Professor David Pearce

Professor

School: Geography and Natural Sciences

The underlying theme of my research is to use microbiology (and in particular novel molecular techniques applied to microbial ecology, microbial biodiversity and activity, environmental genomics, biogeochemical cycling and model extremophiles) to understand Polar ecosystem function and the potential for shifts in biogeochemical activity that may result from environmental change. I have taken the lead in the development of new frontiers of research in metagenomics, chemosynthetic communities, sediment sequestration of carbon and subglacial lake environments and have initiated new interdisciplinary approaches on the aerial environment (with chemists), ice nucleation activity (with physicists) and in the biogeochemistry of ice (with glaciologists).

Further Information

https://sites.google.com/site/davidanthonypearce/
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk
http://www.unis.no
http://www.ellsworth.org.uk/pearce.html
http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/chess/science/chesso.html

Email David

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Arctic transport of North American and Canadian wildfire aerosols, McCerery, R., Namdeo, A., Malard, L., Woodward, J., Pearce, D. 15 Oct 2026, In: Atmospheric Environment
Diversity of DNA viruses in the atmosphere of sub-Antarctic South Georgia, Das, R., Malard, L., Pearce, D., Convey, P., Rahlff, J. 28 Jan 2026, In: Frontiers in Microbiology
Exploration-related contamination of lunar polar regions: consequences and considerations for lunar science in the context of planetary protection, Anand, M., van der Bogert, C., Batty, C., Crawford, I., Onofri, S., Paiva, F., Pearce, D., Reiss, P., L’Haridon, J., Stephant, A., Sinibaldi, S. 20 Aug 2026, In: Advances in Space Research
Microbial community structure in the firn associated with a ∼1000 km transect of the Eastern Antarctic Ice Sheet, Lawrence, J., Nicholson, I., McCerery, R., Newby, L., Calvo Ryan, R., Nelson, A., Graly, J., Isaksson, E., Hodson, A., Pearce, D. 1 Sep 2026, In: FEMS Microbiology Ecology
UK Arctic Terrestrial Research: Towards International Polar Year 2032/33 and Beyond: Research Strengths, Priorities and Implementation, Phoenix, G., Harding, M., Hartley, I., Lancastle, L., Murton, J., Parker, T., Rutter, N., Street, L., Abbott, G., Barr, I., de la Barreda-Bautista, B., Belcher, A., Burke, E., Cameron, K., Chaturvedi, V., Clarkson, A., Convey, P., Crouch, J., Dalrymple, S., Dasari, S., Dutch, V., Hilton, B., Hirst, C., Hole, G., Kerby, J., Keskitalo, K., Lim, M., Macias-Fauria, M., Mayfield, R., Palmer, P., Pearce, D., Peck, L., Robinson, C., Sjögersten, S., van Soest, M., Streeter, R., Sulikova, S., Swainston, O., Wookey, P. 24 Mar 2026
Ancient environmental microbiomes and the cryosphere, Williams, A., Leung, V., Tang, J., Hidekazu, N., Suzuki, N., Clarke, A., Pearce, D., Lam, T. 1 Feb 2025, In: Trends in Microbiology
Crucial stepping stones in freshwater microbiology, Pearce, D., Lawrence, J., Avila Jimenez, M. Jan 2025, In: Nature Microbiology
Daily turnover of airborne bacterial communities in the sub-Antarctic, Malard, L., Convey, P., Pearce, D. 18 Jul 2025, In: Environmental Microbiome
House dust - a Pandora’s box of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) activity?, Pearce, D., Crown, M., Nelson, A., Jabeen, K., Thompson, J., Argyraki, A., Hursthouse, A., Bashton, M., Entwistle, J. 22 Oct 2025, In: Sustainable Microbiology
Landsystem models from remote and field based geomorphological mapping reveal diverse glacier dynamics on Svalbard, McCerery, R., Davies, B., Lovell, H., Calvo-Ryan, R., Pearce, D., Małecki, J., Woodward, J. 1 Sep 2025, In: Geomorphology

PGR Supervision

Sofía Galbán Méndez Start Date: 01/06/2026 End Date: 11/09/2026
Rosalia Calvo Ryan The search for life on icy moons Start Date: 01/03/2020
Luke Cockerton Targeting functional genes to study bacterial diversity, community structure and stability in the Polar atmosphere Start Date: 01/03/2020 End Date: 04/03/2025
Carmel Abbott Colonisation strategies of bacteria in extreme environments and health implications in the human exploration of space. Start Date: 01/03/2019 End Date: 17/10/2025
Hannes Kade Deep Antarctic Subglacial Lake Exploration; Diversity, Geochemistry and Ecology Start Date: 01/10/2024
James Lawrence Exploring microbial life in low biomass polar environments: from the air to subglacial systems? Start Date: 01/10/2023
Rosalia Calvo Ryan The search for life on icy moons Start Date: 01/03/2020 End Date: 17/10/2025
Isis Cohen Nicholson Restored or reinvented? Assessing the success of peatland restoration pilot projects in the Northumberland National Parks using environmental DNA (eDNA) Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025
Isis Cohen Nicholson Restored or reinvented? Assessing the success of peatland restoration pilot projects in the Northumberland National Parks using environmental DNA (eDNA) Start Date: 01/10/2023
Carmel Abbott Colonisation strategies of bacteria in extreme environments and health implications in the human exploration of space. Start Date: 01/03/2019 End Date: 14/08/2026
James Lawrence Antarctic Subglacial Lake Microbiology Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025
Hannes Kade Deep Antarctic Subglacial Lake Exploration; Diversity, Geochemistry and Ecology Start Date: 01/10/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025