Dr Catherine Russell
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seddyrocks.bsky.social
Dr Catherine Russell
@seddyrocks.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.1K following 190 posts
Fulbright Scholar, Anthropocene Sedimentologist, Founder of Anthropocene Sediment Network, I study rivers on Earth and Mars, the environment, and plastic & other pollutants.
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seddyrocks.bsky.social
Finally secured the dream Applied #Anthropocene #Sedimentology speaker to show students the backbone of the course 😅

She is more femur-liar with legacy #sediment than me 💀
A projected screen with the words “applied anthropocene sedimentology” as a title slide. The text is black on white in a green and gold box, there is a green banner along the top of the slide and the logo for the Anthropocene sediment network in the bottom right corner. There is a model skeleton standing to the left positioned as if presenting the lecture
May 22, 2025 at 8:25 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Just before landing in #Vienna, we hit the clouds and the sun behind us cast a perfect halo around the plane’s shadow!

One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen from a plane! ✈️☁️
View from an airplane window showing the wing against a backdrop of white cloud. On the clouds below, the faint shadow of the plane is surrounded by a circular rainbow-like halo (a “glory”), visible through the frosted ice crystals on the window.
May 20, 2025 at 11:36 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Whilst flying to Vienna to teach the first “Applied #Anthropocene #Sedimentology” field course, I caught this amazing view of Woodhead #Reservoir! 🤩

#Rivers are feeding in, #water levels are low, so much #engineered terrain… you can see a LOT!

Easily one of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken ✈️🌍
Aerial photograph of Woodhead Reservoir in the Peak District, England. The image shows a dark blue body of water with sinuous river channels feeding in. The pale sediment band around the edge, and the length of the fluvial plain, indicates that the reservoir level is lower than normal. The surrounding terrain is patchwork fields and moorland.
May 18, 2025 at 10:50 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Boarding a giga metalliplasticlast fueled by ancient plankton! 🦠

See you soon #Vienna for some more #Anthropocene adventures 😊✈️

#manchesterairport #nextadventure #Wien
Catherine and her husband in front of a Lauda plane. The day is sunny and the plane is white with red capital text saying LAUDA and red design. Picture is at Manchester Airport
May 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
A beautiful landscape of the Roaches, but look closely and you’ll see how much of it is us.

Fields, fertilizers, a reservoir in the foreground, an island with deterrents for nesting birds, and more... What did it look like before us? And how will it be interpreted after?
#Anthropocene
View across a calm reservoir to a rocky outcrop and green hillside, with patchwork fields and scattered trees. In the foreground, a small stony island with bird deterrent wires and nets on it.
May 14, 2025 at 7:47 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
I spotted this patterned ground in a carpark by a #reservoir.
It’s called #concrete grass paver 🌱
Designed to stabilise soil, reduce runoff, and support weight while letting water through.
🚗 🌱🌧️
^^^^^^^^
A future layer of the #Anthropocene!

#AnthropoceneSediment #GeoDesign #GroundEngineering
A grid of concrete grass pavers in a car park near a reservoir. The pavers form a regular pattern, with tufts of grass growing between the concrete cells. The surface appears both structured and semi-natural, showing signs of wear from foot or vehicle traffic.
May 6, 2025 at 6:38 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
New paper! 📣
#Rivers don’t just carry #microplastics, they create them too 🟦🔹…

We explored “Rivers as #microplastic factories” incorporating #geomorphology and #sedimentology!

Beyond reducing input, we need targeted action to reduce microplastic generation 📉

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
A schematic diagram illustrating the existing zonation of the fluvial system (A)–(C), and the proposed implications of this zonation for the occurrence and pathways of plastic fragmentation and the long-term storage of secondary microplastics (D)–(F).
April 29, 2025 at 11:29 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
📢 #Microplastic folks, let’s rethink how we use “fragment” for angular particles 🔷

“Fragment” implies a secondary microplastic, but primary #plastics can start angular too!

Use the grain shape chart below instead:

Read more in section 3.1:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A grain shape chart that provides the basis for objective assessment of texture and roundness of a grain. The top row is density of texture and the intensity of the texture in cross-section showing very high, high, moderate, low, none. The bottom row is for roundness from very angular, angular, subangular, surrounded, rounded, to very rounded. Each grain can be described objectively through these texture and roundness analysis. Figure is Figure 6 in Russell et al., 2025
March 6, 2025 at 12:51 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Happy #MardiGras! 💜💚💛

A few years ago, I dressed as “Calamity Drain” to highlight the #PlasticPollution and toxicity issues from parade beads in New Orleans’ waterways.

