Professor John Quinton
John has a passion for soil and its connection with the water environment. He has 35 years experience or research and consultancy and is internationally recognised for his work on soil erosion, soil sustainability and diffuse pollution.
Key contributions
Soil sustainability
Framing soil as a finite strategic resource that delivers food security, water quality and biodiversity, which are impacted by soil erosion processes.
Soil degradation
Understanding soil erosion not simply as soil loss, but as an agent for the redistribution of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and pollutants, impacting global biogeochemical cycles and water quality.
Models and modelling
Development and evaluation of soil erosion models, including the development of EUROSEM (the European Soil Erosion Model) and fundamental work on erosion model uncertainty and evaluation.
Soil health
Understanding the multi-faceted nature of soil health, and how we monitor and evaluate it, thus providing a basis for management and policy decisions.
Monitoring
Innovations in sediment tracing, soil biological activity sensing and the application of the structure-from-motion method to soil erosion monitoring.
Diffuse pollution
Development and testing of soil erosion and diffuse pollution mitigation strategies. Monitoring of water quality.
Research funding at Lancaster University (selected recent awards)
PI = Principal Investigator; CI = Co-Investigator
Transforming Unsustainable Management of Soils in Europe and China
EU | £496,000 | 2021–2025 | UK-PI
Multi-partner collaboration (EU and China)
SOPLAS: Macro and Microplastics in Agricultural Soil Systems
EU | €606,345 | 2021–2024 | UK-PI
9 EU partners
Detecting Soil Degradation through a Novel Coupled Sensor and Machine Learning Framework
NERC | £800,000 (of £1.3M total) | 2020–2022 | PI
Collaboration with Manchester University & University of Colorado, Boulder
Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Lake District Farmers Ltd ‘Soil carbon to the balance sheet’
Innovate UK | £213,782 | 2022–2025 | PI
Restoring African Degraded Landscapes with Plant Biodiversity and Livestock Management
BBSRC UK | £899,987 | 2019–2021 | Co-I
Leadership and contribution to the scientific community
Research evaluation
Member of REF 2029 Sub-panel 7: Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences.
Review panel member for European Commission, UKRI and multiple European research funders.
Founder & joint editor-in-chief of SOIL
Founder and joint editor-in-chief (2013–2023) of SOIL,a journal of the European Geosciences Union.
Established SOIL as a major international open-access journal.
Co-leader of SoilTaskForce.com
Set-up a multi-sectorial group to produce guidance on the sustainable use of soils on construction sites
President-elect of the BritishSociety of Soil Science
After serving an initial two years as vice president, John will take on the presidency of the British Society of Soil Science in 2029.
Publication list is available via Google Scholar or Orcid.
Career
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University
Emeritus Professor of Soil Science (2026–present)
Professor of Soil Science (2009–2026)
Former roles at Lancaster University:
Reader and Senior Lecturer (2002–2009)
Associate Director for Research (2014–2017)
REF Lead (2019–2026)
Cranfield University
1988–2002 Including leader of Landcare Group National Soil Resources Institute
Eden Rivers Trust
Chair of Trustees 2024–present
British Society of Soil Science
Vice President 2027–2028, President 2029–2030