Professor Simon Creer
Professor of Molecular Ecology

Affiliations
Links
- http://mefgl.bangor.ac.uk/staff/si.php
Personal website
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
- Article › Research › Peer-reviewed
- Published
Molecular characterization of a marine turtle tumor epizootic, profiling external, internal and postsurgical regrowth tumors
Yetsko, K., Farrell, J., Blackburn, N. B., Whitmore, L., Stammnitz, M. R., Whilde, J., Eastman, C., Ramia, D. R., Thomas, R., Krstic, A., Linser, P., Creer, S., Carvalho, G., Devlin, M. A., Nahvi, N., Leandro, A. C., deMaar, T. W., Burkhalter, B., Murchison, E. P., Schnitzler, C. & Duffy, D., 1 Feb 2021, In: Communications Biology. 4, 1, 152.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Molecular ecology of microbiomes in the wild: Common pitfalls, methodological advances and future directions
Fountain-Jones, N. M., Giraud, T., Zinger, L., Bik, H., Creer, S. & Videvall, E., 12 Jan 2024, In: Molecular Ecology. 33, 2, e1723.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Multiple causation of phylogeographical pattern as revealed by nested clade analysis of the bamboo viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri) within Taiwan.
Creer, S., Malhotra, A., Thorpe, R. S. & Chou, W. H., 1 Aug 2001, In: Molecular Ecology. 10, 8, p. 1967-1981Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
New evidence on the phylogenetic position of the poorly known Asian pitviper Protobothrops kaulbacki (Serpentes : Viperidae : Crotalinae) with a redescription of the species and a revision of the genus Protobothrops.
Guo, P., Malhotra, A., Li, P. P., Pook, C. E. & Creer, S., 1 Oct 2007, In: Herpetological Journal. 17, 4, p. 237-246Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Novel insights into marine fish biodiversity across a pronounced environmental gradient using replicated environmental DNA analyses
Czachur, M. V., Seymour, M., Creer, S. & von der Heyden, S., 1 Jan 2022, In: Environmental DNA. 4, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Offshore insular variation in the diet of the Taiwanese bamboo viper Trimeresurus stejnegeri (Schmidt)
Creer, S., Chou, W. H., Malhotra, A. & Thorpe, R. S., 1 Aug 2002, In: Zoological Science. 19, 8, p. 907-913Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
On the application of molecular barcodes in toxinological research
Creer, S., 1 Nov 2005, In: Toxicon. 46, 6, p. 709-710Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Optimal intron analyses in the Trimeresurus radiation of Asian pitvipers.
Creer, S., Pook, C. E., Malhotra, A. & Thorpe, R. S., 1 Feb 2006, In: Systematic Biology. 55, 1, p. 57-72Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Parasitism perturbs the mucosal microbiome of Atlantic Salmon
Llewellyn, M. S., Leadbeater, S., Garcia, C., Sylvain, F.-E., Custodio, M., Ang, K. P., Powell, F., Carvalho, G., Creer, S., Elliot, J. & Derome, N., 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 43465.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Performance of amplicon and shotgun sequencing for accurate biomass estimation in invertebrate community samples
Bista, I., Carvalho, G., Tang, M., Walsh, K., Zhou, X., Hajibabaei, M., Shokralla, S., Seymour, M., Bradley, D., Liu, S., Christmas, M. & Creer, S., Sept 2018, In: Molecular Ecology Resources. 18, 5, p. 1020-1034Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Persistent Gaps and Errors in Reference Databases Impede Ecologically Meaningful Taxonomy Assignments in 18S rRNA Studies: A Case Study of Terrestrial and Marine Nematodes
De Santiago, A., Pereira, T. J., Ferrero, T. J., Barnes, N., Lallias, D., Creer, S. & Bik, H., 1 Apr 2025, In: Environmental DNA. 7, 2, e70080.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Phylogenomics and species delimitation for effective conservation of manta and devil rays
Hosegood, J., Humble, E., Ogden, R., De Bruyn, M., Creer, S., Stevens, G. M. W., Abudaya, M., Bassos-Hull, K., Bonfil, R., Fernando, D., Foote, A., Hipperson, H., Jabado, R. W., Kaden, J., Moazzam, M., Peel, L. R., Pollett, S., Ponzo, A., Poortvliet, M., Salah, J., Senn, H., Stewart, J. D., Wintner, S. & Carvalho, G., Dec 2020, In: Molecular Ecology. 29, 24, p. 4783-4796Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plant and soil communities are associated with the response of soil water repellency to environmental stress
Seaton, F., Jones, D. L., Creer, S., George, P., Smart, S. M., Lebron, I., Barrett, G., Emmett, B. & Robinson, D., 15 Oct 2019, In: Science of the Total Environment. 687, p. 929-938Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plastic and Heritable Components of Phenotypic Variation in Nucella lapillus: An Assessment Using Reciprocal Transplant and Common Garden Experiments
Hughes, R. N., Pascoal, S., Carvalho, G. R., Creer, S., Rock, J., Kawaii, K., Mendo, S. & Hughes, R., 27 Jan 2012, In: PLoS ONE. 7, 1, p. e30289Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plastic responses to past environments shape adaptation to novel selection pressures
Coates, S., Comeault, A., Wood, D. P., Fay, M. F., Creer, S., Osborne, O., Dunning, L. T. & Papadopulos, A. S. T., 30 Jan 2025, In: PNAS. 122, 5, e2409541122.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plasticity in growth of farmed and wild Atlantic salmon: is the increased growth rate of farmed salmon caused by evolutionary adaptations to the commercial diet?
