglia Fens: Crop Productivity and Climate Vulnerability", Cambridge Global Food Security, Coffee Break Seminars, 11th November 2022. Recording.
Media:ITV Anglia News, interview, 21st January 2026.
"The Amazon of Europe", Radio FM4 (Austria), interview for radio show, 2nd May 2024. Recording.
"Are wetlands our secret weapon for fighting climate change?", BBC World Service, interview for podcast, 11th February 2024. Recording.
Farming Today on BBC Radio 4, interview, 3rd May 2023.
The Naked Scientist Podcast and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire show, interview, 20th April 2023. Recording.
"Fixing the Fens" by Jacqueline Garget, interviewed for article, 14th April 2023. Article
"Climate Change Threat to the Fens", Cambridge 105, Radio Interview, 1st March 2023. Recording.
Outreach:"Drained peat: major questions about farming, nature and climate change", talk for the University of the Third Age botany group, 28th October 2024.
"Why wetlands? The role of wetlands in climate change", Science on Sundays talks, Cambridge University Botanic Garden, 2nd June 2024.
"Dear Planet Earth" activity day, Cambridge University Botanic Garden, 8th August 2023.
"What does the future hold for the Cambridgeshire Fens?", Cambridge Conservation Initiative, Cambridge Festival Panel Discussion, 1st April 2023.
CommitteesPostgraduate representative, Faculty Board of Earth Sciences and Geography, since 2025
Postgraduate representative, Postgraduate Affairs Committee, Department of Earth Sciences, since 2024
Member of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration EDI Committee, since 2023
Postgraduate and Postdoc Representative, Executive Board of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration, 2022 - 2023.
Research
Caroline Akello (January - April 2025), MPhil Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science research project and dissertation, "Are trees the missing piece of the global methane budget?"
Sam Gee (January - April 2025), Part III Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science research project and dissertation, "Developing a 1D reactive transport model to predict production and consumption of carbon dioxide and methane in a peatland under change water table depth."
Mia Englyst Robb (January - April 2025), Part III Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science research project and dissertation, "Phosphorus speciation in peatlands under different conservation management strategies"
Sam Gee (July - September 2023), Summer Intern, "Reactive transport modelling of fenland soil carbon cycling."
Carmen Barroso-Carmona (July - September 2023), Summer Intern, "A new measurement in human breath: methane carbon isotopic composition."
Toby Hibbert (July - September 2023), Summer Intern, "Constraining rates of anaerobic microbial metabolisms in Fenland soils through microcosm experiments."
Jake Dalzell (June - July 2023), Summer Intern, "Developing a mechanistic understanding of the influence of wheat on greenhouse gas production, consumption and emission from fenland soils using mesocosm experiments."
Teaching and supervision
Quantitative Environmental Science (Natural Sciences Tripos, Part 1B): Supervisor and demonstrator since Michaelmas 2022.
Ancient Life and Environments (Natural Sciences Tripos, Earth Sciences, Part II): Demonstrator in Michaelmas 2022 - 2024.
Earth Sciences (Natural Sciences Tripos, Part 1B): Dorset fieldtrip demonstrator in Easter Vacation 2023 and practical demonstrator Michaelmas 2024.
Earth Sciences (Natural Sciences Tripos, Part II): Provence geochemical mapping fieldtrip demonstrator in Easter Vacation 2023.