ÌÇÐÄVlog

Research Group

Ecology and Environmental Microbiology Group

Two  orange clown fish swimming just above the yellow strands of an anenome.

Global biodiversity and by association ecosystem functioning is changing rapidly in response to changes in environmental and climatic conditions.

Understanding the ecological mechanisms behind these changes and providing clear management and policy recommendations are among the great challenges of the 21st century.

We address these challenges across all levels of biological organisation (from genes to ecosystems) and across taxonomic groups (from microbes to macro-organisms), focussing on four broad themes:

  • Biodiversity (including microbial)
  • Climate and environmental change
  • Biogeochemical cycling
  • Environmental biotechnology

Our research benefits society in the areas of conservation and sustainable use of living resources and their habitats, assessment of anthropogenic impacts on the environment, and detection and remediation of pollution.

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Selected papers - 2022

  • Sing Wong, Amy and Vrontos, Spyridon and Taylor, Michelle (2022) '' Global Change Biology. ISSN 1354-1013
  • Bohmann, Kristine and Elbrecht, Vasco and Carøe, Christian and Bista, Iliana and Leese, Florian and Bunce, Michael and Yu, Douglas W and Seymour, Mathew and Dumbrell, Alex J and Creer, Simon (2022) '' Molecular Ecology Resources, 22 (4). pp. 1231-1246. ISSN 1471-8278
  • Clark, Dave R and McKew, Boyd A and Binley, Andrew and Heppell, Catherine M and Whitby, Corinne and Trimmer, Mark (2022) '' ISME Communications, 2 (1). ISSN 2730-6151
  • Ellis, Matthew B and Cameron, Tom C (2022) '' Journal of Applied Ecology. ISSN 0021-8901
  • Gregson, Benjamin H and Bani, Alessia and Steinfield, Laurel and Holt, Diane and Whitby, Corinne (2022) '' Science of the Total Environment, 819. p. 153040. ISSN 0048-9697
  • Hoyal Cuthill, Jennifer (2022) '' Geological Magazine, 159 (7). pp. 1210-1219. ISSN 0016-7568
  • Kratina, Pavel and Rosenbaum, Benjamin and Gallo, Bruno and Horas, Elena L and O'Gorman, Eoin J (2022) '' Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9. ISSN 2296-701X
  • López-López, Lucía and Genner, Martin J and Tarling, Geraint A and Saunders, Ryan A and O'Gorman, Eoin J (2022) '' Ecosystems, 25 (2). pp. 457-470. ISSN 1432-9840
  • Maxwell, Jamie and Taboada, Sergi and Taylor, Michelle L (2022) '' Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 185. p. 103804. ISSN 0967-0637
  • McKenzie, Morwenna and England, Judy and Foster, Ian and Wilkes, Martin (2022) '' Ecological Indicators, 134. p. 108502. ISSN 1470-160X
  • McLean, Dianne L and Ferreira, Luciana C and Benthuysen, Jessica A and Miller, Karen J and Schläppy, Marie-Lise and Ajemian, Matthew J and Berry, Oliver and Birchenough, Silvana NR and Bond, Todd and Boschetti, Fabio and Bull, Ann S and Claisse, Jeremy T and Condie, Scott A and Consoli, Pierpaolo and Coolen, Joop WP and Elliott, Michael and Fortune, Irene S and Fowler, Ashley M and Gillanders, Bronwyn M and Harrison, Hugo B and Hart, Kristen M and Henry, Lea-Anne and Hewitt, Chad L and Hicks, Natalie and Hock, Karlo and Hyder, Kieran and Love, Milton and Macreadie, Peter I and Miller, Robert J and Montevecchi, William A and Nishimoto, Mary M and Page, Henry M and Paterson, David M and Pattiaratchi, Charitha B and Pecl, Gretta T and Porter, Joanne S and Reeves, David B and Riginos, Cynthia and Rouse, Sally and Russell, Debbie JF and Sherman, Craig DH and Teilmann, Jonas and Todd, Victoria LG and Treml, Eric A and Williamson, David H and Thums, Michele (2022) '' Global Change Biology, 28 (11). pp. 3515-3536. ISSN 1354-1013
  • Robinson, Sinikka I and O'Gorman, Eoin J and Frey, Beat and Hagner, Marleena and Mikola, Juha (2022) '' Global Change Biology, 28 (12). pp. 3929-3943. ISSN 1354-1013
  • Su, Min and Dell'Orto, Marta and D'Imporzano, Giuliana and Bani, Alessia and Dumbrell, Alex J and Adani, Fabrizio (2022) '' Bioresource Technology, 347. p. 126416. ISSN 0960-8524
  • Underwood, Graham JC and Dumbrell, Alex J and McGenity, Terry J and McKew, Boyd A and Whitby, Corinne (2022) '' In: Stal, Lucas J and Cretoiu, Mariana Silvia, (eds.) The Marine Microbiome. The Microbiomes of Humans, Animals, Plants, and the Environment, 3 . Springer International Publishing, pp. 479-534.
  • Uttarotai, Toungporn and Sutheeworapong, Sawannee and Crombie, Andrew T and Murrell, J Colin and Mhuantong, Wuttichai and Noirungsee, Nuttapol and Wangkarn, Sunanta and Bovonsombut, Sakunnee and McGenity, Terry J and Chitov, Thararat (2022) '' Biology, 11 (4). p. 519. ISSN 2079-7737
  • Whitworth, Paul and Aldred, Nick and Reynolds, Kevin J and Plummer, Joseph and Duke, Phillip W and Clare, Anthony S (2022) '' Frontiers in Marine Science, 8. ISSN 2296-7745

