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Kimberley Marshall-Mills

Kimberley Marshall-Mills

(she/her)

Graduate Demonstrator

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Email
MillsK3@cardiff.ac.uk
Campuses
Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT

Overview

As a scientist in marine biomineralization and paleooceanography, I specalise in using techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) to understand the growth mechanisms and biomineralization of marine calcifying organisms. I currently work on coral reef organisms, specializing in giant clam bivalve shells, at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, working in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, London. I am interested in how biomineralization dynamics translate to marine management and conservation of Bornean coral reefs. In particular, I am excited by the prospect of using turbid coral reefs, those with high sediment input, to shade corals and other reef organisms from bleaching, and understand the resilience of organisms on turbid reefs moving forward in the face of a rapidly changing ocean. 

I am also interested in the use of innovative data analysis techniques and software development to contribute to open-source science. At current, I also work on the MioOcean project, which combines records of sea surface temperature from the Miocene epoch. A key goal for this work is to create an open-source online application, where scientists can access and analyse such records for their own research.

Before my post-graduate education, I graduated from Cardiff University in 2019 with a Biological Sciences BSc (Zoology), being awarded the Edith Shepard Prize for Best Final Year Student in Zoology and the Professional Training Year Prize. Throughout my BSc, I undertook a number of research projects focusing on marine invertebrates. In particular, investigating the ecological parameters, morphology and behaviour of marine bristleworms (Polychaeta) in collaboration with Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales (NMW). Following this, I worked on a research grant awarded by the Porcupine Natural History Society on the redescription of shovelhead worms (Magelona spp.) and then as a marine curatorial assistant at NMW, curating collections of molluscs and other marine invertebrates from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Welsh monitoring surveys.

 

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2020

2019

2018

Articles

Research

  • Sclerochronology
  • Molluscs
  • Biomineralization
  • Marine Biogeochemistry
  • Paleoclimatology
  • Marine conservation
  • Coral reefs 

Teaching

  • EAT409 - Remote sensing of Hazards and Risk

Specialisms

  • Biomineralisation
  • Geochemistry
  • Mineralogy and crystallography
  • Climate change impacts and adaptation