Dr Dannielle Green

Dannielle is an Associate Professor in Ecology and Conservation and uses her research to understand and mitigate the impacts of human activities on natural ecosystems. Her lecturing style is very research-led and she engages students in real-world problems, helping to train the next generation of change-makers.

[email protected]

Connect with Dannielle on LinkedIn

Background

Dannielle earned her BSc (Hons) in Marine Science from the University of Sydney and completed her PhD at University College Dublin. She was an Irish Research Council Fellow at Trinity College Dublin before joining ARU in 2016.

She is an internationally recognised expert on plastic pollution, ranked among the top 2% of global researchers in Environment and Ecology according to citation rankings led by Stanford University. Her pioneering research on the ecological impacts of plastic pollution including plastic bags, cigarette butts and microplastics has influenced environmental policies, in the UK and also internationally.

Research interests

• Ecology
• Biodiversity
• Marine biology
• Pollution
• Plastic pollution
• Conservation

Areas of research supervision

Dannielle welcomes proposals for projects within her areas of research and on cutting-edge real-world conservation issues.

Teaching

Aquatic Biology and Conservation

Current Topics in Marine Ecology

Communication Skills for Conservation

Qualifications

Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE), ARU. Dannielle is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

PhD Marine Ecology, University College Dublin, Ireland (supervised by Dr Tasman Crowe). Thesis: The impacts of non-indigenous oysters on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Dannielle used an interdisciplinary approach involving ecology, biogeochemistry and molecular biology to assess the impacts of oysters on benthic ecosystems in the field. Her PhD work was part of a large, interdisciplinary research programme examining the effects of human impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

BSc (Hons) Marine Science, University of Sydney, Australia (supervised by Prof. Gee Chapman and Prof. Tony Underwood). Thesis: The effect of rock-type on the biodiversity of boulder field communities in urbanised coastlines.

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• 2023: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded PhD scholarship (~£70,000) on microplastics in aquatic ecosystems to begin Sept 2023. Co-I.
• 2023: Funding from Keep Britain Tidy to hire a research assistant to investigate impacts of smoking related litter (£82,642 for a 12-month project). PI.
• 2023: Funding from Keep Britain Tidy to hire a postdoctoral researcher to investigate solutions to smoking related litter (£110,060 for an 18-month project). PI.
• 2022: Joint-funded VC PhD studentship to investigate the impacts and solutions to smoking related litter (£35,000 from Keep Britain Tidy and £25,000 from Anglia Ruskin University). PI.
• 2015: Small research grant (£3,721) from the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute, Falkland Islands (Principal Investigator). PI.
• 2013: Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Two Year Postdoctoral Fellowship (€91,785). (Grant number: GOIPD/2013/306) (Principal Investigator). PI.
• 2013: British Ecological Society Early Career Research Grant (£16,877). (Grant number: 4498/5472) (Principal Investigator). PI.
• 2008: Sustainable Development One Year Doctoral Fellowship (€3000) from the Urban Institute of Ireland, University College Dublin, Ireland. PI.

Selected recent publications

Jolly, D. J., O’Gorman, E. J., Green, D. S., Cooper, R. J., Bakir, A. and Tolhurst. T. J. (2025) 'Beyond plastics: occurrence and ecological risks of non-plastic microfibres in aquatic organisms', Microplastics and Nanoplastics, in press.

Abbasi, F., De-la-Torre, G. E., Renner, G., Green, D. S., Schmidt, T. C. and Dobaradaran, S. (2025) 'A review of occurrence and concentrations of cellulose acetate and other artificial cellulose microfibers in aquatic environmental matrices: An indicator of cigarette butts’ contamination?' Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, 100786.

Jolly, D. J., Allen, E., Olah-Kovacs, B., McIlwraith, H., Warren, R. J., Woodhouse, C., Staines, M., Wright, A. C. M., Boots, B., Tolhurst, T. J. and Green, D. S (2025) 'Eco-friendly or eco-threat? The environmental risks of natural and semi-synthetic fibers', Environmental Research Communications, 7(5), 052502.

