The research conducted within my group is focus on understanding the molecular- and nano-scale mechanisms of mineral reactions which occur in the natural environment.see https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/sam.shaw.htmlWe aim to determine the role of minerals in a wide variety of modern and ancient environmental process. This includes investigating natural mineral nanoparticle (e.g. iron oxyhydroxides) formation and their interaction with contaminants (e.g. toxic metal and radionuclides), and the study of marine carbonate minerals to determine ancient seawater chemistry and isotopic composition.A major component of this research is focused on the development and use of synchrotron radiation techniques applied to studying environmental processes. This includes the use of environmental cells to perform time-resolved in situ diffraction and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) studies of crystallisation and precipitation reactions. Also, X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) studies of metal and radionuclide binding to minerals and contaminated soils