Dr Laura Kelly
Lecturer in Microbiology
My profile
Biography
External examiner roles
PhD Dissertation Examiner:
2013: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Nancy, France
2017: Manchester Metropolitan University
Journal Peer Reviewer:
Microbial Ecology, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Canadian Journal of Microbiology, Pedobiologia, International Journal of Astrobiology
Editor:
Pedobiologia (2014-current)
Expert reviewer for external funding bodies
I have been/am an expert reviewer for journals, including the following:
Pedobiologia (and Editor)
ISME Journal
Microbial Ecology
Canadian Journal of Microbiology
FEMS Microbiology Ecology
FEMS Letters
Geomicrobiology Journal
Geobiology
Consultancy and advisory roles
Microbiology consultant, Open University (2011)
Guide (Parys Mountain) for Open University crew filming for a new online science course (2016)
Community, charity and NGO links
Volunteered in 2015 - 2017 for Lab in a Lorry (http://www.labinalorry.org.uk/) visiting schools in North Wales in the mobile physics lab
Prizes and awards
Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow (2015-2017)
Other distinctions
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Intra European Fellow 2015-2017
Expert reviewer for external funding bodies
National Science Foundation (USA)
UK National Commission for UNESCO
Editorial Board membership
Pedobiologia 2014-present
Membership of professional associations
Microbiology Society
UK Geomicrobiology Network
Mineralogical Society (UK & Ireland)
Personal website address
Teaching
Why study…
Microbiology is such an important subdiscipline within the Biological Sciences, impacting the life of everyone, every day, whether or not they realise it. Studying microbiology doesn’t just mean studying microbes that are involved in human health/medicine and food (production or spoilage), perhaps the most common areas that people associate with microorganisms. Microbiology encompasses so much more, from the degradation of pollutants in the environment, to the mining of precious metals, the search for extraterrestrial life and even the generation of energy, bacteria, archaea and fungi are essential for the functioning of the Earth and for our survival. Studying microbiology at undergraduate level will give you the opportunity to scratch the surface of the microbial world and help you understand just how amazing these (mainly) microscopic creatures are.
Subject areas
Microbiology (research specialising in Geomicrobiology, Microbial Ecology, Astrobiology and Environmental Microbiology_
Research outputs
While my research expertise may be described broadly as microbial ecology, I particularly specialise in mineral environments, thus geomicrobiology. Geomicrobiology is itself however very broad, encompassing soil microbiology, extremophile research, astrobiology, volcanic microbiology and aquatic microbiology to name but a few, each of which I have and continue to work in. Most recently I have undertaken a two-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie Intra European Fellowship at Bangor University (Wales), where I focused on microbial communities and activities in subterranean acid mine environments using a combination of traditional culture-based methods, chemical analyses and high-throughput DNA sequencing.
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Chapters in books
Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C., Summers, S. (2011) 'Microbiology of Volcanic Environments.' In Horikoshi, K., Antranikian, G., Bull, A., Stetter, K. (ed.) Extremophiles Handbook. Springer, pp. 917-933.
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Journal articles
Kelly, L.C., Rivett, D.W., Pakostova, E., Creer, S., Cotterell, T., Johnson, D.B. (2022) 'Mineralogy affects prokaryotic community composition in an acidic metal mine.' Microbiological Research, 266pp. 127257-127257.
Eisenhauer, N., Antunes, P.M., Bennett, A.E., Birkhofer, K., Bissett, A., Bowker, M.A., Caruso, T., Chen, B., Coleman, D.C., Boer, W.D., Ruiter, P.D., DeLuca, T.H., Frati, F., Griffiths, B.S., Hart, M.M., Hättenschwiler, S., Haimi, J., Heethoff, M., Kaneko, N., Kelly, L.C., Leinaas, H.P., Lindo, Z., Macdonald, C., Rillig, M.C., Ruess, L., Scheu, S., Schmidt, O., Seastedt, T.R., Straalen, N.M.V., Tiunov, A.V., Zimmer, M., Powell, J.R. (2017) 'Priorities for research in soil ecology.' Pedobiologia, 63
Kelly, L.C., Colin, Y., Turpault, M.P., Uroz, S. (2016) 'Mineral Type and Solution Chemistry Affect the Structure and Composition of Actively Growing Bacterial Communities as Revealed by Bromodeoxyuridine Immunocapture and 16S rRNA Pyrosequencing.' Microbial Ecology, 72(2) pp. 428-442.
