Professor of Biogeochemistry, UBris. Researches freshwater nutrient pollution and biodiversity loss in lakes, rivers and wetlands, and mitigation strategies. Nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, isotopes, dissolved organic matter. ORCiD: 0000-0003-1605-6896https://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3mqnexqdtg22iIt's great having you on the team Matt! [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Jul 2026 23:40 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqnexqdtg22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3mpjjxothos2iGreat weather for fieldwork this week with @mgenner.bsky.social and two of our PhD students this week: @mattmccormack1.bsky.social on our @ercrefresh.bsky.social programme, and Francesca Southon on our @bristolwater.bsky.social WINEP project investigating nutrient pollution in Blagdon Lake SSSI. 🧪30 Jun 2026 17:34 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpjjxothos2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3mmvxqyycmc2jDelighted to be presenting a keynote at the @britishecologicalsociety.org #BESAG2026 Aquatic Ecology Meeting 3-4 September 2026, on our @ercrefresh.bsky.social and @ukri.org funded stable isotope dosing experiments demonstrating the role of DOM as a Nutrient Resource in Freshwater Ecosystems 🧪28 May 2026 11:57 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmvxqyycmc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3mmhtokmbac2vAs the main team write the results from our Year 1 experiments our @ercrefresh.bsky.social PhD students have started work in the field this week: Shanshan Zhang @bangoruniversity.bsky.social and @mattmccormack1.bsky.social! Thanks to Dr Emily Cooledge and our omics PDRA Gavin Gouws for their help! 🧪22 May 2026 21:07 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmhtokmbac2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3mhavrxdg2k2oGreat to see our @quantumfreshwaters.bsky.social pathogens lead, Davey Jones @bangoruniversity.bsky.social cited in the excellent @theguardian.com article by @rachelsalvidge.bsky.social on pollution in Lough Neagh... cattle as “pathogen bioreactors on four legs” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/14/lough-neagh-northern-ireland-genes-antibiotic-resistance-superbugs 🧪17 Mar 2026 11:50 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhavrxdg2k2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3mgwwwu5b7c2hReally enjoyed contributing to the BBC Rare Earth programme on Lakes, Lochs and Loughs, with @helenczerski.bsky.social @tomheap.bsky.social @amyjanebeer.bsky.social and @rachelsalvidge.bsky.social. Catch up with the programme on BBC Sounds here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002sg5p 🧪🐟🌿🐌13 Mar 2026 12:44 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgwwwu5b7c2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3mcn4va5ujs24The @quantumfreshwaters.bsky.social team recently welcomed a wide range of Government, industry, farming and freshwater organisations to our Stakeholder event. Great discussions and exchange of ideas on livestock farming as a driver of changing quality in UK rivers and how to mitigate its impacts! 🧪17 Jan 2026 17:23 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcn4va5ujs24https://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3m7avuzuknk2gGreat to see this latest @ukri.org DOMAINE Large Grant programme publication, from Ellie Mackay @ukceh.bsky.social which provides a key advance in our ability to predict of growth stimulation of river phytoplankton by organic nutrient enrichment at UK scale: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/fwb.70153 🧪05 Dec 2025 16:30 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7avuzuknk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3m5yonrtqfk2dSeeking an experienced postdoc in freshwater environmental genetics to join our exciting @ercrefresh.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu @ukri.org team to investigate environment x gene interactions in freshwater biotic responses to environmental stressors https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK766/senior-research-associate-in-freshwater-environmental-genetics @mgenner.bsky.social19 Nov 2025 16:34 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5yonrtqfk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3m5p5z3sh7225Come and join our team! [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Nov 2025 21:42 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5p5z3sh7225https://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lxetzk7lmk2vAnd that's the final @erc.europa.eu @ercrefresh.bsky.social stream isotope experiment of our 2025 field season complete. With many thanks to @bristoluni.bsky.social PhD students Matt McCormack and Boyi Li for their help with eDNA sampling and completing site decommissioning before the rain arrived 🧪27 Aug 2025 10:46 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxetzk7lmk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lx2x652abc25All fieldwork is now complete on our ukri.org @quantumfreshwaters.bsky.social project including sampling in 60 UK livestock farming headwater streams. We now focus on sample and data analyses, while we build models to test the likely efficacy of mitigation efforts to reduce impacts on UK rivers 🧪23 Aug 2025 12:15 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lx2x652abc25https://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lvpt3nqje22rThat's a wrap on our @erc.europa.eu @ukri.org @ercrefresh.bsky.social programme 2nd expt.. A very different environment than the chalk stream in our 1st expt. but nonetheless with wonderful biota: Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies fluttering around us, and freshwater limpets grazing our biofilms! 