Microlab@Bristol
Studying microbial life in extreme cryo-environments
MicroLab@Bristol employs a range of laboratory, field and modeling techniques to study how life excels in extreme cryo-environments and its role in globally relevant processes. We also work closer to home on several marine and freshwater topics.
See Our News, Research, Galleries
Some current research projects
Photophysiology: investigating the dynamics and variety of the photosynthetic mechanisms in snow and glacier algae.
AI for Algal Monitoring: developing new AI tools to automate high-throughput microalgal screening for the UK water industry – details to come soon!
CASP-ICE: a MicroLab-led initiative to unite world leaders in snow/glacial algal research to align methods and undertake standardised global sampling.
iDAPT: examining the role of the cryosphere in driving one of the biggest transitions in Earth’s history – the evolution of land plants.
GLASS: Glacier algal sampling strategies. Developing new method for bloom monitoring and ground truth dataset production
PaleoBloom: studying the geological history of Earth’s glacial biosphere and what it means for today
Microlab@Bristol News
Dec 25: Ben passes his MScR viva! Huge congratulations to Ben Johnson who passed his MScR viva on the spatial structuring of Greenland glacier algal blooms. Many thanks to his examiers, Prof. David Richards and Prof. Andrew Tedstone. Stay turned for the associated publication and much more to come form Ben’s PhD on the same topic!
Nov 25: NEW PAPER in LnO Methods: After ten years, Chris and colleague Bruno Jesus finally publish their open-source R Shiny App for advanced Imaging-PAM data analyses! Great effort over a long period! See the paper here!
Oct 25: MicroLab helps Phycologia Art Exhibition: MicroLab proud to support the Phycologia exhibition at Bristol’s Centrespace Gallery showcasing the importance of microalgae using the bioluminescent Pyrocystis lunula.
Oct 25: NEW PAPER out by MicroLab’s Maddy Lewis: Great new paper out by Maddy examining the micro-melt aqueous geochemistry of glacier algal communities sampled across three glaciers in Svalbard – lovely work!
Sept 25: Months of snow algal incubations draw to a close. MicroLab MScR student Anastasia finishes her 5-month series of snow algal incubations, investigating physiology responses to light treatments. Time for data analysis and writing!!
Sept 25: MicroLab Presentation at the 5th National Climate Impacts and Risks Meeting Holy Liken gave a well recieved talk at the National Climates Meeting on how AI can fill the gap when predicting climate-exacerbated water quality risks!
Sept 25: MScR thesis submission and start of PhD: Ben Johnson gets his Masters-by-Research thesis submitted and begins his PhD with MicroLab@Bristol continuing to study the spatial structure of glacier algal blooms at multiple scales – Well done Ben!
Jul/Aug/Sep 25: Chris and Ben undertake extensive Arctic fieldwork in Sweden: A long summer of fieldwork has just finished in the Swedish Arctic, using POLARIN and Tarfala Research Station funding and support to study in high-resolution the spatial structure of glacier algal blooms as they evolve through space and time – amazing summer, check out fieldwork pics soon!
Aug 25: MicroLab presentation at Tarfala Research Station 80th Anniversary conference in Stockholm: Ben Johnson (MScR candidate) presented his poster on project GLASS (Glacier algal sampling strategies) at the TRS conference, where we’ve been conducting our GLASS fieldwork this summer.
Jul 25: NEW PAPER out with contributions from MicroLab: Great new paper out by Shunan Feng on how to better delineate and use dark ice thresholds when studying biological and abiotic darkening processes on ice using remote sensing datasets. Nice work Shunan!
Apr 25: Chris awarded Leverhulme Research Fellowship!! Another great grant outcome this month – Chris has been awarded a 1-year Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship to study the distribution and importance of glacial life throughout Earth’s geological history. Details on the project will appear on the website over the coming months.
Mar 25: MicroLab awarded POLARIN grant!! Chris and Ben awarded POLARIN grant in the first round of the new funding scheme for access to polar fieldwork infrastructure. A summer of Swedish Arctic fieldwork lies ahead!!
Mar 25: MicroLab contributes to new paper New paper published by previous MicroLab visiting PhD student on bioprospecting of cold-adapted bacteria for plant growth promotion. Well done Muhammad!
Feb 25: MicroLab awarded TRS grant Ben Johnson, MicroLab MScR student, has been awarded a Tarfala Research Station Masters Student Grant award to visit the Swedish research station in summer 2025 for some spatially-resolved glacier algal bloom sampling. Well done Ben!!
Feb 25: Dr Broadwell passes her PhD viva!! Emily (now Dr Broadwell) passed her PhD viva with flying colours! Fantastic job! We wish her the best of luck as she moves over to Aarhus University for a post-doc position
Jan 25: Patagonian field expedition Chris and Paulina undertake amazing field expedition to sample the glaciers of Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia and make new connections on the CASP-ICE project. Field work pics to follow soon in Our Galleries section
Jan 25: Tools of the Trade Research Highlight Maddy Lewis, MicroLab PhD Student publishes Tools of the Trade piece showing her novel method for sampling micromelt fractions of supraglacial ice
Dec 24: New paper accepted for publication! Chris’ paper outlining a new PAM method that allows to constrain glacier algal in situ photophysiology has been accepted for publication in EJP. Link in the publications page to come soon.
