Cryosphere
Microbiology @ Aberystwyth University
Arwyn Edwards
B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D. (Wales), FRGS, PGCTHE, FHEA
@arwynedwards
Senior Lecturer
in Biological Sciences, Institute of
Biological, Environmental & Rural Sciences and Centre for
Glaciology
Here’s some information about me,
in particular my research interests, active projects in my lab and some of the research outputs I have contributed to over recent
years.
My contact
details are available on my IBERS staff profile. My CV has
also been used as a bad example of why Microbiology is a great career choice by
the Microbiology
Society. I am always happy to discuss potential research
collaborations or possibly supervising PhD projects (subject to T&Cs beyond my
control!) within my area of expertise. My research team blogs at http://abercryoconite.wordpress.com/
Research
interests: My particular focus is the
microbial communities associated with glaciers and ice sheets, which we now
appreciate comprise a major freshwater biome which harbours an equivalent
number of cells to all other freshwater habitats. My research maps the
biogeography of ice-microbe interactions across a broad range of spatial and
temporal scales, from microbial, ice-mass through to global scales, and from
metabolic reactions through to modelling glacial biogeochemistry during the
last glacial period. The discovery of microbial feedbacks in glacial melting
and distinctive microbial biodiversity associated with glaciers help highlight
the relevance of current research on ice-microbe interactions on
societally-relevant and evolutionary timescales.
A final twist to our study of microbes in cold regions is how the
microbial ecosystem associated with humans responds to the stresses associated
with operating in the deep field of remote, hostile environments such as the
Polar regions. One current project involves working with volunteers on Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ Trans-Antarctic Winter Traverse as 
a “White Mars” analogue.
As such, my research team accesses a diverse toolbox of methods, from the
field to the lab. This includes working from field stations in the Arctic and
Alps, for example Svalbard in the High Arctic, Greenland or Abisko in the Swedish Subarctic and Obergurgl in the Austrian Alps as well as
exploring the microbial diversity of glaciers in Sweden, Iceland, New Zealand
and Antarctica. Back home, we use a range of cutting edge methods, such as high
throughput sequencing (rRNA genes, microbial genomes, metagenomes &
metatranscriptomes), FISH, laser capture, real time PCR, functional
metagenomics, metabolomics, flow cytometry, geochemistry, as well as more
traditional microbial methods of culturing and microscopy.
There are several active projects in the lab,
with current and recent external funding sources including the UK Natural
Environment Research Council, The Royal Society, Systematics Association, Great
Britain Sasakawa Foundation, the Society for General Microbiology, National Geographic, British Antarctic Survey Low Carbon, Energy &
Environment
and Health and Bioscience National Research Networks and the Welsh Government. My team
comprises one postdoctral fellow, seven PhD students working on Arctic soil,
supraglacial and subsurface microbial ecology, several undergraduates following
the Dissertation or Work Experience modules. The team also forms part of the Microbiology Research Group within IBERS. I convene
the AU interdisciplinary Centre for Environmental Microbiology (AU iCEM) which
unites 11 principal investigators from three Institutes at Aberystwyth
University in collaborative research of microbial interactions with Earth
systems. A substantial research infrastructure investment by the Higher
Education Funding Council for Wales means AU iCEM is in the process of
developing facilities which we hope will be world-leading for extreme environment
ecology.
Media Coverage of Research Projects
3rd prize in the MO BIO
Microbiome Awards
October 2014
Microbe Talk
– Society for General Microbiology Podcast October 2013
White Mars Microbiome Study March 2013
Probing the
dark side of life on Arctic glaciers February 2013
Selected Research
Outputs:
2016
Pearce,
D.A., Alekhina, I.A., Terauds, A., Wilmotte, A., Quesada, A., Edwards, A., Dommergue, A., Sattler,
B., Adams, B., Magalhães, C.M., Chu, W., Lau, M., Cary, S.C., Smith, D.J.,
Wall, D., Eguren, G., Matcher, G., Bradley, J., de Vera, J.P., Elster, J.,
Hughes, K.., Benning, L.G., Gunde-Cimerman, N., Convey, P., Hong, S.G.,
Pointing, S.B., Pellizari, V.H., Vincent, W.F. 2016. Aerobiology over Antarctica – a new initiative
for atmospheric ecology. Frontiers in
Microbiology 7 7 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00016
Douglas J.L.,
Worgan H.J, Easton G.L., Poret L., Wolf B.T., Edwards A., Davies E., Ross D., McEwan NR. Microbial diversity in
the digestive tract of two different breeds of sheep. Journal of Applied Microbiology. doi: 10.1111/jam.13060.
