Profile

Biography

Colin Brown was appointed to a chair in Environment in September 2004. He has more than 20 years' experience of research into the fate and effects of organic contaminants in the environment and was previously Head of the Centre for EcoChemistry at Cranfield University. He jointly leads the EcoChemistry Research Group, a joint initiative of the University of York and the Food and Environment Research Agency. Colin advises UK Government on the environmental fate and behaviour of pesticides through membership of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides and he chairs its Environmental Panel. He has chaired a European working group on Environmental Risk Assessment, and the BioResources Group of the Society of Chemical Industry. He is currently a member of the European Food Safety Authority's Working Group on Ecotoxicology and of the Research Advisory Group to Defra's Demonstration Test Catchment Programme.

• SCI Pesticide Behaviour in Soils, Water and Air presentations and posters
  

Career

Research

Overview

The EcoChemistry research team currently comprises ten research staff and ten PhD students. Colin has undertaken research into the fate and effects of chemicals in the environment involving catchment-level monitoring, field manipulation experiments, lysimeter experiments, laboratory-based process investigations and extensive development of models and risk assessment methods. Colin's research has a strong policy-based focus; he has been involved in the development of ecological risk assessment in the UK and Europe and his research has contributed to the introduction of regulatory and management approaches to minimising environmental contamination by pesticides. Specific research interests are:

• Methodological development for ecological risk assessment including probabilistic techniques and applications of landscape analysis
• Linking of exposure and effects for organic chemicals in the environment (predicting effects of pulsed exposures)
• Transport of solutes from soil to water with particular emphasis on the influence of soil structure and preferential flow
• Intra-aggregate diffusion as a control on kinetics of sorption
• Mitigation and management of diffuse pollution
• Development of mathematical models to predict environmental exposure to organic contaminants

Research group(s)

Research group (based at the Food and Environment Research Agency)

• Dr Sabine Beulke, Senior Research Scientist
• Dr Wendy van Beinum, Research Scientist
• Kirsten Farndale, Technician
• Dr Carmel Ramwell, Senior Research Scientist

Grants

Supervision

Current Students under supervision

• Annika Agatz (CREAM, Marie-Curie Training Network). Sub-lethal effects from time varying exposure to chemicals
• Guy Baumann (BBSRC CASE). Design of agricultural landscapes to enhance aquatic biodiversity
• Liz Curmi (Jointly supervised with Dr Jim Smart). Policy analysis for water management in Malta
• Luke Farrow (BBSRC CASE). Strategies for reducting diffuse aquatic pollution by pesticides
• Laura Suddaby (BBSRC CASE). Irreversible binding of pesticides to soil
• Kanyapat Traisup (Thai Ministry). Fate of rice pesticides in surface water
• Mao Mao Wang (Defra). Modelling effects of pulsed exposure to pesticides on aquatic invertebrates

Recent Students (2004 onwards)

• Igor Dubus (staff candidate). Advanced techniques for modelling the environmental fate of pesticides. PhD awarded 2004.
• Mercedes Franey-Gardiner (BBSRC CASE). The dynamics and biological activity of ALS-inhibiting herbicides in soil. PhD awarded 2006.
• Melanie Kah (Defra). Sorption and degradation of ionisable pesticides in soils. PhD awarded 2007.
• Roman Ashauer (EC FP6). Predicting effects on aquatic organisms for pulsed exposure to pesticides. PhD awarded 2007.
• Edward Smith; (BBSRC CASE). Fate of pesticides on crops. PhD awarded 2008

External activities

Memberships

• Member of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP)
• Chair of the Environmental Panel of the ACP
• Member of the Research Advisory Group for the Defra Test Catchments Initiative
• Member of the EFSA Working Group on Ecotoxicology
• Scientific Evaluator, Swiss National Science Foundation, Academy of Finland, National Authority for Scientific Research Romania

Editorial duties

Publications

Full publications list

Brown CD, Van Beinum W (2009). Pesticide transport via sub-surface drains in Europe. Environmental Pollution 157: 3314-3324.

Villaverde J, Van Beinum W, Beulke S, Brown CD (2009). The kinetics of sorption by retarded diffusion into soil aggregate pores. Environmental Science and Technology 43: 8227-8232.