Dec 24: Emily Broadwell submits her PhD thesis!!! Massive congratulations to Emily for getting her thesis submitted that covers extensive lab incubations, molecular studies and ecophysiology studies across Arctic, Alpine and Antarctic systems! Amazing – well done Em!
Nov 24: MicroLab attends the SAM meeting (Snow Algal Meeting) in Bødo, Norway. Chris speaks on the CASP-ICE network, Emily on her work on Signy Island and Jaz on their biofilm formation work from Morteratsch. Thanks to the organisers for a great meeting!!
Sept 24: MicroLab recruits FIVE new Masters by Research students working on topics ranging cold-adaptation of algae (Ben), cold-environment biogeochemistry (Anastasia), AI tools for algal monitoring (Joey), N2O emission reduction (Katie) and improving farming practices (Rose) – see our Teams page to meet the new MicroLab members. Welcome to all!
Sept 24: Sonia gives a very well received talk on MicroLab’s AI for Algal Monitoring Ofwat project at the University of Bristol technicians conference. Well done Sonia!
June/Aug/Sept 24: Jaz et al. have been out leading long-term fieldwork on Morteratsch glacier, Switzerland, to study the progression of glacier algal blooms throughout the whole melt season. Shame to see the snout of Morteratsch glacier crumbling.
Aug 24: Opinion piece by MicroLab’s Maddy Lewis and Emily Broadwell on ‘Mental Health in Polar Scientists‘ now available in a PLoS collection – nice work guys!
Aug 24: Chris promoted to Associate Professor! Many thanks to all the MicroLab team for all their support and hard work to get me there!
July 24: Chris takes part in some EPIC field work on the Greenland Ice Sheet sampling for both iDAPT and CASP-ICE projects in collaboration with the Deep Purple crew – check out some of the field work photos…
June 24: Excellent MicroLab@Bristol piece in The Conversation on glacier algae, evolution and the cryosphere by iDAPT postdoc Alex Bowles!
June 24: Major MicroLab paper published!! We’ve published the first genome data for Ancylonema glacier algae and interrogated it in the context of glacier algal evolution, cold adaptation and links to snow ball Earth!! Amazing output from our Leverhulme Trust iDAPT project built on years of hard work!! Well done to Alex Bowles the postdoc and lead author.
June 24: MicroLab visits Nantes University, France. Chris enjoys an excellent week at Nantes University with Dr Bruno Jesus to finally finish their new ‘pamfit’ R Shiny application/package for interactive pixel-wise fitting of Imaging PAM rapid light curve datasets! Paper to follow soon!
May 24: MicroLab teaching field science in Arolla. Great week in Arolla, Switzerland for Chris leading the Year 2 geography students on their field course to learn current field and lab methods.
Apr 24: A successful CASP-ICE workshop! Chris brought together leaders in snow and glacier algal researcher from across the world for three days of discussions on the new UKRI funded CASP-ICE network, moving toward a global network of snow/glacier algal monitoring across the world!
Feb 24: New MicroLab paper alert, based on the fieldwork carried out by the team at Morteratsch Glacier in 2022, this paper looks at the potential controls on glacier algae biomass distribution. Paper here!
Feb 24: Signy trip underway! PhD student Emily Broadwell is down south for 2 months investigating snow and glacier algal blooms on Signy Island, Antarctica. More info here!
Jan 24: MicroLab@Bristol goes to the BPS! Chris Williamson, group lead of MicroLab@Bristol, gave a keynote talk about the AI project and a second CASP-ICE talk. Jaz Millar also gave a keynote talk as the 2022 recipient of the Manton Prize before the presentations for this years prize commenced.
Dec 23: Holly Liken accepts PhD position with MicroLab, on our AI for Algal Monitoring project. Holy is a UoB graduate and will lead the machine learning aspects of the project – Welcome Holly!
Nov 23: MicroLab featured in BBC Radio 4s ‘Poet Laureate in the Arctic’ series, accompanying our field team in Svalbard! Check our episode 4 here!
Nov 23: MicroLab begins new CASP-ICE project and launches the CASP-ICE network with > 20 leaders in snow and glacier algal research! Want to be involved? See here…
Oct 23: New MicroLab@Bristol pre-print available – want to know the secrets of the glacier algal genome and its insights into the evolution of life on ice and land??? see here! Nice work Alex Bowles and the iDAPT team!
Oct 23: MicroLab recruits Sonia Giulietti as new Research Technician on the AI for Algal Monitoring project – welcome Sonia, can’t wait to get started!
Sep 23: MicroLab begins ‘AI for Algal Monitoring’ Ofwat funded project with partners at Cardiff Uni, Welsh Water, Wessex Water, Anglian Water and United Utilities – lots of work to come but a great project ahead!
