Address:

School of Ocean Sciences

Bangor University

Isle of Anglesey, LL59 5AB

Room: 414 Westbury Mount  Phone: 01248 382598

Email: craig.robertson@bangor.ac.uk

Web:   Google Scholar        ResearchGate

After graduating in Appplied Marine Biology from Bangor University, including a year-long research internship at NIOZ working on deep-sea bacterio-plankton, I contitnued to complete an MSc in Marine Environemtal Protection at Bangor.
After University studies, I worked in the commercial marine science sector as a benthic taxonomist between 2008 and 2012, assessing benthic biodiversity in continental-shelf surveys from the UK and aborad. In 2012 I left this role to pursue a Ph.D. in the ecological functioning of submarine canyons. Post Ph.D., I returned to commercial marine science working as an offshore environemtal scientist, responsible for designing and implementing seabed surveys in and around offshore installations in the UK, West Africa and the Middle East. In 2019 I was appointed as lecture in Marine biology in the School of Ocean Sciences, within the teaching and scholarship team. 

My PhD focused on the ecosystem ecology of Mid Atlantic Bight submarine canyons, specifically Baltimore and Norfolk canyons, in the western North Atlantc. My thesis involved an ecosystem appraisal of the hydrodynamics, sediments & food supply influencing canyon habitats and benthic macrofauna communities and their contribution to canyon ecosystem function.

I am a benthic ecologist with expertise in benthic biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, trait-based approaches and disturbance ecology. I am particularly intersted in deep-sea and biogenic habitats focusing on the macrofaunal community ecology. 

Our work seeks to reach beyond the traditional assessment methods of biodiversity to a more inclusive ecosystem approach that considers the role of benthic organisims in mediating mediating key ecosystem processing and services. 

Our research involves unpicking how marine biodiversity and habitats contribute to the functioning of seafloor ecosystems across biotic and abiotic gradients. Habitats of interest include deep-sea and continental margin habitats, such as submarine canyons and cold-seeps, cold-water coral reefs and subtidal habitats. 
We use spatial and temporal empirical datasets to bridge the gaps between traditional taxonomic assessments of biodiversity and community assemblage functioning. 

• Marine Conservation and Resource Management
• Marine Ecology

 Current Teaching Responsibilities: 

I teach across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules in the School of Ocean Sciences. The main focus of my teaching is benthic marine benthic ecology and marine predators and data analysis. 

ONS-1001 Environemtal Data and Analysis

DNS-1003 Ecology and Evolution

OSX-3000 BSc Dissertation Project

OSX-3011 Extreme Marine Habitats

OSX-3020 Shark and their Relatives

OSX-4000 Marine Ecology Skills

OSX-4009 MSc Dissertation Project, Design and Planning 

I am always willing to supervise MRes and Ph.D. Contact me for further details.