Dr Michael Harbottle

Biography

I have been a lecturer and now senior lecturer in geoenvironmental engineering at Cardiff University School of Engineering since September 2006. Following a Masters in Engineering at Oxford University, I joined Fugro Limited (UK), working on offshore and onshore site investigation and engineering. I then returned to Oxford University as a doctoral student working with the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (Oxford). Postdoctoral work at Cambridge University Engineering Department followed, with the SUBR:IM (Sustainable Urban Brownfield Regeneration: Integrated Management) consortium. Whilst in Cambridge, I was elected Fellow of Robinson College.

Committees and reviewing

Member of EPSRC Peer Review College (2017 onwards)

Institution of Civil Engineers Wales Ground Engineering Group - Chair (2015-17), vice chair (2014-15)

Institution of Civil Engineers Education Policy Panel (2012-)

Editorial Panel for Proceeding of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Ground Improvement (2016 onwards)

Editorial Panel for Geotechnique (2013-2016)

Publications

We are currently unable to retrieve the list of publications. Visit our institutional repository.

Teaching

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. My current teaching is as follows:

Materials & Construction (1st year)

Professional Studies & Construction (2nd year)

Environmental Geotechnics (3rd year)

Environmental Geotechnics (MSc)

Major projects (3rd year)

Case study & dissertation (MSc)

Current interests

Currently, my group is undertaking work in a number of areas of civil and environmental engineering. I am particularly interested in four general areas:

• Interactions between geoenvironmental and geotechnical engineering and biology (‘biogeotechnics’). Many organisms, particularly plants and microorganisms, have the potential to impact on soil structure and properties. We are developing a number of projects in this area, for example in situ biofilm growth for soil stabilisation and self-healing of geotechnical structures.
• Biological and chemical energy storage in the ground. We are using microbial fuel cells and in-ground fuel generation and supply to explore energy storage and extraction from soils and sediments.
• Contaminated land remediation, particularly engineering aspects of technologies involving electricity and biology. We are using living organisms, both plants and microorganisms, in a range of projects. These include dealing directly with contamination through bioremediation as well as using biological methods to enhance other techniques, particularly those that are operated in situ, such as pump and treat or electrokinetics. We are using electrokinetic techniques for the remediation of metal- and organic-contaminated ground. 
• Resource recovery from waste. Many waste repositories contain significant quantities of valuable elements but their recovery has been considered uneconomic or not feasible (or both). We are investigating technologies for material recovery in a range of waste types.

Contracts

Title	People	Sponsor	Value	Duration
GESPERR - Geobatteries: energy storage in the pedosphere to support the renewables revolution	Harbottle, M, Sapsford, D, Cleall, P, Weightman, A, Ugalde-Loo, C	EPSRC	201583	01/12/2022 - 31/5/2024
ASPIRE - Accelerated Supergene Processes in Repository Engineering	Sapsford, D, Cleall, P,  Harbottle, M, Owen, N, Weightman, A	EPSRC	592345	01/03/2021 - 29/02/2024
Self-healing Multifunctional Advanced Repair Technologies IN Cementitious Systems (SMARTINCS)	Jefferson, A, Gardner, D, Harbottle, M, Davies, R, Mihai, I	Commission of the European Communities	241185	01/12/2019 - 30/11/2023
Resilient materials for life (RM4L)	Jefferson, A, Gardner, D, Harbottle, M, Davies, R, Mihai, I, Paul, A	EPSRC	1668484	03/04/2017 - 02/10/2022
Environmental plastics pollution from Vietnamese plastic recycling craft villages	Harbottle, M	Universities Wales	1970	01/06/2020 - 30/11/2021
Landfill mining: Feasibility of reuse of aged municipal solid waste in geotechnical applications	Harbottle, M	British Council	6200	01/03/2020 - 31/01/2021
GEOHEAL - Self-healing geological construction materials & structures	Harbottle, M	Commission of the European Communities	131684	22/1/2018 - 21/1/2020
INSPIRE - In situ recovery of resources from waste repositories	Sapsford D, Harbottle M, Cleall P, Mahdi T, Weightman A (BIOSI)	NERC	671454	02/06/2014 - 01/06/2017
Self-healing geotechnical structures through microbiological action	Harbottle M, Gardner D	BRE	60000	01/10/2013 - 30/09/2016
Materials for life (M4L): Biomimetic multi-scale damage immunity for construction materials	Lark R, Gardner D, Jefferson A, Harbottle M	EPSRC	1672025	01/04/2013 - 31/03/2016
In Situ Recovery of Resources from Waste Repositories	Sapsford D, Griffiths A, Harbottle M, Mahdi T, Cleall P	NERC	56803	01/04/2013 - 30/09/2013
Response of pollutant chemistry, pathways and mobility to Short Rotation Forestry on brownfield Sites	Dr PJ Cleall, DR MJ Harbottle	Forest Research	27500	01/10/2010 - 30/09/2013
To develop Ford's capacity in resource efficiency and environmental performance through improvements in waste management and effluent treatment	Sapsford D, Harbottle M	KTP and Ford Motor Company Ltd	125710	01/09/2010 - 31/08/2012
Developing the sustainable laboratory - Waste	Brennan P, Gregory C, Whitmarsh L, Cullen-Unswa, Harbottle M	HEFCW	8999	01/11/2011 - 31/07/2012
Combined chemical/biological healing of cementitous materials	Harbottle, M	Institution of Structural Engineers	300	01/01/2012 - 31/01/2012
Biological reactors as replacement to activated carbon filters for the treatment of contaminated groundwater	Harbottle M, Sapsford D, Mahdi T	Celtic Technologies	25000	01/11/2010 - 31/10/2011
Investigation into Tar Contamination in the Blaenaovon mine water treatment scheme	Sapsford D, Harbottle M	The Coal Authority	2090	01/03/2011 - 31/08/2011

