Claire Evans [Post Doc]	ROYAL NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE FOR SEA RESEARCH   Postal address: P.O. Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg (Texel) The Netherlands   Visiting address: Landsdiep 4 NL-1797 SZ ’t Horntje (Texel) The Netherlands   Phone: (+31) (0)222-369300 Fax: (+31) (0)222-319674
E-mail: Claire.Evans@nioz.nl   Phone: (+31) (0)222-369449
Academic History
·         2006 to present Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Royal NIOZ on VWO project ‘The significance of viruses for polar marine ecosystem functioning’.  ·         2004-2006 Postdoctoral Research Associate at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK) on NERC project 'Life after lysis-virus driven biogeochemistry'. The main aim of this research is to determine the influence of viruses on the flow of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous through marine systems. ·         2000-2004 PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia and the Marine Biological Association (UK). Thesis title, ‘The impact of marine viruses on the production of dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and related compounds’.   ·         1999-2000 MSc in Applied Marine Science at the University of Plymouth in collaboration with the Marine Biological Association and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK). Dissertation title, ‘The relative importance of grazing and viral induced losses on phytoplankton bloom dynamics’. ·         1996-1999 BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences at Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge (UK).
Current Projects
The significance of viruses for polar marine ecosystem functioning (VIRPOL, IPY-NL).   PI: C.P.D. Brussaard Post Doc in project: C.Evans Microbial communities (phytoplankton, bacteria, archaea, heterotrophic protozoa and viruses) comprise the majority of the biomass in the oceans and drive nutrient and energy cycling, thereby supporting also the polar ecosystems. The emergent awareness that the response of ecosystems to climate change depends largely on the response of the underlying microbial community, that phytoplankton productivity is of vital importance to the global climate system, and that viruses are major players influencing biodiversity and biogeochemical processes, underlines the need to elucidate the ecological role of viruses in polar ecosystems. Despite the likely importance of viruses in polar aquatic ecosystems, the ecological role of viral mediated mortality of polar microbes and the quantitative significance of polar viruses with respect to climate and global environmental change have barely been studied. This project’s objectives are; To examine the abundance and composition of viruses and their hosts at bipolar environments, To compare the significance of viruses and their impact on microbial mortality and geochemical cycling in the aquatic polar ecosystems and To unravel the impact of climate and global environmental change on the ecological role of viruses and their activities.
Publication List
Evans, C., Archer, S. D., Jacquet, S. and Wilson, W. H. (2003) Direct estimates of the contribution of viral lysis and microzooplankton grazing to the decline of a Micromonas spp. population. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 30:207-219. Evans, C., (2005) The influence of marine viruses on the production of dimethyl sulphide and related compounds from Emiliania huxleyi. PhD thesis University of East Anglia. Evans, C., Malin, G., Wilson, W. H. and Liss. P. S. (2006) Infectious titres of Emiliania huxleyi virus 86 are reduced by exposure to millimolar dimethyl sulfide and acrylic acid. Limnology and Oceanography. 51: 2468-2471. Evans, C., Malin, G., Mills, G. P. and Wilson, W. H. (2006) Viral infection of Emiliania huxleyi (Prymnesiophyceae) lads to elevated production of reactive oxygen species. Journal of Phycology. 42 (5):2468-2471. Evans, C., Kadner, S. V., Darroch, L. D. Wilson, W. H.  Liss, P. S. and Malin, G. (2007) The relative significance of viral lysis and microzooplankton grazing as pathways of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) cleavage: An Emiliania huxleyi culture study. Limnology and Oceanography. 52 (3):1036-1045. Llewellyn, C. A., Evans, C. Airs, R. A. Cook, I., Bale, N. and Wilson W. H. (2007) The response of cartenoids and chlorophylls during virus infection of Emiliania huxleyi (Prymnesiophyceae). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 344 (1):101-112. Steinke, M., Evans, C., Lee G. A. and Malin G. (2007) Substrate kinetics of DMSP-lyases in axenic cultures and mesocosm populations of Emiliania huxleyi. Aquatic Sciences, 69: 325-359. Evans, C. and Wilson W. H. (2008) Preferential grazing of Oxyrrhis marina on virus-infected Emiliania huxleyi. Limnology and Oceanography. 53 (5): 2035-2040. Evans, C., Pond, D. W. and Wilson W. H. (in review) Changes in Emiliania huxleyi fatty acid profiles during infection with E. huxleyi virus 86: physiological and ecological implications. Evans, C. Thomson, P. G., Davidson, A. T., Van den Enden, R., Witte, H. and Brussaard C. P. D. (prepared) Composition of the microbial community of the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean during the SAZ-SENSE study. Deep Sea Research II