Professor Simon Creer

Professor of Molecular Ecology

Contact info

I am interested in using contemporary molecular tools to address diverse questions focusing on biodiversity, ecology and evolution. This is a particularly exciting time in the field of molecular ecology, since advances in DNA sequencing throughput have recently offered a paradigm shift in our ability to assess previously intractable functional and taxonomic biodiversity at an unprecedented scale, augmenting existing biodiversity fields and empowering others. Using such technologies, I am testing a range of hypotheses regarding the alpha and beta functional and taxonomic diversity of macro-, meio- and microbial communities (e.g. microbiomes) in space and time, based on genomic, community and environmental DNA (eDNA). Focal habitats have included estuarine, coastal and deep sea environments with an increasing focus now on freshwater, terrestrial, whole organisms and the aerial biosphere in order to understand the drivers of diversity in natural communities and also how diversity is linked with ecological function, trophic relationships, environmental and human health. Current additional activities include phylogenomics, population genetics, life history evolution, polyploidy, pollination genomics.

Any funded Fellowship, postgraduate or postdoctoral positions will be advertised on the group website/social media feeds, but we also welcome enquiries from candidates seeking their own funding mechanisms, to develop future research collaborations.


Email: s.creer@bangor.ac.uk

Phone: +44(0)1248 382302

Address: School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK

URL: http://mefgl.bangor.ac.uk/staff/si.php

Twitter: @SiCreerProf

  1. Article › Research › Peer-reviewed
  2. Published

    Second-generation sequencing derived insights into the temporal biodiversity dynamics of freshwater protists.

    Creer, S., 1 Jul 2010, In: Molecular Ecology. 19, 14, p. 2829-2831

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. Published

    Sequencing our way towards understanding global eukaryotic biodiversity

    Bik, H. M., Porazinska, D., Creer, S., Caporaso, J. G., Knight, R. & Thomas, W. K., 1 Apr 2012, In: Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 27, 4, p. 233-243

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  4. Published

    Shifts in Soil Structure, Biological, and Functional Diversity Under Long-Term Carbon Deprivation

    George, P. B. L., Fidler, D. B., Van Nostrand, J. D., Atkinson, J. A., Mooney, S. J., Creer, S., Griffiths, R. I., McDonald, J. E., Robinson, D. A. & Jones, D. L., 14 Sept 2021, In: Frontiers in Microbiology. 12, 735022.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. Published

    Shifts in honeybee foraging reveal historical changes in floral resources

    Jones, L., Brennan, G. L., Lowe, A., Creer, S., Ford, C. R. & de Vere, N., 14 Jan 2021, In: Communications Biology. 4, 1, 37.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  6. Published

    Soil health cluster analysis based on national monitoring of soil indicators

    Seaton, F. M., Barrett, G., Burden, A., Creer, S., Fitos, E., Garbutt, A., Griffiths, R. I., Henrys, P., Jones, D. L., Keenan, P., Keith, A., Lebron, I., Maskell, L., Pereira, M. G., Reinsch, S., Smart, S. M., Williams, B., Emmett, B. A. & Robinson, D. A., Nov 2021, In: European Journal of Soil Science. 72, 6, p. 2414-2429 16 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. Published

    Soil textural heterogeneity impacts bacterial but not fungal diversity

    Seaton, F., George, P., Lebron, I., Jones, D. L., Creer, S. & Robinson, D. A., 1 May 2020, In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 144, 107766.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. Published

    Subtle shifts in microbial communities occur alongside the release of carbon induced by drought and rewetting in contrasting peatland ecosystems

    Potter, C., Freeman, C., Golyshin, P., Ackerman, G., Fenner, N., McDonald, J., Ehbair, A., Jones, T., Murphy, L. & Creer, S., Sept 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 11314.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  9. Published

    Systematics of the Protobothrops jerdonii complex (Serpentes, Viperidae, Crotalinae) inferred from morphometric data and molecular phylogeny.

    Guo, P., Malhotra, A., Li, C., Creer, S., Pook, P. E. & Wen, T., 1 Jul 2009, In: Herpetological Journal. 19, 2, p. 85-96

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. Published

    Targeting optimal introns for phylogenetic analyses in non-model taxa: experimental results in Asian pitvipers.

    Creer, S., Malhotra, A., Thorpe, R. S. & Pook, C. E., 1 Aug 2005, In: Cladistics. 21, 4, p. 390-395

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  11. Published

    Temperate airborne grass pollen defined by spatio-temporal shifts in community composition

    Brennan, G. L., Potter, C., De Vere, N., Griffith, G. W., Skjøth, C. A., Osborne, N. J., Wheeler, B. W., McInnes, R. N., Clewlow, Y., Barber, A., Hanlon, H. M., Hegarty, M., Jones, L., Kurganskiy, A., Rowney, F. M., Armitage, C., Adams-Groom, B., Ford, C. R., Petch, G. M., The PollerGEN Consortium & Creer, S., May 2019, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 3, 5, p. 750-754

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review