After graduating in Appplied Marine Biology from Bangor University, including a year-long research internship at NIOZ working on deep-sea bacterio-plankton, I contitnued to complete an MSc in Marine Environemtal Protection at Bangor.

After University studies, I worked in the commercial marine science sector as a benthic taxonomist between 2008 and 2012, assessing benthic biodiversity in continental-shelf surveys from the UK and aborad. In 2012 I left this role to pursue a Ph.D. in the ecological functioning of submarine canyons. Post Ph.D., I returned to commercial marine science working as an offshore environemtal scientist, responsible for designing and implementing seabed surveys in and around offshore installations in the UK, West Africa and the Middle East. In 2019 I was appointed as lecture in Marine biology in the School of Ocean Sciences, within the teaching and scholarship team. 

My PhD focused on the ecosystem ecology of Mid Atlantic Bight submarine canyons, specifically Baltimore and Norfolk canyons, in the western North Atlantc. My thesis involved an ecosystem appraisal of the hydrodynamics, sediments & food supply influencing canyon habitats and benthic macrofauna communities and their contribution to canyon ecosystem function.

Address:

School of Ocean Sciences

Bangor University

Isle of Anglesey, LL59 5AB

Room: 414 Westbury Mount  Phone: 01248 382598

Email: craig.robertson@bangor.ac.uk

Web:   Google Scholar        ResearchGate

• PhD: Macrofaunal Diversity and Functioning within Submarine Canyons of the Mid-Atlantic Bight, Western North Atlantic
  2012–2018
• MSc: Marine Environmental Protection
  2007–2008
• BSc: Applied Marine Biology
  2003–2007

 Current Teaching Responsibilities: 

I teach across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules in the School of Ocean Sciences. The main focus of my teaching is benthic marine benthic ecology and marine predators and data analysis. 

ONS-1001 Environemtal Data and Analysis

DNS-1003 Ecology and Evolution

OSX-3000 BSc Dissertation Project

OSX-3011 Extreme Marine Habitats

OSX-3020 Shark and their Relatives

OSX-4000 Marine Ecology Skills

OSX-4009 MSc Dissertation Project, Design and Planning 

I am always willing to supervise MRes and Ph.D. Contact me for further details. 

I am a benthic ecologist with expertise in benthic biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, trait-based approaches and disturbance ecology. I am particularly intersted in deep-sea and biogenic habitats focusing on the macrofaunal community ecology. 

Our work seeks to reach beyond the traditional assessment methods of biodiversity to a more inclusive ecosystem approach that considers the role of benthic organisims in mediating mediating key ecosystem processing and services. 

Our research involves unpicking how marine biodiversity and habitats contribute to the functioning of seafloor ecosystems across biotic and abiotic gradients. Habitats of interest include deep-sea and continental margin habitats, such as submarine canyons and cold-seeps, cold-water coral reefs and subtidal habitats. 

We use spatial and temporal empirical datasets to bridge the gaps between traditional taxonomic assessments of biodiversity and community assemblage functioning. 

2025

• PublishedTowards Greater Standardisation in Benthic Trait Research to Support Application to Environmental Management
  Susini, I., Tillin, H. M., Anderson, L., Robertson, C. M., Rees, S. & Howell, K. L., 4 Mar 2025, In: Ecology and Evolution. 15, 3, e71072.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2024

• E-pub ahead of printVariation in coral rubble cryptofauna is scale-dependent and driven by small-scale habitat characteristics
  Goberdhan, L., Robertson, C., Egerton, J., Fox, M., Johnson, M., Graham, N. & Williams, G. J., 5 Dec 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Marine Ecology Progress Series. 750, p. 19-36
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2022

• PublishedDistributions of microplastics and larger anthropogenic debris in Norfolk Canyon, Baltimore Canyon, and the adjacent continental slope (Western North Atlantic Margin, USA)
  Jones, E. S., Ross, S. W., Robertson, C. M. & Young, C. M., 11 Jan 2022, In: Marine pollution bulletin. 174
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedEffects of bottom trawling and hypoxia on benthic invertebrate communities
  van Denderen, P. D., Tornroos, A., Sciberras, M., Hinz, H., Friedland, R., Lasota, R., Mangano, M. C., Robertson, C., Valanko, S. & Hiddink, J. G., 11 Aug 2022, In: Marine Ecology Progress Series. 694, p. 13-27 15 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2021

• PublishedThe role of habitat heterogeneity and canyon processes in structuring sediment macrofaunal communities associated with hard substrate habitats in Norfolk Canyon, USA
  Bourque, J. R., Demopoulos, A. W. J., Robertson, C. M. & Mienis, F., 1 Apr 2021, In: Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 170, 103495.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2020

• PublishedSubmarine canyons influence macrofaunal diversity and density patterns in the deep-sea benthos
  Robertson, C. M., Bourque, J. R., Mienis, F., Duineveld, G. C. A., Lavaleye, M. S. S., Koivisto, R. K. K., Brooke, S. D., Ross, S. W., Rhode, M., Davies, A. J. & Demopoulos, A. W. J., 16 May 2020, In: Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 159, 103249.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2017

• PublishedMacrofaunal communities associated with chemosynthetic habitats from the US Atlantic margin: A comparison among depth and habitat types
  Bourque, J. R., Robertson, C. M., Brooke, S. & Demopoulos, A. W. J., Mar 2017, In: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 137, p. 42-55
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedSeasonal variability in the source and composition of particulate matter in the depositional zone of Baltimore Canyon, U.S. Mid-Atlantic Bight
  Prouty, N. G., Mienis, F., Campbell, P., Roark, E. B., Davies, A., Robertson, C., Duineveld, G. C. A., Ross, S. W., Rhode, M. & Demopoulos, A. W. J., Sept 2017, In: Deep Sea Research I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 127, p. 77-89
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

• PublishedImpacts of Bottom Fishing on Sediment Biogeochemical and Biological Parameters in Cohesive and Non-cohesive Sediments
  Sciberras, M., Parker, R., Powell, C., Robertson, C., Kroger, S., Bolam, S. & Hiddink, J., Nov 2016, In: Limnology and Oceanography. 61, 6, p. 2076-2089
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Co-funding for NERC SuMMeR CDT PhD studentship - Can trait-based approaches inform habitat mapping of ecosystem function, process and services in benthic communities

  01/10/2023 – 15/10/2027 (Active)