.Cook,
J., Edwards, A., Takeuchi, N.,
Irvine-Fynn, T. 2016. Cryoconite: the dark biological secret of the cryosphere.
Progress in Physical Geography 40 (1)
pp. 66-111. 10.1177/0309133315616574
2015
Cook,
J., Edwards, A., Hubbard, A. (2015).
Biocryomorphology: Integrating Microbial Processes with Ice Surface Hydrology,
Topography, and Roughness. Frontiers in
Earth Science 10.3389/feart.2015.00078 OA
Hill,
R., Saetnan, E.R., Scullion, J., Jones, D., Ostle, .N.J., Edwards, A*. (2015). Temporal and spatial influences incur
reconfiguration of Arctic heathland soil bacterial community structure. Environmental Microbiology
10.1111/1462-2920.13017
Lutz, S., Anesio, A.M., Edwards, A.,
Benning, L.G. Microbial diversity on Icelandic glaciers and ice caps. Frontiers in Microbiology. doi:
10.3389/fmicb.2015.00307 OA
Stibal, M, Godzeriler, E., Cameron, K.A., Box, J.E., Stevens, I.T., Gokul,
J.K., Schostag, M., Zarsky, J.D., Edwards,
A., Irvine-Fynn, T.D.L., Jacobsen, C.S. (2015) Microbial abundance in
surface ice on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Frontiers
in Microbiology. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00225 OA
Edwards A* (2015) Coming in from the cold: Microbial threats from the cryosphere. Frontiers in Earth Science. doi:
10.3389/feart.2015.00012 OA
Edwards, A* & Cook, S. (2015) Microbial dynamics in glacier forefield soils show
succession isn’t just skin deep. Molecular
Ecology 24: 963–966. OA
Irvine-Fynn, T.D.L. Edwards, A.,
Mitchell, A.C. (2015) Is there life on glaciers? Geography Review 2015:38-41
2014
Ransom-Jones, E.,
Jones, D.L., Edwards, A., and
McDonald, J.E. (2014) Environmental Distribution and Diversity of Members of
the Cellulolytic Bacterial Phylum Fibrobacteres. Systematic and Applied Microbiology 37:7 502-509 DOI:
10.1016/j.syapm.2014.06.001
Edwards, A*.; Irvine-Fynn, T.D.L.; Mitchell,
A.C.; Rassner, S.M.; A germ theory for
glacial systems? Wiley Interdisciplinary
Reviews (WIREs) Water. 1:4 331-340
DOI: 10.1002/wat2.1029.
Blackwell, N.L.; Edwards, A.; Perkins, W.T.;
Etifeddiaeth gweithgareddau mwyngloddio ym maes glo de Cymru: llygredd
dŵr, ffurfiant mwynau haearn ac opsiynau glanhau dŵr cyffredin. Gwerddon 18:55-72
Langford, H.J.;
Irvine-Fynn, T.D.L.; Edwards, A.;
Banwart, S.A.; Hodson, A.J. (2014). A spatial investigation of the
environmental controls over cryoconite aggregation on Longyearbreen glacier,
Svalbard. Biogeosciences. 11,
5365-5380, OA
Edwards, A*, Mur, L.A.J., Girdwood, S.N.,
Anesio, A.M., Stibal, M., Rassner, S.M.E., Hell, K., Pachebat, J.A., Post, B.,
Bussell, J.S., Cameron, S.J.S., Griffith, G.W., Hodson, A.J., & Sattler, B.
(2014). Coupled cryoconite ecosystem structure-function relationships are
revealed by comparing bacterial communities in alpine and Arctic glaciers. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 89: 222–237.
