We are collaborating with Dr Tim Sullivan, environmental scientist at the School of Biological,  Earth and Environmental Science, on the metal chemistry of urban soils in Ireland. Our PhD student, Hannah Binner, is investigating the extent of heavy metal contamination in urban soils across southern Ireland, and the extent to which contamination is controlled by the amount and type of organic matter present. Soil samples will be analysed using in-house portable XRF facilities plus synchrotron-XRF and -XANES. This research will represent the first systematic survey of Irish urban soils and will aid our understanding of organic matter heavy metal binding.