Address:

309 Craig Mair

School of Ocean Sciences

Bangor University

Menai Bridge LL59 5AB

Wales, UK

Web: ResearchGate; Google Scholar

Overview: 

I am a lecturer in biological oceanography and an observational marine scientist with broad research interests lying at the interface between physical oceanography and marine ecology. I am interested in the following themes: marine optics and primary productivity; abiotic conditions and physical processes influencing the biogeography, structure, and function of marine ecosystems (both on the continental shelf and in the deep ocean); physical oceanographic phenomena and marine animal behaviour; ocean structure and circulation, global ocean change, and their implications for climate regulation and biophysical ecology.

I have a background in physics and ocean sciences, completing a Ph.D. (Bangor University, Wales) in 2015 on tidal modulation of seabed light and its implications for benthic algae. I completed post-docs in deep-sea research at Bangor and at the University of Bergen (Norway), before returning to the UK to work on an ocean-atmosphere climate change project, ArctiCONNECT (Bangor-Oxford), and an Agulhas leakage project, QUICCHE (Bangor). My lectureship at Bangor commenced in 2024.

Research Areas: Marine Ecology; Ocean Physics; Earth System Science and Climate Change.

Teaching

I teach oceanography across various undergraduate and master's level modules.

Supervision

Nuffield Research Placement Students:

• Bryn Harris (2016) - deep-sea research
• Gokul Krishna (2017) - deep-sea research

NERC Research Experience Placement Students:

• Richard Anderson (from Uni. Strathclyde; 2017) - water masses/sponge biogeography project

ERASMUS Research Internships:

• Florian Barge (from ENSTA-Bretagne; 2022) - Arctic wind forcing changes with sea-ice decline

M.Sc. Students:

• Christina Thiele (2013) - tidal light variation effects on the behaviour of starfish
• Heidi Meyer (2017) - spatial patterns and community composition of an Arctic sponge ground
• Mel Decker (2023) - Spatial distribution of the tidal modulation of seabed light
• Seren Jones (2024) - Light and the foraging behaviour of diving seabirds

M.Res. Students:

• Stef Krafft (2024-) - Temporal variations in Harbour Porpoise and Risso's Dolphin presence at a macrotidal site

Ph.D. Students:

• Heidi Meyer (2018-22) - Arctic deep-sea sponge ground ecosystems
• Vendant Vairagi (2025-) - Defrosting the Arctic Ocean Layer Cake

Grant Awards:

• ‘Researcher like me…’ – Supporting diversity in our research community through relatable role models and exemplar pathways to success (2024) - £2000 - (PI: Emyr Martyn Roberts, Co-I: Prof. Shelagh Malham; Prof. Yueng-Djern Lenn; Dr. Lynda Yorke; Gwyn Roberts; Dr. Tracey Lloyd (all Bangor University); Prof. Philip Asare (University of Toronto, Canada)). HEFCW Enhancing Research Culture

• ReAct - Revealing Climate Change Activism and Bias in Environmental Scientists (2023) - approx. £19,000 - NERC cross-discipline (Linguistics, Psychology, Ocean/Earth Sciences; PI: Emyr Martyn Roberts) research for Discovery Science

• EQUINOR Industry-Sponsored Research Project (2019) - approx. 1,000,000 NOK - investigation of hydrothermal vent sites near mid-ocean ridges (proposal contribution; grant currently managed by Dr. Pedro Ribeiro, University of Bergen)
• NERC Research Experience Placement Grant (2017) - approx. £2,500 - 8-week stipend for a student to work under my supervision mapping sponge species to water masses in the Nordic Seas

Projects (worked on):

• NERC-NSF QUICCHE project (Jan-Mar 2024)
• NERC-funded ArctiCONNECT project (2021-2023)
• EU Horizon 2020-funded SponGES project (2016-2020)
• NERC-funded BRITICE CHRONO and CLAM projects (2015-2016)
• NERC-funded DTP project (Ph.D.; 2010-2015) - Tidal modulation of seabed light
• NERC/MoD-funded project (2010) - Application of remote sensing to the measurement of marine particle sizes and their relation to turbulence.