Dr James Bradley [CV]
Principal Investigator & Reader in Environmental Science
Email: jbradley[dot]earth[at]gmail[dot]com
Twitter: @drbradbrad
James earned his BSc in Physical Geography from the University of Bristol in 2011 and completed a PhD in Geographical Sciences at the University of Bristol in 2016. James was then awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Centre for Dark Energy  Biosphere Investigations, at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (2016-2018), and was awarded a second fellowship from the Deep Carbon Observatory, also held at the University of Southern California (2018-2019). James also held a Humboldt Fellowship at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam.  In 2019 James was appointed as a Lecturer in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2021, and Reader in 2023.

Dr Zhou Lyu
Postdoctoral Researcher
Zhou is biogeochemical modeller  with expertise in terrestrial ecosystem biogeochemistry modelling, focussing on carbon dynamics and climate change. She is currently working on Arctic soil microbial and biogeochemical modelling as part of NERC & NSF-funded SUN SPEARS project. She earned her B.Eng. from Wuhan University, her MS and PhD in Earth Sciences from Purdue University, and completed a postdoc at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

Dr Adam Solon
Postdoctoral Researcher
As a microbial ecologist, Adam has conducted research across a range of ecosystems from grasslands of the United States to deserts of Antarctica to the world's highest active volcanoes of the Puna de Atacama in Argentina and Chile.  He combines approaches from microbiology, ecology, and biogeochemistry to better understand how nutrient limitation and elemental stoichiometry influence nutrient cycling and microbial community assembly.  He earned his BA in ecology and evolutionary biology, and his PhD as a member of the Alpine Microbial Observatory, at the University of Colorado Boulder . Currently, Adam is working as a postdoc on the NERC-NSF funded SUN SPEARS project studying soil development and microbial community assembly in glacial forefields of Svalbard.

Margaret Cramm
​PhD Student
Twitter: @microbeMAC
​Margaret enjoys studying life at extremes. She began her research career in the Geomicrobiology group at the University of Calgary. There she studied the biogeography of thermophilic spore-forming bacteria over time and space and the distribution of methanotrophic bacteria and benthic megafauna near an Arctic marine methane seep. Margaret has had the pleasure of joining research cruises to the Scotian Slope near Nova Scotia, Canada (CCGS Hudson) and the Canadian Arctic (CCGS Amundsen). She participated in IODP Expedition 370 to search for microorganisms in the super-deep biosphere with D/V Chikyu. As a PhD student in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London, Margaret is exploring microbial communities in Arctic permafrost and their connection to biogeochemical cycles.

Amy Solman
​PhD Student
​Twitter: @AmyBoTinky
Amy earned her BSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of Brighton and completed an MRes in Computational Methods in Ecology and Evolution at Imperial College London. She is primarily interested in all things extremophiles – including their biogeography, the biogeochemical processes they drive, and their susceptibility to the impacts of climate change – particularly in the cryosphere. Her PhD investigates microbial community assembly mechanisms and activity on Arctic glaciers.

Sonia Papadaki
​PhD Student
​Twitter: @PapadakiSonia
Sonia earned her BSc in Medical Sciences at the University of Exeter, and completed her MSc in Palaeobiology at the University of Bristol. She is fascinated by microbial life in the cryosphere and its relevance as a system to study extreme environments, the limits of life, and models for astrobiology research. Sonia's research focusses on microbial communities in Arctic endolithic environments, with particular focus on microbe-rock interactions and biosignatures.

Laura Molares Moncayo
​PhD Student
Laura Molares Moncayo earned her BSc in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL), and completed her MSc in Systems Biology, Genomics and Computational Biology at the École Normale Supérieure (FR). She is particularly interested in the study of extremophiles as indicators of the limits of life and how it expands our concept of the habitability of environments. Her PhD research explores the role of the atmosphere in shaping and sustaining microbial communities on glaciers. In addition to research, she is also passionate about science communication and the representation of women and ethnic minorities in science.