Ashauer R, Brown CD (2008). Toxicodynamic assumptions in ecotoxicological models. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 27:1817-1821.

Frewer L, Fischer A, van den Brink P, Brock TCM, Brown CD, Byrne P, Crocker J, Görlitz G, Hart A, Scholderer J, Solomon K (2008). Optimising the communication of probabilistic risk assessments to end-users and decisions-makers. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 14:166-178.

Kah M, Brown CD (2008). Log D: lipophilicity corrected for pH. Chemosphere 72:1401-1408.

Renaud FG, Bellamy PH, Brown CD (2008). Simulating pesticides in ditches to assess ecological risk (SPIDER): I. Model description. Science of the Total Environment 394:112-123.

Renaud FG, Brown CD (2008). Simulating pesticides in ditches to assess ecological risk (SPIDER): II. Benchmarking for the drainage model. Science of the Total Environment 394:124-133.

Sannino F, Iorio M, De Martino A, Pucci M, Brown CD, Capasso R (2008). Remediation of water contaminated with ionic pesticides by sorption on polymerin. Water Research 42:643-652.

Villaverde J, Kah M, Brown CD (2008). Adsorption and degradation of four acidic herbicides in soils from southern Spain. Pest Management Science 64:703-710.

Ashauer R, Boxall ABA, Brown CD (2007). Modeling combined effects of pulsed exposure to carbaryl and chlorpyrifos on Gammarus Pulex. Environmental Science and Technology 41:5535-5541.

Ashauer R, Boxall ABA, Brown CD (2007). New ecotoxicological model to simulate survival of aquatic invertebrates after exposure to fluctuating and sequential pulses of pesticides. Environmental Science and Technology 41:1480-1486.

Ashauer R, Boxall ABA, Brown CD (2007). Simulating toxicity of carbaryl to Gammarus pulex after sequential pulsed exposure. Environmental Science and Technology 41:5528-5534.

Biggs J, Williams P, Whitfield M, Nicolet P, Brown CD, Hollis JM, Maund SJ, Arnold DJ, Pepper T (2007). The freshwater biota of British agricultural landscapes. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 122:137-148.

Brown CD, Holmes C, Williams R, Beulke S, van Beinum W, Pemberton E, Wells C (2007). How does crop type influence risk from pesticides to the aquatic environment? Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 26:1818-1826.

Kah M, Beulke S, Brown CD (2007). Factors influencing degradation of pesticides in soils. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry 55:4487-4492.

Kah M, Brown CD (2007). Changes in pesticide adsorption with time at high soil to solution ratios. Chemosphere 68:1335-1343.

Kah M, Brown CD (2007). Prediction of the adsorption of ionisable pesticides in soils. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry 55:2312-2322.

Renaud FG, Bellamy PH, Brown CD (200-). Simulating pesticides in ditches to assess ecological risk (SPIDER): I. Model description. Science of the Total Environment (in press).

Sannino F, Iorio M, De Martino A, Pucci M, Brown CD, Capasso R (200-). Remediation of water contaminated with ionic pesticides by sorption on polymerin. Water Research (in press).

Villaverde J, Kah M, Brown CD (200-). Adsorption and degradation of four acidic herbicides in soils from southern Spain. Pest Management Science (in press).

Ashauer R, Boxall ABA, Brown CD (2006). Predicting effects on aquatic organisms from fluctuating or pulsed exposure to pesticides. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 25:1899-1912.

Ashauer R, Boxall ABA, Brown CD (2006). Uptake and elimination of chlorpyrifos and pentachlorophenol into the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 51:542-548.

Beulke S, Brown CD (2006). Impact of correlation between pesticide parameters on estimates of environmental exposure. Pest Management Science 62:603-609.

Beulke S, Brown CD, Dubus IG, Galicia H, Jarvis N, Schäfer D, Trevisan M (2006). User subjectivity in Monte Carlo modelling of pesticide exposure. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 25:2227-2236.

van Beinum W, Beulke S, Brown CD (2006). Pesticide sorption and desorption by lignin described by an intra-particle diffusion model. Environmental Science and Technology 40: 494-500.

Brown CD, Turner NL, Hollis JM, Bellamy PH, Biggs J, Williams P, Arnold DJ, Pepper T, Maund SJ (2006). Morphological and physico-chemical properties of British aquatic habitats potentially exposed to pesticides. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 113:307-319.

Kah MM, Brown CD (2006). Adsorption of ionisable pesticides in soil. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 188:149-218.

van den Brink PJ, Brown CD, Dubus IG (2006). Using the expert model PERPEST to translate measured and predicted pesticide exposure data into ecological risks. Ecological Modelling 191:106-117.

van Beinum W, Beulke S, Brown CD (2005). Pesticide sorption and diffusion in natural clay loam aggregates. Journal of Agriculture Food Chemistry 53:9146-9154.

Beulke S, van Beinum W, Brown CD, Mitchell M, Walker A (2005). Evaluation of simplifying assumptions on pesticide degradation in soil. Journal of Environmental Quality 34:1933-1943.

Beulke, S. Brown, C.D., Dubus, I.G., & Walker, A (2004). Probabilistic approaches to simulate variability in pesticide leaching. Ecological Modelling 179:131-144.

Beulke S, Brown CD, Fryer CJ, van Beinum W (2004). Influence of kinetic sorption and diffusion on pesticide movement through aggregated soils. Chemosphere 57:481-490.

Brown CD, Dubus IG, Fogg P, Spirlet M, Reding M-A, Gustin C (2004). Exposure to sulfosulfuron in agricultural drainage ditches. Pest Management Science 60:765-776.

Dubus IG, Beulke S, Brown CD, Gottesburen B, Dieses A (2004). Inverse modelling for estimating sorption and degradation parameters for pesticides. Pest Management Science 60: 859-874.

Renaud FG, Brown CD, Fryer CJ, Walker A (2004). Lysimeter experiment to investigate changes with time in availability of pesticide for leaching. Environmental Pollution 131:81-91.

Renaud F.G., Leeds-Harrison P.B., Brown C.D., van Beinum W. (2004). Determination of time-dependent partition coefficients for several pesticides using diffusion theory. Chemosphere 57:1525:1535.

Brown, C.D., Hart, A., Lewis, K.A. & Dubus, I.G. (2003). p-EMA (I): simulating the environmental fate of pesticides for a farm-level risk assessment system. Agronomie 23:67-74.

Dubus, I.G., Brown, C.D. & Beulke, S. (2003). Sensitivity analyses for four pesticide leaching models. Pest Management Science 59:962-982.

Dubus IG, Brown CD, Beulke S. (2003). Sources of uncertainty in pesticide fate modelling. Science of the Total Environment 317:53-72.

Hart, A., Brown, C.D., Lewis, K.A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2003). p-EMA (II): evaluating ecological risks of pesticides for a farm-level risk assessment system. Agronomie 23:75-84.

Holman, I.P., Dubus IG, Hollis, J.M. & Brown C.D. (2003). Using a linked soil model emulator and unsaturated zone leaching model to account for preferential flow when assessing the spatially distributed risk of pesticide leaching to groundwater in England and Wales. Science of the Total Environment 318:73-88.

Lewis, K.A., Brown, C.D., Hart, A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2003). p-EMA (III): overview and evaluation of a software system designed to assess the environmental risk of agricultural pesticides. Agronomie 23:85-96.

Beulke, S., Brown, C.D. Fryer, C.J. & Walker, A. (2002). Lysimeter study to investigate the effect of rainfall patterns on leaching of isoproturon. Pest Management Science 58:45-53.

Boxall, A.B.A., Brown, C.D. & Barrett, K.L. (2002). A review of higher-tier laboratory methods for assessing the aquatic toxicity of pesticides. Pest Management Science 58:637-648.

Brown, C.D., Bellamy, P.H. & Dubus, I.D. (2002). Prediction of pesticide concentrations found in rivers in the UK. Pest Management Science 58:363-373.

Dubus, I.G. & Brown, C.D. (2002). Sensitivity and first-step uncertainty analyses for the preferential flow model MACRO. Journal of Environmental Quality 31:227-240.

Dubus, I.G., Beulke, S. & Brown, C.D. (2002). Calibration of leaching models for pesticide registration. Pest Management Science 58:745-758.

