Professor David Pond

I am a professor in the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling, and lead investigator of the DIAPOD project and co-investigator in the CHASE project.

My research interests are extremely broad based, ranging from viruses to seals and over spatial scales of coastal waters to open ocean, from the tropics to the poles.

My science activities are both field and laboratory based and I specialise in exploiting newly developed analytical techniques to address globally relevant ecological issues.

A main emphasis of my research is to study biomarkers, particularly lipids in marine ecosystems to understand how ecosystems function. Biomarkers allow a forensic approach to ecological science by determining the origins and fate of these organic molecules and particularly how those that are nutritionally important, impact on population dynamics of marine organisms and communities.

A major current focus of my research is determining the role of biophysics, specifically solid-liquid phase transition of lipids, in the behavioural ecology and metabolism of organisms in both aquatic and terrestrial environments.