Supervised Students

Current research students

Name	Topic	Dates	Other information
Khaled Alshehri	Resource recovery from waste repositories in a circular economy	2021-
Eve Tarring	Assessing the risks to freshwater ecosystems from water-soluble polymers	2021-	Supported by the NERC Centre of Doctoral Training in Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment Towards Sustainable Chemical Use (ECORISC)
Zhenghui Gao	Enhanced methanogenesis in municipal solid waste landfill through breakdown of lignocellulosic wastes	2021-	Supported by Cardiff-Huazhong Agricultural University International Centre for Doctoral Training on Biomedical and Bioenergy Engineering
Tom Allison	Identification, Occurrence, Transport, and Environmental Fate of Cellulose-Based Wet Wipes through the Wastewater Pathway	2021-
Hang Qian	Soil-based microbial fuel cells to supply energy for low power underground processes	2022-	Supported by Cardiff-Huazhong Agricultural University International Centre for Doctoral Training on Biomedical and Bioenergy Engineering

Supervision

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:

• Soil biology for geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering.
• Electrical processes in soil, from electrokinetic remediation of contaminants to energy storage.
• Resource recovery from in-ground waste repositories. 

Current supervision

Past projects

Name	Topic	Dates	Other information
Muaaz Wright-Syed	Enhanced Biodegradation of Model Lignocellulosic Wastes in Laboratory-Scale Bioreactors & Landfills	2017-2021	Supported by an Environmental Research and Education Foundation Doctoral Scholarship
Steven Warwick	A study of landfill content and its chemical evolution using historical, geographic and site monitoring data	2014-2021
Sunday Oniosun	Phytoremediation of LNAPLs and Residual Oils in the Vadose Zone and Capillary Fringe	2012-2019
Khabeer Al-Awad	The effect of biological exudates on the mechanical properties of granular soil	2014-2018
Stefani Botusharova	Self-healing geotechnical structures via microbial action	2013-2017	Supported by BRE, as part of the EPSRC-funded ‘Materials for Life’ project
Ahmed Mugwar	Bioprecipitation of Heavy Metals and Radionuclides with Calcium Carbonate in Aqueous Solutions and Particulate Media	2011-2016
Paris Alshiblawi	Investigation of bioclogging in homogenous and heterogenous uncontaminated and contaminated sands	2011-2016
Richard Gill	Electrokinetic-enhanced migration of solutes for improved bioremediation in heterogeneous granular porous media	2011-2015	EPSRC CASE Studentship at the University of Sheffield, co-supervised with Dr S Thornton and Prof J Smith (Shell)
Katherine Page	Use of Recycled Organic Wastes as nutrient sources to aid the growth of energy crops on brownfield sites	2010-2014	Supported by Forest Research
Ziad Milad	An Experimental Investigation of Landfill Leachate Impact on Surrounding Soil. A Study of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Aspects	2009-2014

Former Visiting Students

Title	Dates	Student	Institution	Degree
Landfill mining: Feasibility of reuse of aged municipal solid waste in geotechnical applications	10/2020 - 01/2021	SOMANI, Mohit	IIT Delhi, India	PhD
Treatment of contaminated marine sediments by microbially induced carbonate precipitation	09/2019 - 03/2020	LUMIA Lucia	Università degli Studi di Enna "Kore", Italy	PhD
The effect of plant roots and plant & microbial exudates in biogeotechnical stabilization of soils	2016-2018	CHEN Chunhui	China University of Geosciences	PhD