Aug 23: MicroLab attend the European Phycological Congress in Brest, France. Chris gave a keynote presentation, Alex a presentation on our new glacier algal genome paper and Emily a poster on her incubation studies – all well received!
Jul 23: MicroLab is Recruiting!! We have x2 positions on the cards on our new “AI for Algal Monitoring” project starting Sept 2023. See here for details.
Jul 23: First paper from Emily’s PhD accepted for publication!! This details adaptation versus plastic snow algal responses to dominant environmental stressors. Well done Emily! Full paper will be listed here soon.
Jul 23: MicroLab awarded CASS support from the British Antarctic Survey to send Emily down to Signy Island. in the 23/24 season for some deep south snow/glacier algal sampling!!
Jul 23: MicroLab is Recruiting!! We have x2 positions on the cards on our new “AI for Algal Monitoring” project starting Sept 2023. See here for details.
Jul 23: MicroLab hits the field!! Jaz, Emily and Maddy head to Svalbard for 1 month’s Arctic field work on the iDAPT project and others! Watch @MicroLabBristo1 on twitter for updates!
May 23: MicroLab@Bristol awarded an Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge3 research grant! Our project “AI for Algal Monitoring” will produce the next generation algal community monitoring tools for the UK water industry. Opportunities for x2 PhD studentships and x1 Research Technician to be announced soon!
Apr 23: Muhammad Irfan joins MicroLab@Bristol to begin his 4-month fellowship studying the microbiology and biogeochemistry of glacial flour from Gulkan Glacier, Pakistan.
Mar 23: Chris Williamson, group lead of MicroLab@Bristol, takes part in a Keck Institute of Space Studies workshop on Targetting Microhabitats for Life Detection at Caltech, USA – an amazing experience!
Feb 23: MicroLab@Bristol wins a Summer Undergraduate Internship grant to support an undergraduate student to join our summer 2023 field work campaign in Svalbard, Norway.
Feb 23: MicroLab@Bristol and Prof. Elisabeth Cooper win a Bristol Next Generation Visiting Researcher grant to develop research on Arctic snow-microbial-plant interactions in a changing climate.
Jan 23: Muhammad Irfan wins an International Research Support Initiative from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan to undertake a PhD fellowship placement with MicroLab@Bristol. Well done Muhammad!
Jan 23: Professor Elisabeth Cooper from the The Arctic University of Norway starts a research sabbatical with MicroLab@Bristol. Welcome Elisabeth!
Dec 22: Rachel Pickford successfully defends her Masters thesis after studying the flow of nutrients and energy through snowpack communities. Papers to follow! Well done Rachel!!
Nov 22: New paper out from MicroLab@Bristol in Trends in Plant Sciences on the origin and early evolution of plants
Sep 22: Paulina Uribe starts her PhD with MicroLab@Bristol, studying the role of cyanobacteria in glacier fore-field colonisation with Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo as lead supervisor.
Sep 22: Maddy Lewis starts her PhD with MicroLab@Bristol, studying the microhabitat of glacier dwelling microbes in collaboration with Liz Thomas at the British Antarctic Survey BAS and Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo.
Aug 22: Jaz, Emily, Alex and Chris from MicroLab@Bristol run a great field campaign at Morteratsch glacier, Switzerland, for iDAPT field sampling, taking some first measurements with our photosynthetron.
Jul 22: Chris Williamson, group lead of MicroLab@Bristol, promoted to Senior Lecturer. Many thanks to all the mentors and group members that have helped me through my career so far!
May 22: New paper out by the wonderful Laura Perini with MicroLab contributions studying the interactions of fungi and algae on the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Mar 22: First R&D trip over to Photon Systems Instruments in the Czech Republic to design our iDAPT project “photosynthetron” for novel field measurements of microbial communities in glacial environments
Feb 22: Two new papers out with MicroLab@Bristol contributions – one by Alex Holland on nitrogen speciation during snowpack melt in Greenland, the other by Tris Irvine-Fynn on Greenland bare ice albedo
Dec 21: Jaz Millar accepts 3-year PDRA position with MicroLab@Bristol on the Leverhulme Trust funded iDAPT project.
New Microlab@Bristol paper in Frontiers in Plant Science, shows how the cellular nutrient content of glacier algae deviates from Redfield stoichiometry and is likely an adaptation to surface ice conditions
Another contribution from Microlab@Bristol to a great Nature Comms paper on the storage and export of microbes across the Western Greenland Ice Sheet.
MicroLab@Bristol is recruiting for both a 2.5 month research assistant role on our JGI funded machine learning project, AND a Cabot Masters by Research student on the same topic (same person could bag both!)
Alex Bowles accepts 3-year postdoc position with MicroLab@Bristol on the Leverhulme Funded iDAPT project.
MicroLab@Bristol awarded 4 year Leverhulme Trust research grant for project iDAPT.
Carmen Espinosa Angona accepts 1-year modeling PDRA project in MicroLab@Bristol
Miranda Nicholes successfully defends her PhD thesis to become Dr Nicholes!!!
Thanks for visiting