Rey Mourot
​PhD Student (co-supervised)
​Twitter: @Rey_Mourot
Rey is a PhD student at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam. They are primarily supervised by Prof. Liane G. Benning. Their PhD is part of the Deep Purple project, an ERC Synergy Grant that studies the contribution of microbial blooms to the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Rey’s project focuses on the study of microbial community interactions and their survival throughout freezing-thawing cycles and in the snow-ice transition.

Pascaline Francelle
​PhD Student (co-supervised)
​Twitter: @pascalinefr
Pascaline completed her MSc in Freshwater and Marine Ecology at Queen Mary University of London, and interned at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. She is fascinated by the use of genetics in ecology; from sea turtle philopatry, to phenotypic plasticity and cuttlefish olfactory systems. Now, Pascaline is part of an exciting multidisciplinary project called BioPEP (Biodegradable Plastics as emerging Environmental Pollutants), which investigates the impact of bioplastics on the environment. Her PhD focusses on the interaction between microbial communities and plastics in estuarine systems. Her primary supervisor is Dr Özge Eyice. Pascaline is specifically interested in the environmental factors influencing microbial communities’ dynamics and the biogeochemical cycles they drive.

Jess Caughtry
​PhD Student (co-supervised)
Jess is a PhD student funded through the London NERC Doctoral Training Programme, based at both University College London (where she is primarily supervised by Louisa Preston) and Queen Mary University of London. Previously she obtained an Oceanography Masters degree at the University of Southampton, before spending time at the European Space Agency where she further grew her passion for space science. Jess' PhD mixes environmental science with astrobiology, researching the geochemistry, physics and extremophile microbiology associated with sulphur-ice environments and applying this knowledge as an analogue for icy moons like Europa.

Zoonii Kayler
​PhD Student (co-supervised)
​Twitter: @zooniikayler
Zoonii is a PhD student in Geographical Sciences based at the University of Bristol, focusing on Environmental Genomics as a member of The Bristol Research Initiative for the Dynamic Global Environment (BRIDGE). Previously, she completed her BSc in Molecular Genetics at King’s College London and MSc in Bioinformatics at Queen Mary’s University of London. Zoonii is interested in the interaction of microbial metabolisms with global nutrient cycles and the implications on our changing climate.

Lab alumni

Anastasia Hambi
​Research Student
Anastasia took part in the NERC-funded SUN SPEARS project in which she performing geochemical analyses to investigate soil formation following glacial retreat. She graduated with a first-class degree in Environmental Science from Queen Mary University of London in 2023 and won two awards for her research project on proglacial soils ('Best dissertation' and 'Excellence in climate and environmental change'). She is now taking a well-earned break, and aspires to explore her interests of glacial environments and their sensitivity to climate change in the future.

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Join the lab!

I welcome enquiries from enthusiastic and motivated applicants from around the world. If you are interested in joining the lab as an undergraduate or graduate student, post-doc, or visiting researcher/scholar, please contact me.

Undergraduate students:  Please contact  me to find out about opportunities for independent study and research in the lab.

Postgraduate & PhD students: I seek exceptional students, both academically and personally.  Ideal members of the lab have a clear vision of their research goals, are enthusiastic, mature, good communicators, flexible and have a strong background in a relevant discipline. Find exemplar projects  for exemplar PhD study via the following links: polar geomicrobiology and deep biosphere. 

Post-docs: I am willing to work with dedicated candidates to develop fellowship and grant proposals that would fund their work in the lab. Potential postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to contact me a year before their desired start-date, to allow time to develop these proposals.

Earth and environmental science, like other scientific disciplines, is and has been dominated by white faces and voices. Black scientists are subjected to racial bias while working at field sites, at meetings, in labs and classrooms, and in life. This must stop. Integrating a diverse set of experiences is critical for a comprehensive understanding of science.  Discrimination and injustice, racially or otherwise, is not welcome and will not be tolerated in this space.

PHOTO CREDIT
Top: McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Marc Neveu