Dr Gordon Paterson

Career

Education and Employment

Career

2003 - present    Associate Keeper  (Deputy Head of Department)

1995            Head of Division, Invertebrates II

1993            Chair, Biodiversity: Ecological Patterns Programme

1993            Principal Researcher, Nematode & Polychaete Research Group

1989            Senior Scientific Officer, Deep-Sea  Research Group

1987            Research Scientist, Deep-Sea  Research Group

1980            Research Scientist, Cnidaria Section

1976            Research Assistant, Echinoderm & Protochordate Section

Higher Education

1989-93        University of Wales, Ph.D. (external)

1972-76        Department of Zoology, University of St. Andrews. B.Sc (hons). Zoology

Professional Roles

Professional Roles

External links

2005 Honorary Visiting Research Fellow, University of Southampton

Grants

2008 Analyses of Canyon Fauna EU HERMES subcontract)

2007 Benthic Biodiversity of seamounts in the southwest Indian Ocean. NHM PI NERC

2007 Conference Travel grant (9^th International Polychaete Conference, Maine). Royal Society

2006 Tsunami impacts in Laem Son, Ranong Province, Thailand. NHM leader EU Pro Asian Fund

2006 Travel funds to visit NMNH Washington DC. CoML CeDAMar 

2006 Databasing abyssal polychaetes. CoML CeDAMar 

2005 Habitat assessment in Ranong – post tsunami impacts. EU CHARM 

2004 MarBEF NHM manager, contributor to Deepsets and PROPE Taxon RMPs EU DGXII 

2001- 2005: Systematics, gene flow and biogeography of polychaetes from the Clipperton Clarion Fracture zone. Kaplan Foundation 

1999 – 2002: Coastal Biodiversity in Ranong. Project Co-ordinator. EC Environment for Developing Countries 

1999 – 2002 Biodiversity Aysén Science Co-ordinator for NHM, member of Steering Group, Field programme. EC Environment for Developing Countries

1996 - 1998 Taxonomy across the Internet. Project Co-ordinator. Darwin Initiative 

1996 – 1998 Laguna San Rafael National Park Biodiversity Research Programme. NHM co-ordinator, Field programme, Darwin Initiative 

1997  -1999 Impact of predation on deep–sea benthos. Collaboration with Prof. J. Eckman and Prof. D. Thistle  National Science Foundation 

Research

Research Focus

Biodiversity of benthic ecosystems

Focusing on biodiversity of high diversity environments particularly the deep sea and tropical shallow seas

1) Diversity of polychaetes in the central equatorial Pacific. This is an international collaboration with Prof Craig Smith, University of Hawaii, Dr Lenaic Menot and Joelle Galeron, IFREMER, Prof Andy Gooday, National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton and Dr Adam Cook, International Seabed Authority assessing biodiversity across the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone manganese province using both morphological and molecular approaches.

2) Temporal change in NE Atlantic abyssal systems. This project is analysing changes in the infaunal assemblages over the past 10 years, using polychaetes as a exemplar. The results to date suggest that there is a much closer link between upper ocean productivity and abyssal ecosystems that was previously thought. This project is a collaboration with  Dr Henry Ruhl, Dr David Billett,Dr Lawrence Hawkins NOCS, Dr Eulogio Soto, University of Valparaiso and Dr Myrim Sibuet and Joel Galeron, IFREMER

3) Tsunami impacts in Thailand. This project studies the Impact and recovery of tropical intertidal and shallow subtidal assemblages in Ranong, Thailand, following the tsunami of 2004. The impact of the tsunami on human populations is well documented but little attention has been given to the impact on the natural resources upon which local communities rely. In this EU funded project an assessment of the impact together with the perceptions of local communities was assessed. This project was a collaboration between Mike Kendall, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Dr Chittima Aryuthaka, Kasetsart University, Bangkok. www.tils.ku.ac.th.

In a spin off project Chris Allen, NERC case student NOCS, is studying the recovery of  the bubbler crabs from impacted beaches in SW Thailand.

Ocean Biodiversity Infomatics

1) Census of Marine Life project – database of abyssal polychaete species and providing a unified dataset for abyssal pacific polychaetes with the aim of providing information to organisations such as the ISA on sustainable management of manganese nodule province. Census of the Diversity of Abyssal Diversity ( www.cedamar.org)

Web-based Identification

1) Developing a unified taxonomic atlas for abyssal polychaetes. This project is integrating taxonomic information from a number of international research groups to produce a unified dataset. This database will be used to address questions of distribution and evolution in abyssal systems. This project uses scratchpads developed by the EU funded EDIT project. The system and site was developed by Dr Adrian Glover at the Museum  Polychaetes Info site

Research Supervision

PhD projects (external supervisor)

2005 - John Dinley – Anatomy of polychaete guts (Self funded), University of Southampton

2006 – 2009: Claudio Vassapolo Analyses of the spatial and temporal variability  in the distribution and population structure of selected invertebrates in Posidonia oceanica meadows and relationships with plant  features. Statione Zoologica, Napoli - Open University.

2006 – 2010: Chris Allen – Ecology and population structure of the intertidal crab Dotilla following the 2004 tsunami (NERC-CASE) University of Southampton

2005 – 2009:  Eulogio Soto – Ecology of polychaetes from an abyssal time series (externally funded), University of Southampton

2001 – 2005:  Chris Barrio Frojan – Ecology of intertidal macrofauna communities of tropical intertidal habitats (self-funded), University of Southampton

1996 - 1999: Adrian Glover – Abyssal polychaete ecology (NHM and University of Southampton funded), University of Southampton

1993 - 1996: Torin Morgan – the biology and ecology of Pygiospio elegans (NERC CASE), University of Southampton

1990 - 1995: Grant Rowe – Ecology of the intertidal sediment systems of Solent Breezes (Self funded), University of Southampton

1990 - 1993:  Sonia Batten – Ecophysiology of (NHM and University of Southampton funded), University of Southampton

M.Sc

2007 – Nick Higgs Bathymetric zonation in deep-sea ophiuroids, University of Southampton

2007 – Agnes Mittermayr – offshore biodiversity in Ranong, Thailand, University of Southampton

2004-2006 Dylan Clarke - Polychaete community structure from Namibia Coast. University of the Western Cape, RSA 

Undergraduate projects

1989 – present: Jointly supervised 10 undergraduate final year projects with University of Southampton staff

Publications

2011

• Paterson^, G L. J., M A. Kendall, C Aryuthaka, N J Evans, Y Monthum, C Jittanoon, P Campbell, L R Noble, K M O’Neill.

  ( 2011 ) Tsunami impacts in the marine environment: review and results from studies in Thailand  (Submitted to Proceedings of SE Asian Gateway Conference) .