Olah-Kovacs, B., White, H. J., Tingey, T., Boots, B. and Green, D. S. (2025) 'The impacts of smoked cigarette butt leachate on a common freshwater gastropod, Lymnaea stagnalis', Environmental Pollution, 376, 126425.

Woodhouse, C., Green, D. S., Foggo, A., Somerfield, P., Thompson, R. C. and Garrard, S. L. (2025) 'Minimal impacts of tyre particle exposure on estuarine meiofaunal community structure, primary production, and nutrient cycling', Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 13(1), pp. 181.

Green, D. S., Boots, B. and Tingey, T. (2024) 'Rapid, detrimental response of estuarine benthic macrofauna communities to pollution by littered cigarette filters and e-liquid', Marine Pollution Bulletin, 209, 117208.

Wright, A. C, M., Boots, B., Ings. T. and Green, D. S. (2024) 'Above- and below-ground field study on the impacts of conventional and alternative mesoplastics on Hordeum vulgare growth and soil invertebrate communities', Chemosphere, 365, 143393.

Chen, P., Droguet, B. E., Lamb, I., Green, D. S., Vignolini, S., Gub, Z., De Silva, S. and Reichman, S. M. (2024) 'Assessing the ecotoxicological effects of novel cellulose nanocrystalline glitter compared to conventional polyethylene terephthalate glitter: toxicity to springtails (Folsomia candida)', Chemosphere, 366, 143315.

Boots, B., Green, D. S., Wright, A. C. M., Olah-Kovacs, B. and Tovey, L. (2024) 'Ecotoxicological effects of leachate from e-cigarettes and e-liquid on the performance of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)', Environmental Pollution, 348, 123888. IF: 8.071. SJR =Q1.

Garrard, S. L., Clark, J. R., Martin, N., Nelms, S. E., Botterell, Z. L. R., Cole, M., Coppock, R. L., Galloway, T. S., Green, D. S., Jones, M., Lindeque, P. K., Tillin, H. M. and Beaumont, N. J. (2024) 'Identifying potential high-risk zones for land-derived plastic litter to marine megafauna and key habitats within the North Atlantic', Science of The Total Environment, 922, 171282. IF: 10.753. SJR = Q1.

Wright, A. C. M., Boots, B., Ings. T. and Green, D. S. (2024) 'Impacts of pristine, aged and leachate of conventional and biodegradable plastics on plant growth and soil organic carbon', Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31, pp. 11766–11780. IF: 5.8. SJR = Q1.

Boots, B., Green, D. S., Olah-Kovacs, B., De Falco, F. and Lupo, E. (2023) 'Physical and chemical effects of conventional microplastic glitter versus alternative glitter particles on a freshwater plant (Lemnaceae: Lemna minor)', Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 263, 115291. IF: 6.8. SJR = Q1.

Green, D. S., Boots, B., Olah-Kovacs, B. and Palma-Diogo, D. (2023) 'Disposable e-cigarettes and cigarette butts alter the physiology of an aquatic plant Lemna minor (Lemnaceae)', Science of The Total Environment, 164457. IF: 10.753. SJR = Q1.

Green, D. S., Almroth, B. C., Altman, R., Bergmann, M., Gündoğdu, S., Warrier, A. K., Boots, B., Walker, T. R., Krieger, A. and Syberg, K. (2023) 'Time to kick the butt of the most common litter item in the world: Ban cigarette filters', Science of The Total Environment, 865, 161256. IF: 10.753. SJR = Q1.

Ribeiro, V. V., Lopes, T. C., Amaral dos Santos Pinto, M., Póvoa, A. A., Corrêa, V. R., De-la-Torre, G. E., Dobaradaran, S., Green, D. S., Szklo, A. S. and Castro, Í. B. (2022) 'Cigarette butts in two urban areas from Brazil: Links among environmental impacts, demography and market', Environmental Research, 213, 113730. IF: 8.431. SJR = Q1.

Bergmann, M., Almroth, B. C., Brander, S. M., Dey, T., Green, D. S., Gundogdu, S., Krieger, A., Wagner, M. and Walker, T. R. (2022) 'A global plastic treaty must cap production', Science, 376(6592), pp. 469–470. IF: 63.71. SJR = Q1.

Green, D. S., Tongue, A. D. W. and Boots, B. (2022) 'The ecological impacts of discarded cigarette butts', Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 37(2), pp. 183–192. IF: 20.589. SJR = Q1.

Recent presentations and conferences

20–22 January 2026: Invited by Prof. Richard Thompson to be a panel member and speaker at GRIPS 2026 – Global Research & Innovation in Plastics Sustainability, UKRI and Innovate UK event. Asked to speak about cigarette filters as an avoidable single use plastic in 'Reduce, Redesign, Intercept' session.

1 July 2025: Helped run a fringe event and gave a talk on smoking related litter with Keep Britain Tidy at the Local Government Association annual conference in Liverpool, UK.

17 June 2025: Invited speaker and panel member for the panel topic 'Connected Worlds: Research Without Limits, Impact Without Borders' at the We are Global Women event at ARU. This event was a paid-for event attended by external businesspeople and public servants.

23 October 2024: Helped run a fringe event and gave a talk on smoking related litter with Keep Britain Tidy at the Local Government Association annual conference in Harrogate, UK.

24 September 2024: Invited seminar titled 'Are “green” plastics really better for the environment?' at Forestry England, UK.

23–27 September 2024: Oral presentation at 'Micro2024' the International conference on Plastic Pollution from Macro to Nano, Lanzarote.

22 August 2024: Invited seminar as part of the Environmental Biotechnology Webinar Series 2024/2025 titled 'Our Plastic Pollution Pandemic: Impacts and Solutions' . International Islamic University, Malaysia.

28 February 2024: Invited seminar titled 'Butt out: the ecological impacts of smoking related litter' at Nottingham Trent University, UK.

5 July 2023: Helped run a fringe event and gave a talk on smoking related litter with Keep Britain Tidy at the Local Government Association annual conference in Bournemouth, UK.

7 June 2023: Invited seminar titled 'Butt out: the ecological impacts of smoking related litter' at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK.

30 June 2022: Invited public talk titled 'Our plastic pollution pandemic: impacts and solutions' at the Lithgow Transformation Hub, Western Sydney University, Australia.

29 September 2022:. Presentation and Q&A on smoking-related litter for Dorset Council’s Litter Free Dorset Forum.

13 September 2021: Learning and teaching talk titled 'Collaborative Annotation for summative assessment' at the Practical Pedagogy Conference.

7 September 2021: Interactive public talk and workshop titled 'What's the deal with "green" plastics?' for the British Science Festival, Chelmsford, UK.

10 January 2021: Plastic pollution update for Oceans Together Forum at DP World, London Docklands, UK.

13 October 2020: Invited talk titled 'Our Plastic Pandemic: Impacts and Solutions' for Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society (CSES) Centenary event: What will the next 100 years bring?

Media experience

Dannielle's research has gained significant international media attention, including seven television (e.g., BBC, ITV, RTE, Euronews, News Asia), 60+ radio and podcast appearances (including BBC World Service, BBC Radio 5, regional BBC stations, The Naked Scientists) and in print and online news coverage in 700+ articles (including Science, BBC News, New Scientist, Guardian, Washington Post) generating an “advertising equivalent value” of £800,000+ for ARU.

In recognition of her significant media experience, Dannielle has been a University Alliance Media Champion since 2021. She also regularly presents her research to general audiences face to face during public events (notably, British Science Festival 2021 and Soapbox Science 2018).