Dr Gareth Williams
Reader / Director of Impact and Engagement
Affiliations
Links
- https://www.bangor.ac.uk/oceansciences/staff/gareth-williams
Department Home Page - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EfvZsI8AAAAJ&hl=en
Google Scholar Page
Contact info
Room: 303 Craig Mair Phone: +44(0)1248 382588
E-mail: g.j.williams@bangor.ac.uk Twitter
I graduated in Marine Biology (University of Liverpool) in 2004 and completed an MSc in Marine Environmental Protection (Bangor University) in 2006. I began a PhD in Marine Biology (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) in 2007 in coral disease ecology, combining macroecology, experimental ecology, and histopathology to identify disease baselines and drivers of disease prevalence on Pacific coral reefs. A focus study site of mine was Palmyra Atoll, an uninhabited atoll in the Northern Line Islands. After obtaining my PhD in 2011, I was awarded a post-doctoral scholarship at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego (UCSD) where I continued to work on the macroecology of Pacific coral reefs. This role at Scripps transitioned into an Assistant Project Scientist position within the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation in 2013. I left Scripps in late 2015 to return to the UK and take up my full-time role within the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University.
I am a marine ecologist specialising in coral reef ecology. My work focuses on the interaction of organisms with their environment, often taking a macroecological approach. I am particularly interested in how human activities and natural biophysical gradients interact to drive community patterns across multiple trophic levels (microbes to sharks) and scales (individual reefs to entire ocean basins). Much of my work incorporates remote coral reefs free from direct human impact, providing key replication at the unimpacted end of an intact-to-degraded ecosystem spectrum. By surveying across extensive geographical areas we address broad questions pertaining to: 1. the human, climatic and oceanographic drivers of coral reef ecosystem structure and function, 2. climate change impacts to coral reef ecosystems, 3. the spatial ecology of coral reefs, and 4. disease dynamics on coral reefs.
Research Areas
- 2012
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Black reefs: iron-induced phase shifts on coral reefs
Kelly, L. W., Barott, K. L., Dinsdale, E., Friedlander, A. M., Nosrat, B., Obura, D., Sala, E., Sandin, S. A., Smith, J. E., Vermeij, M. J. A., Williams, G. J., Willner, D. & Rohwer, F., Mar 2012, In: The ISME Journal. 6, 3, p. 638-649Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Environmental Factors Affecting Large-Bodied Coral Reef Fish Assemblages in the Mariana Archipelago
Richards, B. L., Williams, I. D., Vetter, O. J. & Williams, G. J., 27 Feb 2012, In: PLoS ONE. 7, 2, e31374.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Natural history of coral-algae competition across a gradient of human activity in the Line Islands
Barott, K. L., Williams, G. J., Vermeij, M. J. A., Harris, J., Smith, J. E., Rohwer, F. L. & Sandin, S. A., 2012, In: Marine Ecology Progress Series. 460, p. 1-12Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 2011
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Outbreak of Acropora white syndrome following a mild bleaching event at Palmyra Atoll, Northern Line Islands, Central Pacific
Williams, G., Knapp, I. S., Work, T. M. & Conklin, E. J., Sept 2011, In: Coral Reefs. 30, 3, p. 621-621Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Proximate environmental drivers of coral communities at Palmyra Atoll: Establishing baselines prior to removing a WWII military causeway
Williams, G. J., Knapp, I. S., Maragos, J. E. & Davy, S. K., Aug 2011, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 62, 8, p. 1842-1851Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Patterns of Coral Disease across the Hawaiian Archipelago: Relating Disease to Environment
Aeby, G. S., Williams, G. J., Franklin, E. C., Kenyon, J., Cox, E. F., Coles, S. & Work, T. M., 31 May 2011, In: PLoS ONE. 6, 5Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Spatial and temporal patterns of scleractinian coral, soft coral, and zoanthid disease on a remote, near-pristine coral reef (Palmyra Atoll, central Pacific)
Williams, G. J., Knapp, I. S., Aeby, G. S. & Davy, S. K., 6 Apr 2011, In: Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 94, 2, p. 89-100Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Growth Anomalies on the Coral Genera Acropora and Porites Are Strongly Associated with Host Density and Human Population Size across the Indo-Pacific
Aeby, G. S., Williams, G. J., Franklin, E. C., Haapkyla, J., Harvell, C. D., Neale, S., Page, C. A., Raymundo, L., Vargas-Angel, B., Willis, B. L., Work, T. M. & Davy, S. K., 18 Feb 2011, In: PLoS ONE. 6, 2Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in Cnidaria from Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific
Williams, G. J., Work, T. M., Aeby, G. S., Knapp, I. S. & Davy, S. K., Feb 2011, In: Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 106, 2, p. 165-173Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 2010
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Modeling patterns of coral bleaching at a remote Central Pacific atoll
Williams, G. J., Knapp, I. S., Maragos, J. E. & Davy, S. K., Sept 2010, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 60, 9, p. 1467-1476Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Disease dynamics of Montipora white syndrome within Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii: distribution, seasonality, virulence, and transmissibility
Aeby, G. S., Ross, M., Williams, G., Lewis, T. D. & Work, T. M., 26 Jul 2010, In: Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 91, 1, p. 1-8Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Predictive Modeling of Coral Disease Distribution within a Reef System
Williams, G. J., Aeby, G. S., Cowie, R. O. M. & Davy, S. K., 17 Feb 2010, In: PLoS ONE. 5, 2, e9264.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- 2008
- Published
Quantitative characterisation of reef fish diversity among nearshore habitats in a northeastern New Zealand marine reserve.
Williams, G. J., Cameron, M. J., Turner, J. R. & Ford, R. B., 1 Mar 2008, In: New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 42, 1, p. 33-46Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Coral disease at Palmyra Atoll, a remote reef system in the Central Pacific
Williams, G., Aeby, G. S. & Davy, S. K., Mar 2008, In: Coral Reefs. 27, 1, p. 207-207Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review