Irvine-Fynn, T. D. L*.
& Edwards, A*. (2014). A frozen
asset: The potential of flow cytometry in constraining the glacial biome. Cytometry, 85: 3–7. doi:
10.1002/cyto.a.22411
2013
Edwards, A.*; Pachebat, J.A.; Swain, M.,
Hegarty, M., Hodson, A.J., Irvine-Fynn, T.D.L, Rassner, S.M.E., & B.
Sattler (2013). A metagenomic snapshot of taxonomic and functional diversity in
an Alpine glacier cryoconite ecosystem. Environmental
Research Letters, 8:035003
doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035003 OA
Hell, K.; Edwards, A.*; Zarsky, J.; Podmirseg, S.M.; Girdwood, S; Pachebat,
J.A.; Insam, H.; & B. Sattler. (2013). The dynamic bacterial communities of
a melting High Arctic glacier snowpack. ISME
Journal. 7: 1814–1826
Edwards, A.*; Rassner, S.M.; Anesio, A.M.; Worgan, H.J.; Irvine-Fynn,
T.; Williams, H.; Sattler, B.; & G.W. Griffith. (2013) Contrasts between
the cryoconite and ice-marginal bacterial communities of Svalbard glaciers. Polar Research. 32: 19468 OA
Blackwell,
N. L., Perkins, W. T., Edwards, A.,
Johnson, D. B., Hallberg, K. B., Griffith, G., Bearcock, J. M. a Palumbo-Roe,
B. (2013). The reactivity of microbially-reduce goethite: assessing the
potential of a naturally-occurring waste material for mine drainage
remediation. Mineralogical Magazine,
77 (5), 713
Edwards, A.; Douglas, B.; Anesio, A.M.; Rassner, S.M.; Irvine-Fynn,
T., Sattler, B. & Griffith, G.W. (2012)
A distinctive fungal community inhabiting cryoconite holes on glaciers
in Svalbard. Fungal Ecology 6:168-176
2012
Edwards, A.; Rassner, S.M.,
Irvine-Fynn, T.; Williams, H. & G.W. Griffith (2012) Darogan cyfraniadau
rhewlifoedd olaf Eryri i gylchredoedd carbon Cyfnod y Dryas Diweddaraf ar sail
modelau amrwd o ecosystemau rhewlifol y cyfnod hwyr-rewlifol. [in
Welsh=Reconstructing the last supraglacial ecosystems of Wales] Gwerddon 12:53-78
Irvine-Fynn,
T.; Edwards, A.; Hodson, A.J.;
Rassner, S.M., Langford, H.; Newton, S.; Telling, J., Anesio A.M. (2012).
Microbial cell budgets of an Arctic glacier surface quantified using flow
cytometry. Environmental Microbiology 14:2998-3012.
Dougal, K..,
Harris, P.A., Edwards, A., Pachebat,
J.A., Blackmore, T.M., Worgan, H.J., Newbold, C.J. (2012) A comparison of the
microbiome and metabolome of different regions of the equine hindgut. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 82: 642–652
2011
Edwards, A;
Anesio, A.M.; Rassner, S.M.;
Sattler, B.; Hubbard, B.P.; Perkins, W.T.; Young, M. and Griffith, G.W. (2011)
Possible interactions between bacterial diversity, microbial activity and
supraglacial hydrology of cryoconite holes in Svalbard. ISME Journal. 5:150-160. OA
2009
Edwards,
A (2009) The microbial
diversity and biogeography of supraglacial ecosystems. PhD Thesis, Aberystwyth
University
2007
Griffith, G.
W., Easton, G. L., Detheridge, A., Roderick, K., Edwards, A., Worgan, H.
J., Nicholson, J. & Perkins, W. T. (2007). Copper deficiency in potato
dextrose agar causes reduced pigmentation in cultures of various fungi. FEMS
Microbiology Letters 276, 165-171
The information provided on this and other pages is the personal
responsibility of Arwyn Edwards and not that of Aberystwyth University. Any
opinions expressed are those of Arwyn Edwards and should not be taken to be
those of Aberystwyth University. No cryoconites were harmed in the making of
this page.