Harvey, A., Solberg, M. F., Troianou, E., Carvalho, G., Taylor, M. I., Creer, S., Dyrhovden, L., Matre, I. H. & Glover, K. A., 1 Dec 2016, In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. 2016, 16, 264.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plasticity in response to feed availability: Does feeding regime influence the relative growth performance of domesticated, wild and hybrid Atlantic salmon Salmo salar parr?
Harvey, A., Solberg, M. F., Glover, K. A., Taylor, M. I., Creer, S. & Carvalho, G., 1 Sept 2016, In: Journal of Fish Biology. 89, 3, p. 1754-1768Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Predicting function from sequence in a large multifunctional toxin family
Malhotra, A., Creer, S., Harris, J. B., Stöcklin, R., Favereau, P. & Thorpe, R. S., 3 Jul 2013, In: Toxicon. 72, p. 113-125Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Predicting the severity of the grass pollen season and the effect of climate change in Northwest Europe
Kurganskiy, A., Creer, S., De Vere, N., Griffith, G. W., Osborne, N. J., Wheeler, B. W., McInnes, R. N., Clewlow, Y., Barber, A., Brennan, G., Hanlon, H. M., Hegarty, M. J., Potter, C., Rowney, F. M., Adams-Groom, B., Petch, G. M., Pashley, C. H., Satchwell, J., De Weger, L. A., Rasmussen, K., Oliver, G., Sindt, C., Bruffaerts, N., The PollerGEN Consortium & Skjoth, C. A., 26 Mar 2021, In: Science Advances. 7, 13, eabd7658.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Primer and database choice affect fungal functional but not biological diversity findings in a national soil survey
George, P., Creer, S., Griffiths, R. I., Emmett, B. A., Robinson, D. A. & Jones, D. L., 1 Nov 2019, In: Frontiers in Environmental Science. 7, 173.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach
Fonseca, V. G., Sinninger, F., Gaspar, J. M., Quince, C., Creer, S., Power, D., Peck, L. S. & Clark, M. S., 21 Jul 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 6094.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
SNP Discovery in European Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, L) by High-Throughput Transcriptome and Genome Sequencing
Montes, I., Conklin, D., Albania, A., Creer, S., Carvalho, G. R., Santos, M. & Estonba, A., 1 Aug 2013, In: PLoS ONE. 8, 8, p. e70051Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem
Broman, E., Raymond, C., Sommer, C., Gunnarsson, J. S., Creer, S. & Nascimento, F. J. A., Aug 2019, In: Molecular Ecology. 28, 16, p. 3813-3829 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Sample richness and genetic diversity as drivers of chimera formation in nSSU metagenetic analyses
Fonseca, V. G., Nichols, B., Lallias, D., Quince, C., Carvalho, G. R., Power, D. M. & Creer, S., 25 Jan 2012, In: Nucleic Acids Research. 40, 9, p. e66Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Sample size effects on the assessment of eukaryotic diversity and community structure in aquatic sediments using high-throughput sequencing
Nascimento, F. J. A., Lallias, D., Bik, H. M. & Creer, S., 6 Aug 2018, In: Scientific Reports. 8Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review