Dr Andrew Mitchell

Lecturer
Photograph of Dr Andrew Mitchell.

Contact

Email: nem@aber.ac.uk
Office: C15
Phone: +44 (0)1970 622 640
Fax: +44 (0)1970 622 659

Responsibilities

  • Coordinator of MSc. Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
  • Admission tutor for BSc Environmental Earth Science and Environmental Science

Teaching Areas

  • Hydrochemistry and biogeochemistry
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Mineralogy

Research

Lab and field based research into:

  • Biogeochemical weathering and mineral formation
  • Microbe-metal-sediment interaction, transport and deposition
  • Environmental and hydrological biogeochemistry in glacierised and snow covered environments
  • Environmental engineering - Bioremediation in surface and groundwater; Subsurface geologic carbon sequestration, enhanced oil recovery

 

Grants and funding:

  • EU Maire Curie Reintegration Grant. CO2 TRAP. Proposal No: 277005. PI. (€45,000)
  • NSF (2009) GBASE – (GeoMicrobiology of Antarctic Subglacial Environments). Date Submitted:  June 2008. Co-Principal investigator with John Priscu. Montana State University, and Slawek Tulaczyk (UC Santa Cruz). Proposal No: 0838933. ($1,121,000).  
  • US Department of Energy, Office of Science (2009). Microbial Activity and Precipitation at Solution-Solution Mixing Zones in Porous Media. Date Submitted:  April 2008. Co-Principal investigator with Frederick S. Colwell (Oregon State University), George Redden (INL), and Robin Gerlach (Montana State University). Submitted to DE-PS02-08ER08-09. ($1,348,7800)
  • NSF (2009) IMPACT OF MINERAL PRECIPITATING BIOFILMS ON THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POROUS MEDIA. Proposal number: 0934696. Co-Principal Investigator. $750,004 
  • European Centre for Arctic Environmental Research (ARCFAC V). Debris entrainment and transfer in Svalbard valley glaciers. Co-investigator with Michael Hambrey, Duncan Quincey (Aberystwyth University), Sean Fitzimons (Otago University, New Zeland). EC contract no. 026129. Support of travel, subsistence and laboratory requirements for 106 person days.
  • DOE EPSCoR Implementation Award (2008). Environmental Responses to Geologic CO2 Sequestrations ($2,010,429). Co-PI.. P.I. Al Cunningham.
  • NASA EPSCoR Space Grant (2007). Methanogenesis in subglacial environments – Implications for Quaternary deglaciation. ($66,009). PI.
  • Marie Curie Fellowship (2006). MC EIF - 041374 "Recryst". 2 years. Ranked # 1 in 2006 competition ($366,000).

Biography

Andy Mitchell has come from Montana State University where he was an Assistant Research Professor in the Faculty of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Andy’s interests are in the importance of microbes in regulating many common chemical reactions at the Earth’s surface and in the deep subsurface, specifically through the interaction with mineral surfaces. He is particularly interested in how such processes allow microorganisms to survive in cold and icy environments and potentially on other planets. Andy also undertakes applied research into manipulating these biogeochemical processes for environmental engineering purposes, including metal and radionuclide pacification and geologic carbon capture and storage. Prior to this, Andy was a EU Marie Curie Fellow at the NanoGeoScience Centre, University of Copenhagen, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Microbiology, Montana State University, and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geology, University of Toronto. Andy has travelled and worked all over the world, and is particularly drawn to mountainous areas and mountain sports.

Additional Interests

Recent News

Andrew has been awarded a Marie Curie Reintegration grant to study microbe-mineral interactions in subsurface brines.

Andrew’s work on novel methods to enhance carbon capture and storage via microbially enhanced CO2 mineralisation and leakage reduction and was recently featured in New Scientist. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19063-green-machine-bacteria-will-keep-co2-safely-buried.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Andrew gave an invited talk at the American Geo[physical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco in December 2010, entitled ‘Microbially enhanced carbon capture and storage – from pores to cores (Invited)’. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010AGUFM.H11J..05M

Postgraduate students

Very interested to hear from any students with interests in microbe-mineral interactions, mineral formation and stability, metal and radionuclide pacification, carbon capture and storage, glacial biogeochemistry and microbiology. Possible sources of funding available.  

