Telephone: (+44) (0) 1631 559 414
E-mail: kim.last@sams.ac.uk
Job Title: Research Fellow in Behavioural Ecology

Scientific interests

My research has focused on the chronobiology / photoperiodism of marine organisms, initially those of planarians, then crustaceans and teleosts, and more recently on the behavioural rhythms of the intertidal polychaete Nereis virens. I enjoy developing new technology to answer difficult scientific questions. For example during my PhD I developed an actograph for monitoring the rhythmic behaviour of polychaete worms, which formed the basis for investigating the molecular architecture of the polychaete biological clock.

More recently I have become interested in the role of sediment in the marine environment particularly from aggregate dredging and, together with Andrew Davies (University of Bangor) and Vicki Hendrick (SAMS) we have developed a mesocosm facility which enables sediment to be kept in suspension under flow continuously. Of particular interest is how sediment affects the behaviour and survival of biogenic reef forming organisms.

Finally I am involved in developing new means of observing animals in their natural habitat, specifically scavengers associated with artificially implanted whale-falls. These whale-cams will not only be great outreach tools but will also pave the way to significantly improving our general understanding of chemosynthetic marine ecosystems.

Current projects

• MALSF - Measuring the effects of suspended particulate matter and smothering on the behaviour, growth and survival of key species found in areas associated with aggregate dredging. For project details follow link (funded by: Marine Aggregate Sustainability Fund);
• EPOCA - Effects of ocean warming and acidification on the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (funded by: EU FP7);
• ASSEMBLE - this is a 4-year project aiming to improve infrastructures at European marine labs, transnational visitor / user access and provision of marine model organisms. This project will be to Improve the provision of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (funded by: Integrated Infrastructures Initiative of the European Commission);
• WHALE-FALLS - In collaboration with the Natural History Museum (London) and the Göteborg Univerity (Sweden) we have initiated a project to investigate the occurrence of the whale bone boring polychaete Osedax (also affectionately known as "Zombie worms") in the relatively shallow waters off the NW coast of Scotland.  Further information on these very unusual polychaetes can be found on the BBC website;
• PAST – the Predator Alarm Signal Tracking programme seeks to isolated the active compounds in fish mucous which illicit strong behavioural avoidance responses in invertebrate polychaete prey species.

Past projects

In collaboration with the University of Leicester and as part of the N.E.R.C. Environmental Genomics programme we worked on the behavioural and molecular basis for tidal rhythms in the marine polychaete Nereis virens. This included characterization of behavioural phenotypes, cDNA library creation and probing for conserved clock genes. This work was presented at the 2006 House of Commons annual showcase of British Science Engineering and Technology (SET) awards (click here for a summary poster) and further details can be found here.

Teaching / research supervision

Currently I lecture across five modules in the SAMS Marine Science degree: behaviour and biomechanics (H4, 4 lectures), marine zoology (H3, 4 lectures) deep-sea ecosystems (H4, 2 lectures), marine biology (H2, 1 lecture), presentation skills (H1, 1 lecture). I also provided guest lectures and practicals (1 week/year) in molecular techniques in marine biology (University of Newcastle). Past topics have included: aquaculture, animal behaviour, biodiversity of marine organisms, boatwork skills, fisheries biology, marine environmental genomics, marine habitats and, experimental design. I am / have also supervised a number of students from school to doctorate level:

Projects at PhD Level:

Current - Beatriz de Francisco (FP7 EU) Cold-water coral and ocean acidification

• 2008/9 - Elisa Schaum (self-funded) Chemical alarm signals in polychaetes
• 2009 - Harriet Condie (MALSF bursary) Burial tolerances of macroinvertebrates as a consequence of marine aggregate dredging

• 2007 - Karl Attard (Nuffield Foundation) Tube growth dynamics in the polychaete Sabellaria spinulosa
• 2008 - Lewis Miller (Nuffield Foundation / MALSF) Tube structure of the polychaete Sabellaria spinulosa

Projects at School Level:

• 2008 - Josephine Holbrook (Nuffield Foundation) Chemical alarm signals in polychaetes
• 2009 - Ruairidh Nelson (Nuffield Foundation) Biological cycles of activity in the polychaete Nereis diversicolor

