Dr Christopher Williamson
PhD(Cardiff), BSc(N'cle)
Current positions
Associate Professor in Polar Microbiology
School of Geographical Sciences
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
My reserach experience is in the biology and geography of marine and freshwater algae, specializing in the synergy between macro/micro-algae and both natural and anthropogenic change. Current research includes i) algal life in the cryosphere, ii) the photophysiology of algae, iii) algae in a time of rapid environmental change, iv) genomic approaches to algae and microbiomes, v) algal calcification and skeletal mineralogy, and vi) taxonomy, phylogenetics and conservation of algae.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
CASP-ICE: Cryospheric Algal Sampling Protocols - International Collaboration and Exchange
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
01/11/2023 to 31/10/2025
Convolutional Neural Networks for Environmental Monitoring
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
09/12/2020 to 30/06/2021
Can Glacial Flour Stimulate Nitrogen Cycling in Cropland?
Principal Investigator
Role
Principal Investigator
Description
- GRF acts to increase Red Clover yield over the growth period compared to controls, particularly Icelandic GRF. This in turn enhances the amount of fixed nitrogen by amended legume…Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
24/09/2020 to 22/09/2022
BLACK and BLOOM: variations in the albedo of the Greenland Ice Sheet as a result of interactions between microbes and particulates.
Role
Co-Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
01/07/2015 to 30/06/2020
Thesis supervisions
Publications
Recent publications
24/02/2025New method provides first evidence of fine-scale in situ heterogeneity in glacier algal photophysiology
European Journal of Phycology
Alpine glacier algal bloom during a record melt year
Frontiers in Microbiology
Cryogenian origins of multicellularity in Archaeplastida
Genome Biology and Evolution
Metagenome-assembled genome of the glacier alga Ancylonema yields insights into the evolution of streptophyte life on ice and land
New Phytologist
Adaptation versus plastic responses to temperature, light, and nitrate availability in cultured snow algal strains
FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Related people
Dr Liz Bagshaw
Associate Professor in Polar Environmental Change
School of Geographical Sciences
Professor Philip Donoghue
Professor of Palaeobiology
School of Earth Sciences
Dr Fotis Sgouridis
Technical Expert
School of Geographical Sciences
Dr Tom Williams
Associate Professor in Molecular Evolution
School of Biological Sciences