Selected papers - 2021

  • Cordoleani, F and Phillis, CC and Sturrock, AM and FitzGerald, AM and Malkassian, A and Whitman, GE and Weber, PK and Johnson, RC (2021) '' Nature Climate Change, 11 (11). pp. 982-988. ISSN 1758-678X
  • Fell, Sarah C and Carrivick, Jonathan L and Cauvy-Fraunié, Sophie and Crespo-Pérez, Verónica and Hood, Eran and Randall, Kate C and Nicholass, Kirsty J Matthews and Tiegs, Scott D and Dumbrell, Alex J and Brown, Lee E (2021) '' Nature Climate Change, 11 (4). pp. 349-353. ISSN 1758-678X
  • Clark, Dave R and Underwood, Graham JC and McGenity, Terry J and Dumbrell, Alex J (2021) '' Global Ecology and Biogeography, 30 (4). pp. 811-825. ISSN 1466-822X
  • Davey, Peter A and Power, Anne Marie and Santos, Romana and Bertemes, Philip and Ladurner, Peter and Palmowski, Pawel and Clarke, Jessica and Flammang, Patrick and Lengerer, Birgit and Hennebert, Elise and Rothbächer, Ute and Pjeta, Robert and Wunderer, Julia and Zurovec, Michal and Aldred, Nick (2021) '' Biological Reviews, 96 (3). pp. 1051-1075. ISSN 1464-7931
  • Ferguson, Robert MW and Neath, Charlotte EE and Nasir, Zaheer A and Garcia-Alcega, Sonia and Tyrrel, Sean and Coulon, Frederic and Dumbrell, Alex J and Colbeck, Ian and Whitby, Corinne (2021) '' Environment International, 147. p. 106327. ISSN 0160-4120
  • Ferguson, Robert MW and O'Gorman, Eoin J and McElroy, David J and McKew, Boyd A and Coleman, Ross A and Emmerson, Mark C and Dumbrell, Alex J (2021) '' Global Change Biology, 27 (13). pp. 3166-3178. ISSN 1354-1013
  • Gregson, Benjamin H and McKew, Boyd A and Holland, Robert D and Nedwed, Timothy J and Prince, Roger C and McGenity, Terry J (2021) '' Frontiers in Marine Science, 8. ISSN 2296-7745
  • Grydaki, Nikoletta and Colbeck, Ian and Mendes, Luis and Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos and Whitby, Corinne (2021) '' Environment International, 146. p. 106186. ISSN 0160-4120
  • McGenity, Terry J and McKew, Boyd A and Lea-Smith, David J (2021) '' Nature Microbiology, 6 (4). pp. 419-420. ISSN 2058-5276
  • Rogers, Alex D and Baco, Amy and Escobar-Briones, Elva and Gjerde, Kristina and Gobin, Judith and Jaspars, Marcel and Levin, Lisa and Linse, Katrin and Rabone, Muriel and Ramirez-Llodra, Eva and Sellanes, Javier and Shank, Timothy M and Sink, Kerry and Snelgrove, Paul VR and Taylor, Michelle L and Wagner, Daniel and Harden-Davies, Harriet (2021) '' Frontiers in Marine Science, 8. ISSN 2296-7745
  • Scarlett, Kelly and Denman, Sandra and Clark, David R and Forster, Jack and Vanguelova, Elena and Brown, N and Whitby, Corinne (2021) '' The ISME Journal, 15 (3). pp. 623-635. ISSN 1751-7362
  • Sohlström, Esra H and Archer, Louise C and Gallo, Bruno and Jochum, Malte and Kordas, Rebecca L and Rall, Björn C and Rosenbaum, Benjamin and O'Gorman, Eoin J (2021) '' Global Change Biology, 27 (16). pp. 3765-3778. ISSN 1354-1013

Recent news

School of Life Sciences

Funding and facilities

We have an extensive network of national and international collaborations through projects funded by UKRI (especially NERC, and also BBSRC, STFC and ESRC), the EU, and various foundations and stakeholders. We also have access to funded PhD studentships via the NERC ARIES doctoral training partnership.

We have also been involved in several responsive projects and many major large directed research programmes from NERC, including: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability, Environmental Microbiology and Human Health, INSITE, Emerging Risks of Chemicals in the Environment, Understanding Urban Soil Properties, Functions, and Below-Ground Inter-Connections.

Our research is supported by state-of-the-art laboratory and facilities infrastructure, which includes the latest molecular ecology facilities (e.g. ddPCR, NGS and robotic high-throughput liquid handling systems), analytical equipment (including new triple-quadrupole GC-MS, and ICP-MS). We have large-scale mesocosm and microbiological cultivation facilities, as well as access to the marine and freshwater environments via our group’s new research vessels. 

Research degrees in Life Sciences

We have a vibrant postgraduate community, and are always keen to recruit new postgraduate research students (both PhD and Master of Science by Dissertation). Throughout the year we may have funded opportunities, such as PhD projects funded by NERC ARIES Doctoral Training Partnership.

Please feel free to contact individual group members if you are interested in postgraduate research or applying for postdoctoral fellowships. Many of our academics maintain lists of project areas that they are happy to supervise, and will be able to help you narrow down a research topic.

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Our research

Our research covers the whole spectrum of biology – from the cell right through to communities and ecosystems. Our dedicated research groups bring together experts for collaboration research projects that deliver real-world impact.

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Liz Lee Reynolds Research Manager