Meet the team

Dr Adam Charlton

Senior Scientist, BioComposites Centre (BC), Bangor University

With a background in materials chemistry, Adam Charlton has over 25 years experience in collaborative industrial research across different fields, including the development of new functional materials for the telecommunications / molecular electronics sectors and the synthesis of chemical intermediates for the pharmaceuticals industry. His research now focuses on the production of value added materials from biomass, including packaging, with a general interest in biorefining. In his current role at BC, he is Principle Investigator at Bangor University for the BEACON project, a £32million initiative investigating bio-refining in Wales, which is a partnership between Aberystwyth, Bangor and Swansea Universities. He also sits on the management board of BioPilotsUK, an innovation and scale-up programme to support the UK strategy for bioeconomy growth. He is responsible for the Biorefining – Technology Transfer Facility, which houses the BioComposites Centre’s pilot scale equipment on the Island Of Anglesey. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Chartered Chemist.

Email: adam.charlton@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)1248 388072

Dr Neil Dickson

Is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Ocean Sciences at the University of Bangor. Neil’s research focuses on understanding how hydrological processes control physicochemical habibat dynamics through river systems from source to coast. He is currently involved in the NERC Plastic-Vectors project and is working on developing transport models for pathogens and microplastics being transported from rivers through to the coastal zone.

Email: n.dickson@bangor.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1248 382842

Dr Christian Dunn

Is the Associate Director of the Bangor Wetlands Group and conducts research into microplastics in waterways and wetland habitats. He works with NGOs such as a Friends of the Earth and Surfers Against Sewage on the subject and led a high-profile project which found, for the first time, microplastics in all tested inland watersystems across the UK.

Email: c.dunn@bangor.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1248 382098
Twitter: @christiandunn

Prof. Peter Golyshin

Is a Chair in Environmental Genomics at Bangor University and a Scientific Director of the Centre for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB), a £7.8 M Welsh Government-co-funded project and is involved in NERC-funded Plastic Vectors project.  
His research focuses on extremophilic microorganisms as a source of enzymes and small molecules for  biotech applications, from environmental clean-up (e.g. http://www.killspill.eu/) to industrial biocatalysis (http://www.inmare-h2020.eu/)

Email: p.golyshin@bangor.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1248 383629

Prof. Davey Jones

Holds a joint position in Soil & Environmental Science between Bangor University and the University of Western Australia. A major focus of his research is on understanding the fate and behaviour of microplastics in agricultural systems and their potential to transfer to freshwater and marine systems. He runs the long-term microplastics field trial site at the Henfaes Experimental Station which is investigating the impact of microplastics on soil health (funded through the Global Challenges Research Fund). He is also involved in the NERC Plastic-Vectors project investigating the link between microplastics and human pathogen flow in rivers, estuaries and the coastal zone. 

Email: d.jones@bangor.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1248 382579

Prof. Simon Neill

Professor of Physical Oceanography in the School of Ocean Sciences. Simon has a wide range of research interests, including marine renewable energy, sediment transport, and the dispersal of organisms and particles in the marine environment. Although primarily a computer modeller, he also conducts field campaigns using the RV Prince Madog.

Email: s.p.neill@bangor.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1248 383938
Twitter: @DrSPNeill

Nia Jones

Is a PhD Student at the School of Ocean Sciences investigating the dispersal of microplastic throughout the coast and wider marine environments. Through combining sea bed and water sampling with numerical models, Nia hopes to determine microplastic budgets and sinks along the North Wales coast. Nia also tries to incorporate her scientific research into community campaigning and outreach about plastic pollution and other environmental issues.

Email: nkj19blc@bangor.ac.uk
Twitter: @_niahjones

Dr Peter Robins

Peter is a Senior Lecturer at Bangor University. He is a physical oceanographer, with 15 years oceanographic modelling experience with focus on catchment-to-coast processes – and how these interactions influence flood risk, sediment dynamics, dispersion and water quality. Through recent and on-going NERC and industry-led EU projects, his research is focused on: particle-tracking for marine plastics and larval dispersal; combination flooding and water quality hazards; and marine renewable energy.

Email: p.robins@bangor.ac.uk

Prof David N. Thomas

Is Bangor University’s Pro VC for Research and Impact and Chair of Marine Biology in the School of Ocean Sciences, His research spans a wide range of subject matter around the ecology and physiology of marine seaweeds and phytoplankton. His work is very much at the interface of biology and chemistry in marine, estuarine and river systems. He has extensive experience of studying the biology that lives within, on and below frozen pack ice in the Antarctic and Arctic Oceans and Baltic Sea. He is also involved in the NERC Plastic-Vectors project investigating the link between microplastics and human pathogen flow in rivers, estuaries and the coastal zone. He sits on national and international advisory boards. 

Email: d.thomas@bangor.ac.uk
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QWyeUEcAAAAJ&hl=en
Twitter: @DNThomas01

Prof Alexander Yakunin

Is a Chair in Enzyme Discovery and Application at Bangor University (School of Natural Sciences), as well as a member of the Centre for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB). He is also a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada), where he retains a status-only appointment. His present research is focused on enzyme discovery using enzymatic assays and biochemical characterization of novel enzymes, with a particular emphasis on enzymes for biocatalysis and plastics recycling.

Email: a.iakounine@bangor.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1248 388399