His previous research demonstrated that microbial activity at the surface of glaciers and ice sheets are responsible for significant carbon and nitrogen fixation with implications for biogeochemical cycles at local and global scales. His research combines molecular and biogeochemical approaches to determine microbial functionality and activity in the cryosphere.
He gained his PhD in Limnology from Lund University, Sweden in 2000. Professor Alex Anesio – Package Leader is Professor of Biogeochemistry in the Bristol Glaciology Centre at the University of Bristol.
My interests include rugby (Wales, Ebbw Vale and Bath), the mighty Wolves, Mets and Fins, music, poor photography, cooking, bird watching, bridge, allotmenteering, red wine and real ale. This is likely to be one of the key drivers, following the presence of liquid water, of microbial growth and pigmentation. I am particularly interested in how the microbes acquire and recycle nutrient from atmospheric and snow/ice sources. I have a long standing interest in the rock-water-microbe interactions, a spectrum of which will be occurring in the different microbiological niches on the surface of the ice sheet. My contribution to the project science will be to help define the geochemical and biogeochemical factors which impact of the growth of pigmented microorganisms in the snow and ice. What is there not to like about fronting up for this group of researchers?īlack and Bloom will undertake transformative work on the combination of physical, chemical and biological factors that control the albedo of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Our international project partners are eminent in their fields, and very generous with their help and support. We have a great team of established academics, four exceptionally talented post docs, and an expanding group of, currently three, bright, able and motivated post grads. All my scientific Christmases have come at once with this project. I have the pleasure, rather than the responsibility, of being the leader of Black and Bloom. See below to find out who is leading Black and Bloom, the scientists running our various working packages ( microbiology, particulates, albedo and modelling), and our invaluable advisers and collaborators.īlack and Bloom Principal Investigator – Professor Martyn Tranter, ORCHID ID: 0000-0003-2071-3094 The Black and Bloom team is made up of scientists from several UK universities, as well as numerous international collaborators.