Aimeric Blaud
aimeric blaud

Dr Aimeric Blaud

Lecturer

 0131 455 3383

  A.Blaud@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

Research Interest
I am a soil microbiologist interested in the roles of soil microorganisms (bacteria, archaea and fungi) in biogeochemical cycles, such as nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, and their spatial and temporal distribution in soils. In particular, I am interested in the environmental drivers that regulate microbial functions and their responses to anthropogenic activity (fertilisation, land use change) and global change. My work focus on arable land (grassland, cropland) in Europe but also in the Southern Hemisphere, and on “pristine” land, such as the Arctic tundra. I have experience of field and lab experiments on bacteria, archaea and fungi, as well as microorganisms involved in the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. I am familiar with a range of molecular methods (DNA extraction, high throughput sequencing, quantitative-PCR, fingerprinting methods), soil properties analysis, bioinformatics and multivariate statistical analysis (R software). I recently worked on the relationship between the plant and microbial diversity in the Park Grass long-term experiment at Rothamsted Research Institute. I also work extensively on the microorganisms involved in the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, and how organic and inorganic fertilisation and soil pH alteration affect the balance of the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in UK grassland and cropland.

Biography
Lecturer in Applied Microbiology: Edinburgh Napier (Sept 2019 - )
Postdoctoral researcher: Rothamsted Research Institute (2015 – 2019)
Postdoctoral researcher: The University of Sheffield (2013 – 2014)
Ph.D: The University of Sheffield (2008 – 2012)

Teaching:
I am the module leader for Environmental Microbiology in the UK (MIC09102) and in Sri Lanka (MIC09802), 3rd year students. In this module, I am teaching environmental microbiology, terrestrial/aquatic microbiology, and molecular microbiology.

I am involved in the teaching of several modules, delivering lectures, tutorial and practical:
- Lecture on microbial ecology for 1st yr students (Introductory Microbiology; MIC07100)
- Tutorial on statistical software R for 1st yr students (Scientific Enquiry; ENV07101)
- Tutorial, practical and mentoring of Honours project working on “antibiotics unearthed” (Scientific Research Project; ENV10100)
- Supervision of MSc students (Research Project; BMS11102)

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

Esteem

Editorial Activity

  • Editorial Board Member of Geoderma

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Microbiology Society
  • British Ecological Society
  • Society for Applied Microbiology
  • International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME)

 

Reviewing

  • Nature Communications
  • Reviewer: Ecological Indicators
  • Reveiwer: Ecological Indicator
  • Reviewer: PeerJ
  • Reviewer: European Journal of Soil Biology
  • Reviewer: Biology and Fertility of Soils
  • Reviewer: Pedosphere
  • Reviewer: Applied Soil Ecology
  • Reviewer: Biogeosciences
  • Reviewer: Geoderma
  • Reviewer: Science of The Total Environment
  • Reviewer: Acta Ecologica Sinica
  • Reviewer: Global Change Biology Bioenergy
  • Reviewer: Soil Biology and Biochemistry
  • Reviewer: Scientific Reports
  • Reviewer: FEMS Microbiologyy Ecology
  • Reviewer: European Journal of Soil Sciences

 

Visiting Positions

  • Visiting Scientist: Rothamsed Research institute

 

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Date


21 results

Rubber plantation ageing controls soil biodiversity after land conversion from cassava

Journal Article
Peerawat, M., Blaud, A., Trap, J., Chevallier, T., Alonso, P., Gay, F., …Brauman, A. (2018)
Rubber plantation ageing controls soil biodiversity after land conversion from cassava. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 257, 92-102. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2018.01.034
The rapid expansion of perennial crops is a major threat to biodiversity in Southeast Asia. The biodiversity losses related to the conversion of forest lands to oil palm or ru...

The abundance of nitrogen cycle genes and potential greenhouse gas fluxes depends on land use type and little on soil aggregate size

Journal Article
Blaud, A., van der Zaan, B., Menon, M., Lair, G. J., Zhang, D., Huber, P., …Banwart, S. (2018)
The abundance of nitrogen cycle genes and potential greenhouse gas fluxes depends on land use type and little on soil aggregate size. Applied Soil Ecology, 125, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.11.026
Soil structure is known to influence microbial communities in soil and soil aggregates are the fundamental ecological unit of organisation that support soil functions. However...

