Dr Clare Bird

Senior Lecturer

Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Dr Clare Bird

Contact details

About me

I am a marine biologist with a passion for microorganisms. I work at the interdisciplinary cross over between marine geology and microbiology investigating the biology and ecology of foraminifera, fossil forming microbial protists.

Brief Biography

  • Senior Lecturer (2023 onwards)
  • Lecturer in Molecular Cell Biology (since 2020 -2023, University of Stirling)
  • Anniversary Research Fellow (2018-2020, University of Stirling)
  • Daphne Jackson Fellow (2013-2015, University of Edinburgh)
  • Career Break (2004-2011)Post-doctoral Research Assistant (2001-2004)PhD in molecular microbiology (1997-2001)

Divisional/Faculty/University Contribution

  • Committee member BES Learning and Teaching with the role of Employability Lead
  • University Research Environment Group

Other Academic Activities

  • Member of the Royal Society of Biology
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

My research vision is to understand the marine microbial response to environmental change, and how this response will impact ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycling. Changes in these processes will have impact at global scales on habitat suitability for species and as a human resource.

I am currently studying the trophic interactions of planktonic marine protists called foraminifera. These foraminifera precipitate a shell of calcium carbonate (chalk). My samples come from polar and sub-polar seas (Baffin Bay, Arctic Ocean and the North Pacific). The reasons for studying them are twofold.

Firstly, environmental parameters control the chemical makeup of the foraminiferal shell enabling us, on analysis of fossil foraminifera, to interpret environmental conditions of the past, such as temperature, ocean pH, and productivity. However, biology also influences shell chemistry. My interests lie in understanding these biological factors that need to be accounted for when reconstructing past conditions.

Secondly, the climate of the Arctic is changing much more rapidly than other parts of the planet. There is an urgency to understand how organisms here are adapting and surviving, and how they will be impacted by loss of ice cover, warming temperatures and shifting ocean pH. Like corals, foraminifera are susceptible to ocean acidification, and yet we know very little of their calcifying mechanisms and how they might adapt to lower pH.

Research projects (3)

The blueprint for marine biomineralization in a changing climate
PI: Dr Clare Bird
Funded by: Natural Environment Research Council
–

Disentangling the palaeoproxy challenge for the Humboldt Current System and beyond
PI: Dr Clare Bird
Funded by: Natural Environment Research Council
–

Understanding ecological dependencies in planktonic foraminifera: A role for the microbiome under climate change
PI: Dr Clare Bird
Funded by: The Carnegie Trust
–

Outputs (18)

Article

Aberrant coiling signatures reveal the specialised reproductive strategy of the planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma under Central Arctic perennial sea ice

Weitkamp TM, Bird C, Darling KF, Hsiang AY, Ramsay J, Vermassen F & Coxall HK (2025) Aberrant coiling signatures reveal the specialised reproductive strategy of the planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma under Central Arctic perennial sea ice. Marine Micropaleontology, 201, Art. No.: 102503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2025.102503

Article

The microbiome of the Arctic planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma is comprised of fermenting and carbohydrate-degrading bacteria and an intracellular diatom chloroplast store

Bird C, Darling K, Thiessen R & Pieńkowski AJ (2025) The microbiome of the Arctic planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma is comprised of fermenting and carbohydrate-degrading bacteria and an intracellular diatom chloroplast store. Biogeosciences, 22 (17). https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4545-2025

Article

The genetic diversity, morphology, biogeography, and taxonomic designations of Ammonia (Foraminifera) in the Northeast Atlantic

Bird C, Schweizer M, Roberts A, Austin WEN, Knudsen KL, Evans KM, Filipsson HL, Sayer MDJ, Geslin E & Darling KF (2020) The genetic diversity, morphology, biogeography, and taxonomic designations of Ammonia (Foraminifera) in the Northeast Atlantic. Marine Micropaleontology, 155, Art. No.: 101726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2019.02.001

Article

Assessing proxy signatures of temperature, salinity, and hypoxia in the Baltic Sea through foraminifera-based geochemistry and faunal assemblages

Groeneveld J, Filipsson HL, Austin WEN, Darling K, McCarthy D, Krupinski NBQ, Bird C & Schweizer M (2018) Assessing proxy signatures of temperature, salinity, and hypoxia in the Baltic Sea through foraminifera-based geochemistry and faunal assemblages. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 37 (2), pp. 403-429. https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-403-2018

Article

Quantitative PCR Profiling of Escherichia coli in Livestock Feces Reveals Increased Population Resilience Relative to Culturable Counts under Temperature Extremes

Oliver D, Bird C, Burd E & Wyman M (2016) Quantitative PCR Profiling of Escherichia coli in Livestock Feces Reveals Increased Population Resilience Relative to Culturable Counts under Temperature Extremes. Environmental Science and Technology, 50 (17), pp. 9497-9505. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b02657

Article

Nitrate/Nitrite Assimilation System of the Marine Picoplanktonic Cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. Strain WH 8103: Effect of Nitrogen Source and Availability on Gene Expression

Bird C & Wyman M (2003) Nitrate/Nitrite Assimilation System of the Marine Picoplanktonic Cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. Strain WH 8103: Effect of Nitrogen Source and Availability on Gene Expression. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 69 (12), pp. 7009-7018. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.69.12.7009-7018.2003

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