Staff Profile

Roles and Responsibilities

Degree Programme Director - Marine Sciences

Research Vessel Manager
University Diving Officer

Qualifications

BSc Zoology University of Bristol
PhD Deep-Sea Biology University of Southampton

Previous Positions

2002 - 2004 Post-doctoral Researcher; National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
2004 - 2006 Post-doctoral Researcher; Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen

Undergraduate Teaching

• MST1101 Marine Biology
• MST1102 Diversity and Behaviour of Marine Animals (Module Leader)
• MST1104 Marine Research Skills
• MST2101 Marine Ecology
• MST2102 Physiology, Reproduction and Adaptation in Marine Animals (Module Leader)
• MST2104 Research and Employability Skills
• MST2105 Marine Practical Skills
• MST3101 Advanced Marine Biology
• MST3102 Advanced Marine Zoology
• MST3104 Research Project: Marine Biology
• MST3105 Research Project: Marine Zoology
• MST3107 Research Project: Overseas

Postgraduate Teaching

• MST8022 Environmental Research Skills
• MST8023 Marine Consultancy

Research Interests

Deep-Sea Biology and Ecology
Reproductive and larval ecology in deep-water and 'novel' habitats
Bentho-Pelagic coupling and it's role in regulating rate processes in deep water benthic invertebrates
Trophic structure of mid-ocean ridge communities
Development of technologies for deep-sea experimental biology
The role of sub-sea structures as artificial reefs in the North Sea
Non-destructive assessments of fish assemblages in North Sea no-trawl areas

Other Expertise

Industrial collaboration for scientific access to ROV technology and novel deep water habitats

Current Work

Postgraduate Supervision

William Reid - Macro-comsumer food web structure of mid-ocean ridge systems. Working on the NERC ECOMAR project in the North Atlantic. Investigating deep-sea food webs using a tri-stable isotope approach. NERC PhD studentship co-supervised with Prof. Nicholas Polunin.

Funding

• Articles

  • Hunt GL, Engelhard GH, Pinnegar JK, Wigham BD, Polunin NVC. Trawling through time: reconstructing a late nineteenth century beam trawl for scientific inshore fishery investigations. Maritime Studies 2024, 23(3), 33.
  • Hunt GL, Engelhard GH, Pinnegar JK, Barry J, Wigham BD, Polunin NVC. Long-term change in a North Sea inshore fish assemblage between 1899–1913 and 2018–2019. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2024, 733, 79-93.
  • Reid WDK, Wigham BD, Marsh L, Weston JNJ, Zhu Y, Copley JT. Trophodynamics at the Longqi hydrothermal vent field and comparison with the East Scotia and Central Indian Ridges. Marine Biology 2020, 167(10), 141.
  • Reid WDK, Sweeting CJ, Wigham BD, McGill RAR, Polunin NVC. Isotopic niche variability in macroconsumers of the East Scotia Ridge (Southern Ocean) hydrothermal vents: What more can we learn from an ellipse?. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2016, 542, 13-24.
  • Copley JT, Marsh L, Glover AG, Huhnerbach V, Nye VE, Reid WDK, Sweeting CJ, Wigham BD, Wiklund H. Ecology and biogeography of megafauna and macrofauna at the first known deep-sea hydrothermal vents on the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge. Scientific Reports 2016, 6, 39158.
  • Zwirglmaier Z, Reid WDK, Heywood J, Sweeting CJ, Wigham BD, Polunin NVC, Hawkes JA, Connelly DP, Pearce D, Linse K. Linking regional variation of epibiotic bacterial diversity and trophic ecology in a new species of Kiwaidae (Decapoda, Anomura) from East Scotia Ridge (Antarctica) hydrothermal vents. MicrobiologyOpen 2015, 4(1), 136-150.
  • Reid WDK, Sweeting CJ, Wigham BD, Zwirglmaier K, Hawkes JA, McGill RAR, Linse KL, Polunin NVC. Spatial Differences in East Scotia Ridge Hydrothermal Vent Food Webs: Influences of Chemistry, Microbiologyand Predation on Trophodynamics. PLoS One 2013, 8(6), e65553.
  • Reid WDK, Sweeting CJ, Wigham BD, McGill RAR, Polunin NVC. High variability in spatial and temporal size-based trophodynamics of deep-sea fishes from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge elucidated by stable isotopes. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 2013, 98(Part B), 412-420.
  • Jones DOB, Alt CHS, Priede IG, Reid WDK, Wigham BD, Billett DSM, Gebruk AV, Rogacheva A, Gooday AJ. Deep-sea surface-dwelling enteropneusts from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Their ecology, distribution and mode of life. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 2013, 98(B), 374-387.
  • Cousins NJ, Horton T, Wigham BD, Bagley PM. Abyssal scavenging demersal fauna at two areas of contrasting productivity on the Subantarctic Crozet Plateau, southern Indian Ocean. African Journal of Marine Science 2013, 35(2), 299-306.
  • Reid WDK, Wigham BD, McGill RAR, Polunin NVC. Elucidating trophic pathways in benthic deep-sea assemblages of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge north and south of the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2012, 463, 89-103.
  • Martinez I, Jones EG, Davie SL, Neat FC, Wigham BD, Priede IG. Variability in behaviour of four fish species attracted to baited underwater cameras in the North Sea. Hydrobiologia 2011, 670(1), 23-34.
  • Wigham BD, Galley EA, Smith CR, Tyler PA. Inter-annual variability and potential for selectivity in the diets of deep-water Antarctic echinoderms. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 2008, 55(22-23), 2478-2490.
  • Heger A, King NJ, Wigham BD, Jamieson AJ, Bagley PM, Allan L, Pfannkuche O, Priede IG. Benthic bioluminescence in the bathyal North East Atlantic: luminescent responses of Vargula norvegica (Ostracoda : Myodocopida) to predation by the deep-water eel (Synaphobranchus kaupii). Marine Biology 2007, 151(4), 1471-1478.
  • Jones DOB, Wigham BD, Hudson IR, Bett BJ. Anthropogenic disturbance of deep-sea megabenthic assemblages: A study with remotely operated vehicles in the Faroe-Shetland Channel, NE Atlantic. Marine Biology 2007, 151(5), 1731-1741.
  • Billett DSM, Bett BJ, Jacobs CL, Rouse IP, Wigham BD. Mass deposition of jellyfish in the deep Arabian Sea. Limnology and Oceanography 2006, 51(5), 2077-2083.
  • Hudson IR, Wigham BD, Solan M, Rosenberg R. Feeding behaviour of deep-sea dwelling holothurians: Inferences from a laboratory investigation of shallow fjordic species. Journal of Marine Systems 2005, 57(3-4), 201-218.
  • Hudson IR, Jones DOB, Wigham BD. A review of the uses of work-class ROVs for the benefits of science: Lessons learned from the SERPENT project. Underwater Technology 2005, 26(3), 83-88.
  • Solan M, Wigham BD, Hudson IR, Kennedy R, Coulon CH, Norling K, Nilsson HC, Rosenberg R. In situ quantification of bioturbation using time-lapse fluorescent sediment profile imaging (f-SPI), luminophore tracers and model simulation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2004, 271, 1-12.