Dr Cedric Kechavarzi

Lecturer in Environmental Soil Physics
Location: Building 37, Cranfield campus
E: c.kechavarzi@cranfield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1234 750111 x2703
Environmental Science and Technology


Current activities

Dr Cedric Kechavarzi is the Course Director for the Environmental Engineering course on the Natural Resource Management Programme.

Cedric investigates the interaction between physical and bio-chemical processes that control fluid flow, transport and chemical fate in soils and are determinant to the sustainable management of the soil and water environment. Part of his current research funded by industry and EPSRC focuses on studying the mechanisms determining the performance of bio-energy crops grown on contaminated land and the influence of organic amendments on contaminant fate, soil quality and plant growth.

Background

Dr Cedric Kechavarzi graduated in Agronomy from ISTOM (France) and subsequently obtained an MSc in Soil & Water Engineering from Cranfield University. Following his MSc he worked in the FWI for a year as a soil scientist for CIRAD, an international organisation specialising in agronomical research and development. He was subsequently awarded a Marie-Curie Fellowship to pursue his doctoral studies in Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Cambridge where he was affiliated to Darwin College. His research involved the experimental and numerical investigation of the flow of immiscible contaminant (NAPL) such as petroleum hydrocarbons in the unsaturated zone. Following his PhD he was a Research Associate with the Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group and the BP Institute for Multiphase Flow at the University of Cambridge for three years, working on immiscible contaminants flow in unsaturated porous media and in situ assessment of contaminant containment systems. Cedric joined Cranfield University as a Soil Physicist in 2004.

Selected publications

  • Kechavarzi, C., Dawson, Q., Leeds-Harrison, P.B., Szatylowicz, J., Gnatowski, T. (2007). Water table management in lowland UK peat soils and its potential impact on CO2 emission. Soil Use and Management (Online Early).
  • Kechavarzi, C., Soga, K., Illangasekare, T., Nikolopoulos, P. Laboratory study of immiscible contaminant flow in unsaturated layered sands (In print). Vadose Zone Journal
  • Patrick, C., Kechavarzi, C., James, I.T., O’Dogherty, M., Godwin, R.J. (2007). Developing reservoir tillage technology for semi-arid environments. Soil Use and Management, 23, 185-191.
  • Kechavarzi, C., Pettersson, K., Leeds-Harrison, P.B., Ritchie, L., Ledin, S. (2007).Root establishment of perennial ryegrass (L. perenne) in diesel contaminated subsurface soil layers. Environmental Pollution, 145, 68-74.
  • Kechavarzi, C., Soga, K., Illangasekare, T. (2005). Two-dimensional laboratory simulation of LNAPL infiltration and redistribution in the vadose zone. Journal of Contaminant hydrology, 76, 211-233.
  • Soga, K., Kawabata, J., Kechavarzi, C., Coumoulos, H., Waduge, W.A.P. (2003). Centrifuge modeling of nonaqueous phase liquid movement and entrapment in unsaturated layered soils. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 129, 173-182.
  • Günzel, F.K., Craig, W.H., Crancon, P., Cottineau, L.M., Kechavarzi, C., Lynch, R.J., Merrifield, C.M., Oung, O., Schenkeveld, F.M., Soga, K., Thorel, L., Weststrate, F.A. (2003). Evaluation of Probes and Techniques for Water Content Monitoring in Geotechnical Centrifuge Models. International Journal of Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, 1, 31-43.
  • Kechavarzi, C., Soga, K. (2002). Determination of water saturation using miniature resistivity probes during intermediate scale and centrifuge multiphase flow laboratory experiments. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 25, 95-103.
  • Lynch, R.J., Allersma, H., Barker, H., Bezuijen, A., Bolton, M.D., Cartwright, M., Davies, M.C.R., Depountis, N.,. Esposito, G., Garnier, J,. de Almeida Garrett, J.L.L, Harris, C., Kechavarzi, C., Oung, O., da Silva, M.G., Santos, C., Sentenac, P., Soga, K., Spiessl, S., Taylor, R.N., Treadaway, A.C.J., Weststrate, F.A. (2001).Development of sensors, probes and imaging techniques for pollutant monitoring in geo-environmental model tests.