Facilities/equipment

  • Wet geochemistry (ICP-MS; AA, HP-LC, Voltammetery, High Precision titration).
  • Surface and solid chemistry; XRD, XPS.
  • Microcoscopy; SEM, TEM.
  • High pressure reaction vessels for mineral fluid interactions.
  • Microbiology, culturing and DNA work.
  • Microbe-mineral interactions under flow conditions / porous media

Staff Publications

Peer Reviewed Book Chapters & Journal Articles

In Press

  1. Fricker, H.A., R. Powell, J. Priscu, S. Tulaczyk, S. Anandakrishnan, B. Christner, D. Holland, H. Horgan, R. Jacobel, J. Mikucki, A. Mitchell, R. Scherer, and J. Severinghaus. Siple Coast Subglacial Aquatic Environments: The Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project. (in press) M. Siegert and M. Kennicutt (eds), Proceedings of the Chapman Conference on the Exploration and Study of Antarctic Subglacial Aquatic Environments. American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.

2011

  1. Schultz, L, Pitts, B, Mitchell, AC, Cunningham, AB,  Gerlach, R. (2011). Imaging Biologically-Induced Mineralization in Fully Hydrated Flow Systems. Microscopy Today, January 2011.
  2. Cunningham, AB, Gerlach, R, Spangler, L, Mitchell, AC, Parks, S, Phillips, A (2011) Reducing the risk of well bore leakage of CO2 using engineered biomineralization barriers. Energy Procedia, Volume 4, 2011, Pages 5178-5185

2010

  1. Mitchell, AC, Didericksen K, Spangler, LH, Cunningham, AB, Gerlach, R (2010) Microbially Enhanced Carbon Capture and Storage by Mineral-Trapping and Solubility-Trapping. Environmental Science and Technology, 44, 13, 5270–5276.
  2. Boyd, ES.; Skidmore, M.; Mitchell, AC.; Bakermans, C.; Peters, JW. (2010)  Methanogenesis in subglacial sediments. Environmental Microbiology Reports.

 2009

  1. Mitchell, AC, Phillips, A, Heibert, R, Gerlach, R, Cunningham, A, Spangler, L. 2009. Biofilm Enhanced Geologic Sequestration of Supercritical CO2. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control,3, 90-99.
  2. Cunningham, A,, Gerlach, R, Spangler, L, Mitchell, AC (2009) Microbially Enhanced Geologic Containment of Sequestered Supercritical CO2. Energy Procedia, 1, 1, 3245-3252.
  3. Mitchell, AC and Geesey, G. 2009. Role of outer-membrane cytochromes on dissimilatory iron reduction under natural-flow conditions. Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

2008

  1. Mitchell, AC, Phillips, A, Kaszuba, J, Hollis, HK, Gerlach, R, Cunningham, A. 2008. Resilience of planktonic and biofilm cultures to supercritical CO2. Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 47, 318-325.
  2. Mitchell, AC and Brown, GH. 2008. Modelling geochemical and biogeochemical reactions in subglacial environments. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 40, 531-547.
  3. Geesey, G and Mitchell, AC. 2008. Relationships between hydrological, geochemical, and biological processes in subsurface environments. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 13, 28-36.

2007

  1. Mitchell, AC, Brown, GH and Fuge R. 2007. Diurnal hydrological - physicochemical controls and sampling methods for minor and trace elements in an Alpine glacial hydrological system. Journal of Hydrology, 332, 123-143.

2006

  1. Mitchell AC, Brown GH, Fuge R. 2006. Minor and trace elements as indicators of solute provenance and flow routing in a subglacial hydrological system. Hydrological Processes, 20: 877-897.
  2. Mitchell, AC and Ferris, FG. 2006. The influence of Bacillus Pasteurii on the nucleation and growth of Calcium Carbonate. Geomicrobiology Journal , 23, 213-226.
  3. Mitchell, AC. and Ferris, FG. 2006. Effect of Strontium on the Size and Solubility of Calcite Crystals precipitated by Bacterial Ureolysis. Environmental Science and Technology, 40, 1008-1014.

2005

  1. Mitchell, AC. and Ferris FG. 2005. The Co-Precipitation of Sr into Calcite Precipitates Induced by Bacterial Ureolysis in Artificial Groundwater – Temperature and Kinetic Dependence. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta, 69, 4199-4210.