William Hunter

I completed my PhD in Ecology at University of Aberdeen, studying the effects of environmental changes upon deep-sea ecosystems. I then spent 2 years in Vienna, Austria, where I studied how soil erosion affects carbon and nitrogen cycling in alpine streams. I have now returned to my native Northern Ireland where I work on the effects of predator extinction under different climate regimes. In my time as a professional scientist, I have been fortunate to spend some time at sea, on international research cruises, and have dived to the bottom of the Arabian Sea in the Japanese submersible Shinkai 6500. I am a professional scientific diver and a closet clown (juggling and riding a unicycle). I am passionate about public engagement. I co-organise and perform at a science-comedy club, Bright Club Belfast. Here we encourage scientists to use stand-up comedy to talk about their research (You can check out some of my material at https://youtu.be/eKx0m40XaWs).

June 2015