Effects of Dry and Wet Sieving of Soil on Identification and Interpretation of Microbial Community Composition

Book Chapter
Blaud, A., Menon, M., van der Zaan, B., Lair, G., & Banwart, S. (2017)
Effects of Dry and Wet Sieving of Soil on Identification and Interpretation of Microbial Community Composition. In D. Sparks, & S. Banwart (Eds.), Quantifying and Managing Soil Functions in Earth's Critical Zone - Combining Experimentation and Mathematical Modelling, (119-142). Academic Press Books. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2016.10.006
Soil aggregates are microhabitats for microorganisms, and directly influence microorganisms that live within and are influenced by microorganisms in return. Two methods are us...

Distribution patterns - Soil biodiversity at aggregate scale

Book Chapter
Blaud, A. (2016)
Distribution patterns - Soil biodiversity at aggregate scale. In Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas, (72). (Publications Office of the European Union). https://doi.org/10.2788/799182
No abstract available.

Nitrogen accumulation and partitioning in a High Arctic tundra ecosystem from extreme atmospheric N deposition events

Journal Article
Choudhary, S., Blaud, A., Osborn, A. M., Press, M. C., & Phoenix, G. K. (2016)
Nitrogen accumulation and partitioning in a High Arctic tundra ecosystem from extreme atmospheric N deposition events. Science of the Total Environment, 554-555, 303-310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.155
Arctic ecosystems are threatened by pollution from recently detected extreme atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition events in which up to 90% of the annual N deposition can occur...

Arctic soil microbial diversity in a changing world

Journal Article
Blaud, A., Lerch, T. Z., Phoenix, G. K., & Osborn, A. M. (2015)
Arctic soil microbial diversity in a changing world. Research in Microbiology, 166(10), 796-813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resmic.2015.07.013
The Arctic region is a unique environment, subject to extreme environmental conditions, shaping life therein and contributing to its sensitivity to environmental change. The A...

Analysing the effect of soil organic matter on bacterial communities using T-RFLP fingerprinting: different methods, different stories?

Journal Article
Blaud, A., Diouf, F., Herrmann, A. M., & Lerch, T. Z. (2015)
Analysing the effect of soil organic matter on bacterial communities using T-RFLP fingerprinting: different methods, different stories?. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 51(8), 959-971. doi:10.1007/s00374-015-1041-0
Soil microbial ecology needs robust tools to elucidate ecological questions, such as the impact of fertilisation on soil microbial communities. However, the methods and data a...

Variation in bacterial, archaeal and fungal community structure and abundance in High Arctic tundra soil

Journal Article
Blaud, A., Phoenix, G. K., & Osborn, A. M. (2015)
Variation in bacterial, archaeal and fungal community structure and abundance in High Arctic tundra soil. Polar Biology, 38(7), 1009-1024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1661-8
Arctic ecosystems are under pressure from climate change and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition. However, knowledge of the ecology of microbial communities and their response...

Analysing the impact of compaction of soil aggregates using X-ray microtomography and water flow simulations

Journal Article
Menon, M., Jia, X., Lair, G. J., Faraj, P. H., & Blaud, A. (2015)
Analysing the impact of compaction of soil aggregates using X-ray microtomography and water flow simulations. Soil and Tillage Research, 150, 147-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2015.02.004
Soil aggregates are structural units of soil, which create complex pore systems controlling gas and water storage and fluxes in soil. Aggregates can be destroyed during swelli...

Bacterial community structure in soil microaggregates and on particulate organic matter fractions located outside or inside soil macroaggregates

Journal Article
Blaud, A., Chevallier, T., Virto, I., Pablo, A., Chenu, C., & Brauman, A. (2014)
Bacterial community structure in soil microaggregates and on particulate organic matter fractions located outside or inside soil macroaggregates. Pedobiologia, 57(3), 191-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2014.03.005
Soil aggregates and particulate organic matter (POM) are thought to represent distinct soil microhabitats for microbial communities. This study investigated whether organo-min...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • Co-I on White Rose project lead by Dr Manoj Menon (£11K)
  • FEMS Young Scientist Meeting Grant (400€)

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects