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Head of the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa

I have wide ranging interests in algae and protozoa and current interests include:

  • algal biofuels
  • algal biotechnology
  • algal stress physiology
  • Biological Resource Centres (BRC)
  • cryopreservation
  • cryoinjury
  • use of molecular method in culture collections
  • bioinformatics and networking

 

At the Scottish Marine Institute I am a member of the ...

 

Education / Career

Research

Research activities

Research projects

  1. Protistan cryopreservation & cryoinjury: Applying conventional and novel cryopreservation approaches one can cryopreserve (store at below -135oC) a range of morphologically simple, small (<20µm diameter) protists. Research focuses on methodological development allowing the preservation of complex taxa including ciliates and multicellular algae.  In parallel the mechanisms of injury are elucidated with the objective of attempting to reduce the stresses caused by cryopreservation. 

  2. Genotypic stability and biodiversity in CCAP: Using barcoding approaches to better identify the diversity of taxa held in the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa. These data form a component of the developing knowledgebase and will continue to be the basis of taxonomic and other research outputs by the CCAP group and others.

    In addition, genetic fingerprinting approaches are being trialed to elucidate relationships between taxa at both species and strain level. The same techniques are being used to investigate genotypic stability on prolonged culture and cryopreservation.

  3. Biofuel research: Using model systems to better understand the constraints on identifying and controlling potential grazers in algal mass-culture systems. Currently I am involved with two large projects: BioMara and Control of Grazers.

 

Research grants

  • 2010 Carbon Trust: Algal Biofuel Challenge project
  • 2009 NERC COSYST: Ecology & systematics of an undescribed phototrophic symbiosis
  • 2009 INTERREG  IVA: Biomara - algal biofuel research
  • 2007 NERC OCEANS 2025: CCAP NF-3
  • 2006 NERC MGF: Taxonomic revision and DNA barcoding of the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa
  • 2002 EU FPV: Algal biotechnology - improving access to bioinformatic data and strain
  • 2000 EU FPV: Cryopreservation of algae fundamental and applied research

External

External activities / measures of esteem

Committee/panel activities

  • Ex officio member of British Phycological Society Council 2007-2010
  • General Secretary of the Society of Low Temperature Biology (SLTB) 2005-2008 & 2000-2002
  • Secretary  to UK Federation of Culture Collections 1997-2001
  • Member of the UKNCC Research Group 2000-2005
  • Member of the UKNCC Curators Group 1998-2005
  • Member of CEH Lancaster H&S Working Group 2003
  • Trustee of SLTB Charitable Trust 2002-2003
  • Chair of the CEH Windermere H&S committee 1999-2003
  • Member of Culture Collection of Marine Phytoplankton (CCMP) Advisory Board (Maine) 1997-1998

 

Editorial responsibilities

  • Editor in Chief European Journal of Phycology 2007-2010
  • Reviewing Editor In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. 2000-
  • Editorial board  CryoLetters 2003-2006
  • Edited an issue of Nova Hedwegia 2004
  • Edited UK Federation of Culture Collections Newsletter 1992-2002

 

Invited lectures

Invited keynote speaker:

  • SLTB Hanover, Germany 2009
  • SLTB, Copenhagen, Denmark 2008
  • Workshop on algal culture collections,  Izmir, Turkey 2006
  • Algal Cryopreservation Symposium, Austin, USA 1998

Invited speaker:

  • 15th International Polar Symposium, Incheon, Korea 2008
  • SGM, Edinburgh 2008
  • NIES, Tsukuba Japan 2008
  • EPC IV, Oviedo, Spain 2007
  • SLTB, Derby 2007
  • British Society for Protistan Biology (BSPB), Nottingham 2003
  • Algae 2002, Tsukuba, Japan 2002
  • Culture Collections of Algae: increasing accessibility  and exploring Algal Biodiversity, Göttingen 2002
  • Symposium on culture collection of algae, Tsukuba, Japan 1991
  • Invited seminars at Universities: Abertay, Austin Texas, Bielefeld, Ege, Heriot Watt,  Nottingham & Tsukuba

 

Media coverage

  • RTL Radio France Science magazine programme: April 2010
  • Bloomberg News- energy News: March 2010
  • ARD Radio Science magazine programme: Jan 2009
  • BBC Alba TV Science magazine programme: June 2009

 

Professional memberships

  • Member of the British Phycological Society
  • Member of the British Society for Protistan Biology
  • Member of the Society for Low Temperature Biology

Teaching

Students/teaching

Current research students

  • Adrian Macleod: Do artificial hard substrates facilitate non-native species in low and high energy environments?
  • Carole Shellcock: Molecular aspects of algal biofuels for the 21st century
  • Cecilia Rad Menendez: Genotypic and phenotypic stability within Thalassiosira pseudonana (Bacillariophyta)

 

Past research students (alumni)

  • Andrew Cocking
  • Roland Fleck
  • Adam Greatrix
  • Katie Harper
  • Claire Johnstone

 

Lecturing

Lecturer: Marine Biotechnology (year 3 of BSc (Hons) Marine Science)

External teaching

I have taught on commercial, undergraduate and postgraduate courses/workshops at Bielefeld University (Germany); CABI Bioscience (Egham); CEH Windermere; Dundee University; Marine Biological Association; Ege University (Izmir, Turkey); The Finlay Institute (Havana, Cuba); Herriot Watt University
 
My contact details

Dr John Day CCAP SAMS

Dr John Day

E: john.day@sams.ac.uk

T: +44 (0)1631 559 349

F: +44 (0)1631 559 001

Scottish Marine Institute

Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK

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