🧪06 Aug 2025 08:38 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lvpt3nqje22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lvbskdazj22yOur @ukri.org funded @erc.europa.eu REFRESH programme is going well! Chalk stream isotope dosing expt. complete, clay expt. nearly complete with help from our first PhD student, @durham-university.bsky.social graduate Matt McCormack. Peat expt. set-up now underway @bannaubrycheiniog.bsky.social 🧪🐟🌿🐌31 Jul 2025 18:51 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lvbskdazj22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lumm2u37r22aSpoke on BBC Radio 4 Farming Today this morning on the implications of the Cunliffe Report for UK farmers and freshwaters, explaining some of the key findings from our @ukri.org funded QUANTUM programme on livestock impacts on https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002g388 🧪23 Jul 2025 08:29 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lumm2u37r22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3ltp33yhvxc2k‪Great opportunity: full @ukri.org funded PhD Studentship with 4 years fees, stipend (£19237 pa) and full Research Training Support Grant, working with Prof Ian Bull, Director of the National Environmental Isotope Facility and my @ercrefresh.bsky.social team! Starts 10/2025 shorturl.at/AJREj 🧪11 Jul 2025 14:38 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltp33yhvxc2khttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3ltp2lorvx22hGreat opportunity to win a full @ukri.org funded PhD Studentship with 4 years fees, stipend (£19237 pa) and full Research Training Support Grant, working with Prof Ian Bull, Director of the National Environmental Isotope Facility and my @ercrefresh.bsky.social team! Starts 10/2025 shorturl.at/AJREj [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 Jul 2025 14:29 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltp2lorvx22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3ltoliauzbs2jChallenging but fun @erc.europa.eu and @ukri.org science now underway! We next add snails to the jars at 96 h, and return to collect them with remaining biofilms and bryophytes at 192 h. Looking forward to @mgenner.bsky.social joining us at 192 h to sample for our omics work. Roles advertised soon! [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 Jul 2025 09:59 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltoliauzbs2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3ltk5hh7ed22xOur team of 3 PDRAs, 3 research techs and 3 PhD students (5 still tba) will work with me, @mgenner.bsky.social & Mark Beaumont of @bristoluni.bsky.social Biological Sciences, and OGU (Ian Bull), @ukceh.bsky.social Dan Read, Ellie Mackay, Daren Gooddy, @bangoruniversity.bsky.social (Davey Jones). [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Jul 2025 15:37 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltk5hh7ed22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lsygf75clc2gWe've now completed our QUANTUM sampling at 33/60 sites, in SW of England, W England and Wales. Next stop N England and Scotland! By focusing on streams draining sheep, beef and dairy farmland, we are building a national picture of their impacts on UK river water quality to better inform policy.🧪02 Jul 2025 14:29 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsygf75clc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lsfd5m3t5k2rWhen livestock have direct access to watercourses, the risk of ecotoxin, pathogen, organic matter and nutrient pollution increases to 100%. Our @ukri.org QUANTUM programme sampling found some culprits today..... @acastrocastellon.bsky.social @victoriahussey.bsky.social 🧪🐄🐂25 Jun 2025 00:10 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsfd5m3t5k2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lscl67homc2kOur @ukri.org QUANTUM national sampling programme is now well underway. Thanks to @acastrocastellon.bsky.social for help with the SW England sites, Sydney Enns and @victoriahussey.bsky.social for prepping the kit, and my husband who helped with the Welsh sites - great cow poo sampling skills! 🧪🐄🐑🐂23 Jun 2025 21:56 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lscl67homc2khttps://bsky.app/profile/pennyjohnes.bsky.social/post/3lqd7nqna5k2fAs we finish our NERC QUANTUM field experiments and move on to upscaling and modelling work at national scale, we'd like to thank the residents of Rickford and our hugely helpful farmers, Paul and Roger Keel for their support. We'll return in the autumn to tell you what we've found!29 May 2025 17:12 +0000at://did:plc:fhr25pslqarbbocu2pcjbxva/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqd7nqna5k2f