The celebrations were so much fun, just remember, if you grab some beads, take them home or dispose of them safely! 📿📿 #NOLA
Me dressed in a home made costume as “calamity drain”. I have sewn beads and other trash to the sleeves and trim of a jacket and covered it in trash. My hat has holes cut in it so it looks like a drain, with beads and other trash coming through.
March 4, 2025 at 3:01 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Done, it won’t happen again
A screenshot of the accessibility panel with the option “require alt text before posting” selected
February 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Today I found a lovely compacted organometallic deposit, complete with trace fossils from the suspected compaction mechanism. 🧐

It’s that time of year when wet, churned-up ground reveals all sorts! If you find any, share your #TrashSnaps below 📸

#Anthropocene #Geology #Sedimentology ⚒️ 🧪 🌍
February 7, 2025 at 5:44 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
When #golf balls are sorted into gravel beds on the bottom of a #river, are they now #sediment or still a human #artefact? Or both… i.e., #anthropogenic sediment?

Flow direction is left to right, picture is of the River Wye ⛳️
February 1, 2025 at 1:04 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Whatever you are reading this on will end up buried on land or under the ocean, BUT its journey to get there is not just physics and logistics, it’s in the complex interactions of us and #Earth 🌍

Interested? Join the conversation: forms.gle/CrQy4utGVUB3...

#Anthropocene #Sediment #Network 🧪⚒️
January 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
I am ✨BEYOND✨ excited to share my “Classification Framework for Assessing #Anthropogenic #Sedimentary Facies”!

It covers composition, bed- and grain-scale descriptors, structures, and nomenclature.

Now we can describe the developing #sedimentology of #Anthropocene #Earth 🌍

bit.ly/4hLbd2X 🧪 ⚒️
January 24, 2025 at 9:10 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
🎉 New Paper Alert! ✨

“Plastic as a Sediment: A universal and objective practical solution…”

Now we can assess plastic as a sediment and better understand the relationship of its physical properties with its environmental distribution! ✨It’s so exciting!✨

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A demonstration of the importance of using Absolute Density over just polymer type. The bottles contain varying amounts of air, water, and sand, and so behave differently in the environment.
December 19, 2024 at 8:14 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Today I had the pleasure of visiting The #PotteriesMuseum in Staffordshire UK, and was transfixed by this incredible #mosaic by Emma Biggs. She has repurposed #pottery fragments of back-stamps and potters marks, through which we can read the stories and legacies of the local culture 😍
November 22, 2024 at 6:19 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
A reminder to properly tie down / take down your Inflatable #Halloween #Thanksgiving #Christmas decorations before the wind does its thing. This appeared overnight and looks like it was once a pumpkin. #plasticpollution sucks 😓
Shredded remains of what is suspected to have been an orange inflatable pumpkin Halloween decoration, in the tree tops.
November 16, 2024 at 10:10 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Vienna, you have been ✨amazing✨!
Thank you to everyone who has been part of my experience here, especially the class who I had the pleasure of teaching the first course of #Anthropocene #Sedimentology. Here we are outside the spittelau incineration plant, a fitting Anthropocene backdrop!
April 30, 2024 at 7:43 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
World-class mineral, or mangled washing up sponge?
You decide 🧐😅
April 29, 2024 at 9:16 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
First day of #EGU24 was fantastic! I did my talk, learned so much, and got to meet some super people! I can’t wait for 4 more days of being overwhelmed / inspired 😅🫠
April 15, 2024 at 6:38 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
I’ve got my badge and am ready for tomorrow! It’s my first time at @eurogeosciences.bsky.social in person 😄
My talk is on plastics in riverbeds tomorrow afternoon, come along! ✨15:15 - Room 2.44✨
#Vienna #EGU #egu24
April 14, 2024 at 2:37 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
I’m having the ✨BEST✨ time with #teaching this course on #Anthropocene #Sedimentology! Also I promise I have more than one tshirt 😅
#vienna #universityofvienna
April 9, 2024 at 6:59 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
#Vienna is so beautiful 😍 The ice cream is pretty incredible too 🍦
I absolutely love travelling for work so that I can do this weekend tourism 🥰
April 7, 2024 at 9:34 AM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
When you think that this #plasticpollution malarkey couldn’t possibly get worse, here are some pre-packaged pinches of saffron in a glass bottle 👀🫠
April 3, 2024 at 7:29 PM
seddyrocks.bsky.social
Had a fantastic time at the #Plastic #Sedimentology conference in #Birmingham! Thank you to the Royal Society, my fellow convenors, and everyone who came along. I learned so much from our facinating conversations 😄
March 21, 2024 at 11:00 AM