MEFGL current projects
Research grants
Modelling Arctic charr population dynamics to assess the outcome of management interventions.
PIs: Dr. Mat Seymour, Prof Gary Carvalho, Dr. Nigel Milner
Funded by KESS II
PollerGEN - Using molecular genetics to understand grass species pollen deposition: enhancing bio-aerosol models and implications for human health.
PIs: Prof. Simon Creer in collaboration with, Dr. Carsten Skjøth (University of Worcester), Dr. Natasha De Vere (Aberystwyth University/National Botanic Garden of Wales), Dr. Gareth Griffith (University of Aberystwyth), Dr. Nicholas Osborne (University of Exeter/ University of Sydney), Dr. Matthew Hegarty (University of Aberystwyth), Dr. Ben Wheeler (University of Exeter), Adam Barber (Met Office), Yolanda Clewlow (Met Office), Rachel McInnes (Met Office)
Funded by NERC
Understanding the ecological relevance of eDNA in freshwater lotic ecosystems
PIs: Prof. Si Creer, Prof. Gary Carvalho and Dr. Mark de Bruyn in collaboration with Dr. Isabelle Durance and Prof. Steve Ormerod (Cardiff University), Prof. Bridget Emmet and Dr. Bernard Cosby (CEH, Bangor), Dr. François Edwards (CEH, Wallingford), Holly Bik (University of California, Riverside) and Prof. John Colbourne (University of Birmingham).
Funded by NERC
Glastir Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (GMEP): Soil biodiversity
Foundation work performed by Dr. Delphine Lallias
PIs: Prof. Si Creer in collaboration with Prof. Davey Jones, School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Dr. James MacDonald, Dr. David Robinson (Team Leader: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor) and the wider GMEP team, led by CEH Bangor.
Funded by The Welsh Government/EU
Origin, evolution and functional diversification of venom in bony and cartilaginous fish.
PI: Dr. Nicholas Casewell
Funded by NERC
FISHPROBIO: Understanding aquaculture fish health via microbial metagenomics
Dr. Martin Llewelyn, Marie Curie Fellow
PIs: Prof. Si Creer, Prof. Gary Carvalho and Dr. Martin Taylor in Collaboration with Dr Nicolas Derome and Prof. Louis Bernatchez, University of Laval
Funded by Marie Curie Actions
DNA barcoding and phylogeography of Malaysian marine fish
PIs: Prof. Gary Carvalho and Dr. Martin Taylor, Mark De Bruyn and Siti Azizah (USM)
Supported by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia
Multidisciplinary approaches to biodiversity
analysis: Testing evolutionary hypotheses in South-East Asian
freshwater taxa
PI: Dr.
Mark de Bruyn and Prof. Gary Carvalho in collaboration with Prof.
Peter Ng & Dr. Rudolf Meier, Raffles Museum, University
of Singapore, Dr.
Lukas Ruber, Natural History Museum, London, Dr.
Thomas von Rintelen, Berlin Museum of Natural History, Dr.
Daisy Wowor, Curator of Crustacea, Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense,
Indonesia and Dr. Estu Nugroho, Director of Freshwater Fisheries
Research, Jakarta, Indonesia
Funded by The
European Community
Research studentships
FISHeEST – The development and validation of an eDNA tool for monitoring the ecological status of estuarine water bodies using fish.
Thomas Ian Gibson (2017 to 2021)
Supervisors: Professor Simon Creer, Professor Gary Carvalho and Dr Matt Seymour.
External Collaborators: Dr Tristan Hatton-Ellis (Natural Resources Wales), Professor Stefano Mariani (University of Salford) and Lori Lawson Handley (University of Hull).
PhD project funded by KESS II and NRW
Investigating the value of gardens for providing floral resources to insect pollinators
Abigail Lowe (2017-)
Supervisors: Prof. Si Creer in collaboration with Dr Natasha de Vere (National Botanic Garden of Wales)
PhD Project funded by KESS II
A pre-emptive integrated impact assessment of an introduced snake in North Wales
Tom Major (2017-)
Supervisors Dr. Wolfgang Wüster, Dr John Mulley, and Nick Jackson (Zoological Society of Wales).
PhD project funded by the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships II.
Understanding the foraging preferences of honey bees, to ensure healthy colonies for honey production and pollination services
Laura Jones (2015-)
Supervisors Prof. Si Creer in collaboration with Dr Natasha de Vere (National Botanic Garden of Wales)
PhD Project funded by KESS
Prof. Si Creer
Dr Natasha de Vere
Feeding and grazing ecology of the mesozooplankton of the Amundsen Sea polynya, Antarctica
Rebekah Newstead
Supervisors: Supervisors: Dr Stephanie Wilson, Dr Luis Giminez, Prof. Si Creer
PhD Project funded by NERC
Developing Novel Genetic Tools for the Conservation and Management of Manta and Mobula rays.
Jane Hosegood
Supervised by: Prof. Gary Carvalho, Dr Mark de Bruyn and Dr Rob Ogden (Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network).
PhD Project funded by NERC through the ENVISION DTP, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Save Our Seas Foundation.
Metagenetic approaches to studying marine food webs: support for ecosystem based fisheries management
Phil Lamb, based at the University of East Anglia (UEA)
Supervisors Dr. Martin Taylor (UEA), Dr. Richard Davies (UEA), Dr. Ewan Hunter (CEFAS), Dr. John Pinnegar (CEFAS) and Prof. Si Creer (Bangor University).
PhD Project funded by NERC EnvEast DTP and CEFAS
Aquatrace: Quantifying the growth differences between farmed and wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)
Alison Harvey
Supervisors Prof. Gary R Carvalho, Prof. Si Creer, Dr. Kevin Glover (IMR) and Dr. Martin Taylor (UEA)
PhD project funded by the EU 7th Framework Programme
Assessing the impact of Freshwater Protected Areas through next-generation sequencing of environmental DNA
Alice Evans (2013-)
Supervisors Dr. Mark de Bruyn, Prof. Si Creer, and Prof. Gary Carvalho
PhD Project funded by NERC
Understanding the microbial mechanisms underpinning the release of carbon from peatland ecosystems Caitlin Potter
Supervisors Prof. Si Creer in collaboration with Prof. Chris Freeman, Prof. Peter Golyshin, Dr. James McDonald and Dr. Nathalie Fenner
PhD Project funded by HPC Wales/Fujitsu
Evolution of Corydoradinae catfishes
Supervisors Dr. Martin Taylor, Dr. Si Creer and Prof. Gary R Carvalho
PhD Project funded by NERC
Employing genome scans to elucidate the genetic basis of adaptive variation in life histories
Supervisors Prof. Gary R Carvalho, Dr. Martin Taylor and Prof. Si Creer in collaboration with Dr. Katherine Steele and Dr. Cock Van Oosterhout (University of East Anglia)
PhD Project funded by Bangor University
Enhancing freshwater ecosystem biomonitoring: defining and testing a next generation sequencing identification framework.
Supervisors Prof. Simon Creer and Prof. Gary R Carvalho, in collaboration with the UK Environment Agency, and Dr. Mehrdad Hajibabaei (University of Guelph)
PhD Project funded by Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships programme