Dyson, J.S., Beulke, S., Brown, C.D. & Lane, M.C.G. (2002). Adsorption and degradation of the weak acid mesotrione in soil and environmental fate implications. Journal of Environmental Quality 31:613-618.

Beulke, S. & Brown, C.D. (2001). Evaluation of methods to derive pesticide degradation parameters for regulatory modelling. Biology and Fertility of Soils 33:558-564.

Beulke, S., Brown, C.D., Dubus, I.G. & Harris, G.L. (2001). Evaluation of uncalibrated preferential flow models against data for isoproturon movement to drains through a heavy clay soil. Pesticide Science, 57:537-547.

Brown, C.D., Fryer, C.J. & Walker, A. (2001). Influence of topsoil tilth and soil moisture status on losses of pesticide to drains from a heavy clay soil. Pest Management Science 57:1127-1134.

Beulke, S., Dubus, I.G., Brown, C.D. & Gottesburen B. (2000). Simulation of pesticide persistence in the field on the basis of laboratory data – a review. Journal of Environmental Quality, 29:1371-1379.

Brown, C.D., Hollis, J.M., Bettinson, R.J. & Walker, A. (2000). Leaching of pesticides and bromide through lysimeters from five contrasting soils. Pest Management Science, 1:83-93.

Dubus I.G., Hollis J.M. & Brown C.D. (2000). Pesticides in rainfall in Europe. Environmental Pollution 110:331-344.

Gottesburen, B., Aden, K., Barlund, I., Brown, C.D., Dust, M., Gorlitz, G., Jarvis, N., Rekolainen, S., Schafer, H. (2000). Comparison of pesticide leaching models: results using the Weiherbach data set. Agricultural Water Management, 44:153-181.

Jarvis, N.J., Brown, C.D., Granitza, E. (2000). Sources of error in model predictions of pesticide leaching: a case study using the MACRO model. Agricultural Water Managment, 44:247-262.

Jones, R.L., Arnold, D.J.S., Harris, G.L., Bailey, S.W., Pepper, T.J., Mason, D.J., Brown, C.D., Leeds-Harrison, P.B., Walker, A., Bromilow, R.H., Brockie, D., Nicholls, P.H., Craven, A.C.C. & Lythgo, C.M. (2000). Processes affecting movement of pesticides to drainage in cracking clay soils. Pesticide Outlook, 11, 174-177.

Vanclooster, M., Boesten, J.J.T.I., Trevisan, M., Brown, C.D., Capri, E., Eklo, O.M., Gottesburen, B., Gouy, V. & Van der Linden, A.M.A. (2000). A European test of pesticide leaching models: methodology and major recommendations. Agricultural Water Managment, 44:1-19.

Brown, C.D., Marshall, V.L., Carter, A.D., Walker, A., Arnold, D. & Jones, R.L. (1999). Investigation into the effect of tillage on solute transport through a heavy clay soil. I. Lysimeter experiment. Soil Use and Management, 15:84-93.

Brown, C.D., Marshall, V.L., Deas, A., Carter, A.D., Arnold, D. & Jones, R.L. (1999). Investigation into the effect of tillage on solute transport through a heavy clay soil. II. Interpretation using a radio-scanning technique, dye-tracing and modelling. Soil Use and Management, 15:94-100.

Evans, S.P., Mayr, T.M., Hollis, J.M. & Brown, C.D. (1999). SWBCM: a soil water balance capacity model for environmental applications in the UK. Ecological Modelling, 121:17-49.

Brown, C.D., Baer, U., Gunther, P., Trevisan, M. & Walker, A. (1996). Ring test with the models LEACHP, PRZM-2 and VARLEACH: variability between model users in prediction of pesticide leaching using a standard data set. Pesticide Science 47:249-258.

Brown, C.D. & Hollis, J.M. (1996). SWAT - a semi-empirical model to predict concentrations of pesticides entering surface waters from agricultural land. Pesticide Science 47:41-50.

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Tools for Environmental Management (BSc Part 2)

Postgraduate

• Environmental Contaminants: Pathways and Behaviour (MSc)
• Tools for Environmental Assessment (MSc)