Natalie Hicks

Dr. Natalie Hicks is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Life Sciences, University of Essex. Her research focuses on coastal and marine sedimentary systems, emphasizing carbon cycling (blue carbon dynamics), benthic biogeochemistry, and the ecological impacts of marine infrastructure. She investigates how coastal habitats like seagrass meadows and intertidal mudflats contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration while also addressing biodiversity conservation, water quality, and flood protection. Her work extends to offshore environments, studying sediment carbon storage around oil and gas platforms, offshore wind farms, and decommissioning impacts. Dr. Hicks collaborates on projects assessing artificial marine structures' ecological effects and developing sustainable decommissioning strategies.

Her research integrates field observations with modeling to understand sedimentary processes, including greenhouse gas fluxes, microbial community responses to environmental stressors, and legacy contamination from industrial activities. She has contributed to policy-relevant studies on nature-based solutions for coastal resilience and the socio-ecological implications of marine artificial structures. Her expertise spans interdisciplinary topics such as radioecological risk assessment, fisheries impacts on benthic carbon dynamics, and the role of microbial communities in biogeochemical cycling.

Grants and funding have supported her work on projects like the environmental impacts of salmon farming, carbon budgeting in shelf seas, and the ecological consequences of ocean acidification. She actively engages in teaching and supervision, mentoring students in marine biogeochemistry, sedimentology, and environmental policy. Her research has been published in high-impact journals, reflecting her commitment to advancing understanding of marine systems' ecological and climatic roles.