Professional summary

Research Interests

I conduct research at the interface of water science, soil science, plant science and microbiology using advanced micro-spectroscopic techniques to constrain hydro-biogeochemical processes of nutrients and contaminants from the nanoscale to the field scale.

I am the principal investigator at the UK Centre for Multimodal Correlative Microscopy and Spectroscopy (CoreMiS), a platform dedicated to the study of nanoparticles and nano-scale chemical reactions. CoreMis is established based on the synchronisation of (i) Raman Imaging and Spectroscopy, with (ii) Scanning Electron Microscopy and (iii) Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, as a single analytical suite (RISE-EDS). This provides the UK environmental science community, for the first time, with access to a single solution dedicated to the combined analysis of environmental samples using techniques previously available only as stand-alone approaches.

My research interests include:

  • Detection and ecotoxicity assessments of microplastics, nanoplastics and other contaminants of emerging concerns.
  • Colloids and nanoparticles behavior in the environment.
  • Microbial geochemistry of metals and metalloids in oxic and anoxic environments.
  • Contaminants phytoremediation.
  • Soil physics, chemistry and fertility management.
  • Vibrational spectroscopy.
  • Synchrotron X-ray microscopy and spectroscopy.

Brief CV

Employment History

  • 2021 - Present. UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology. - Emerging contaminants scientist. - Detection and ecotoxicity assessments of micro/nanoplastics and other contaminants of emerging concerns.
  • 2019-2020. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Soil and Environment, Uppsala, Sweden.- Researcher in soil science. - Microscale revelation of soil architecture, spatial imaging of C, N, S, P distributions and in-situ elucidation of molecular S and P speciation in soils.
  • 2017-2019. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Soil and Environment, Uppsala, Sweden.- Postdoctoral researcher in soil nanoparticles dynamics. - Special focus on quantification and physicochemical characterisation of macronutrients in colloids and nanoparticles leached through arable soils by Synchrotron X-ray microscopy & spectroscopy.
  • 2015-2017. Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Sweden. - Postdoctoral researcher in microbial geochemistry. - Special focus on isotopic-labelling and micro-spectroscopic analysis of mercury cycling and microbial transformations in anoxic and boreal environments.

Qualifications

  • PhD. Biogeochemistry, The University of Edinburgh.
  • M.Sc. Water and Environmental Management, University of Bristol.
  • B. Agric. Tech. (Hons.) Soil Science (First Class) Federal University of Technology (Modibbo Adama University) Yola, Nigeria.

Work experience

  • Phosphorus Geochemistry in Quaternary soils (2019 - 2021) - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Sweden.

Funding Organizations: The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), Sveriges Geologiska Undersökning (SGU), and Source Optimisée de Lumière d’Energie Intermédiaire du LURE, France (SOLEIL).

Key Publication: Adediran et al., 2020. Phosphorus in 2D: Spatially resolved P speciation in two Swedish forest soils as influenced by apatite weathering and podzolization. Geoderma, 376, 114550. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001670612030673X

The work is the first to establish a 2D imagery of phosphorus (P) distribution and chemical speciation as a function of depth in soil profiles. The visualisation is critical to the accurate conceptualization of molecular-scale chemical and physical reactions of P in soils. Such knowledge is fundamental to the understanding of how P speciation changes in soils over time with respect to climate change.

 

  • Dynamics of micro and nanoparticles in soils (2017-2019). Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Sweden.

Funding Organizations: The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) France, and Synchrotron Light Research Institute (SLRI), Thailand.

Key Publication: Adediran et al., 2021. Micro and nano sized particles in leachates from agricultural soils: phosphorus and sulphur speciation by X-ray micro-spectroscopy. Water Research,189, 116585. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135420311209

Colloids and nanoparticles leached from agricultural land are major carriers of potentially bioavailable nutrients with high mobility in the environment. The work combined the use of multi-elemental synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy with multivariate spatial analysis and X-ray atomic absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy at the phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) K-edges, to for the first time, revealed the molecular-speciation of P and S in two fractions of leached particles, >0.45 and <0.45 μm respectively, collected from four tile-drained agricultural sites.

 

  • Mechanism of microbial Hg uptake and methylation (2015-2017). Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Sweden.

Funding Organizations: The Sino-Swedish Mercury Management Research Framework and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS).

Key Publication: Adediran et al., 2019. Microbial biosynthesis of thiol compounds: implications for speciation, cellular uptake, and methylation of Hg(II). Environmental Science & Technology, 53(14), 8187-8196. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b01502

The mechanism of Hg uptake and methylation by bacteria is relatively unknown. For the first time and in contrast to the existing paradigm, the work shows the thermodynamic stability of Hg(II)-complexes as a principal factor controlling(II) methylation by bacteria, such that less stable complexes with mixed ligation involving LMM-RSH, OH, and Cl are methylated at higher rates than the more stable Hg(LMM-RS)2 complexes.

 

  • The role of plant growth-promoting bacteria and a leguminous plant in metal sequestration (2011 -2015). The University of Edinburgh, UK.

Funding Organizations: The University of Edinburgh and Diamond Light Source UK.

Key Publication: Adediran et al., 2015. Mechanisms behind bacteria-induced plant growth promotion and Zn accumulation in Brassica juncea. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 283, 490-499. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389414008139

The work revealed the mechanism of plant growth promotion by bacteria in a plant established in metal-contaminated soils. It combined the use of synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy, X-ray absorption near edge structure, and scanning electron microscopy to reveal below-ground biochemical transformations, in-situ.

 

Publications