Uroz, S., Kelly, L.C., Turpault, M.P., Lepleux, C., Frey-Klett, P. (2015) 'The Mineralosphere Concept: Mineralogical Control of the Distribution and Function of Mineral-associated Bacterial Communities.' Trends in Microbiology, 23(12) pp. 751-762.
Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C.S., Thorsteinsson, T., Marteinsson, V., Stevenson, J. (2014) 'Pioneer Microbial Communities of the Fimmvörðuháls Lava Flow, Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland.' Microbial Ecology: an international journal, 68(3) pp. 504-518.
Summers, S., Whiteley, A.S., Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C.S. (2013) 'Land coverage influences the bacterial community composition in the critical zone of a sub-Arctic basaltic environment.' FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 86(3) pp. 381-393.
Cockell, C.S., Kelly, L.C., Marteinsson, V. (2013) 'Actinobacteria—An Ancient Phylum Active in Volcanic Rock Weathering.' Geomicrobiology Journal, 30(8) pp. 706-720.
Cockell, C.S., Kelly, L.C., Marteinsson, V. (2013) 'Actinobacteria-An Ancient Phylum Active in Volcanic Rock Weathering.' Geomicrobiology Journal, 30(8) pp. 706-720.
Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C.S., Summers, S. (2012) 'Diverse microbial species survive high ammonia concentrations.' International Journal of Astrobiology, 11(2) pp. 125-131.
Cockell, C.S., Voytek, M.A., Gronstal, A.L., Finster, K., Kirshtein, J.D., Howard, K., Reitner, J., Gohn, G.S., Sanford, W.E., Horton, J.W., Kallmeyer, J., Kelly, L., Powars, D.S. (2012) 'Impact disruption and recovery of the deep subsurface biosphere.' Astrobiology, 12(3) pp. 231-246.
Cockell, C.S., Kelly, L.C., Summers, S., Marteinsson, V. (2011) 'Following the kinetics: Iron-oxidizing microbial mats in cold icelandic volcanic habitats and their rock-associated carbonaceous signature.' Astrobiology, 11(7) pp. 679-694.
Cockell, C.S., Pybus, D., Olsson-Francis, K., Kelly, L., Petley, D., Rosser, N., Howard, K., Mosselmans, F. (2011) 'Molecular Characterization and Geological Microenvironment of a Microbial Community Inhabiting Weathered Receding Shale Cliffs.' Microbial Ecology, 61(1) pp. 166-181.
Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C.S., Herrera-Belaroussi, A., Piceno, Y., Andersen, G., DeSantis, T., Brodie, E., Thorsteinsson, T., Marteinsson, V., Poly, F., LeRoux, X. (2011) 'Bacterial Diversity of Terrestrial Crystalline Volcanic Rocks, Iceland.' Microbial Ecology, 62(1) pp. 69-79.
Cockell, C.S., van Calsteren, P., Mosselmans, J.F.W., Franchi, I.A., Gilmour, I., Kelly, L., Olsson-Francis, K., Johnson, D. (2010) 'Microbial endolithic colonization and the geochemical environment in young seafloor basalts.' Chemical Geology, 279(1-2) pp. 17-30.
Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C.S., Piceno, Y.M., Andersen, G.L., Thorsteinsson, T., Marteinsson, V. (2010) 'Bacterial Diversity of Weathered Terrestrial Icelandic Volcanic Glasses.' Microbial Ecology, 60(4) pp. 740-752.
Cockell, C.S., Olsson, K., Knowles, F., Kelly, L., Herrera, A., Thorsteinsson, T., Marteinsson, V. (2009) 'Bacteria in weathered basaltic glass, Iceland.' Geomicrobiology Journal, 26(7) pp. 491-507.
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Conference papers
Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C., Kminek, G., Perfumo, A. 'In search of the limits of microbial tolerance to ammonia.' In 38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 2010. Kminek, (ed.)
Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C., Herrera, A., Andersen, G., Piceno, Y. 'A geobiological comparison of high and low-Silica containing weathered volcanic glass.' In Goldschmidt 2009. Davos, Swtizerland,
Kelly, L.C., Uroz, S., Turpault, M.P. 'Characterisation of active forest soil Bacteria during mineral weathering.' In Goldschmidt 2013. Florence, Italy,
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Posters
Kelly, L.C., Cockell, C. (2010) 'Actinobacteria – major contributors to terrestrial rock weathering.' [Poster] In Society for General Microbiology conference 2010. Date viewed 2010.
Press and media
Media appearances or involvement
Guide to ‘It’s not Rocket Science’ film crew in 2015 (ITV series) at Mynydd Parys mine, North Wales