Publications (peer reviewed)

1. Last, K. S., Bailhache, T., Kramer, C., Kyriacou, C. P., Rosato, E., Olive, P. J. W. (2009). Tidal, daily, and lunar-day activity cycles in the marine polychaete Nereis virens.  Chronobiology International, 26: 2, 167-183.
2. Davies, A. J., Last, K. S., Attard, K., Hendrick, V. J. 2009. Maintaining turbidity and current flow in laboratory aquarium studies, a case study using Sabellaria spinulosa. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 370: 35-40.
3. Berge, J., Cottier, F, Last, K. S., Varpe, Ø, Leu, E., Søreide, J., Eiane, K., Falk-Petersen, S., Willis, W., Nygård, H., Vogedes, D., Griffiths, C., Johnsen, G., Lorentzen, D., Brierley, A., S. 2009. Diel vertical migration of Arctic zooplankton during the polar night. Biology Letters, 5: 1, 69-72.
4. Herberg, L. M-., Bentley, M. G., Clare, A. S. Last, K. S. 2006. Mating behaviour and chemical communication in the invasive chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 329, 1-10.
5. Norman Morrison, A. Joseph Wood, David Hancock, Sonia Shah, Luke Hakes, Tanya Gray, Bela Tiwari, Peter Kille, Andrew Cossins, Matthew Hegarty, Michael J. Allen, William H. Wilson, Peter Olive, Kim Last, Cas Kramer, Thierry Bailhache, Jonathan Reeves, Denise Pallett, Justin Warne, Karim Nashar, Helen Parkinson, Susanna-Assunta Sansone, Philippe Rocca-Serra, Robert Stevens, Jason Snape, Andy Brass, and Dawn Field. Annotation Of Environmental OMICS Data: Application to the transcriptomics domain 2006. OMICS A Journal of Integrative Biology. Volume 10, Number 2, 2006.
6. Olive, P. J. W., Kyriacou, C. P., Last, K. S., Kramer, C., Bailhache, T., Rosato, E. 2005. Dancing to the rhythms of geological time: the biorhythm capabilities of Polychaeta in a geological context. International Journal of Invertebrate Reproduction and Development, 48 (1-3) 197-206.
7. Tauber, E., Last, K. S., Olive, P. J. W., Kyriacou, C. P. 2004. Clock gene evolution and functional divergence. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 19 (5), 445-458.
8. Last, K. S., Olive, P. J. W. 2004. Interaction between photoperiod and an endogenous seasonal factor in influencing the diel locomotor activity of the benthic polychaete Nereis virens Sars. Biological Bulletin, 206, 103-112.
9. Last, K. S. 2003. An actograph and its use in the study of foraging behaviour in the benthic polychaete, Nereis virens Sars. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 287, 237-248.
10. Bentley, M. G., Olive, P.J.W., Last, K. S. 2001. Sexual satellites, moonlight and the nuptial dances of worms: The influence of the Moon on the reproduction of marine animals. Earth Moon and Planets 85-6: 67-84.
11. Olive, P. J. W., Lewis, C., Beardall, V., Last, K., Bentley, M. G. 2001. “Fitness consequences of seasonal reproduction: experiments on the polychaete Nereis virens Sars”.  In Environment and animal development: genes, life histories and plasticity. (Eds., Atkinson, D., and Thorndyke, M.). BIOS Scientific Publishers Ltd, Oxford, pp 358.
12. Last, K., Olive, P. J. W., Edwards, A. J. 2000. Photoperiodic control of growth and regeneration in immature juvenile Nereis (Neanthes) virens. Bulletin of Marine Science 2000, 67(1), 667.
13. Last, K., Olive, P. J. W., Edwards, A. J. 1999. An actographic study of diel activity in the semelparous polychaete Nereis (Neanthes) virens Sars in relation to the annual cycle of growth. Invertebrate Reproduction and Development 35: 141-145.
14. Last, K. S., Olive, P. J. W. 1999. Photoperiodic control of growth and segment proliferation by Nereis (Neanthes) virens in relation to state of maturity and season. Marine Biology, 134, 191-200.

I am also actively involved in refereeing for a number of journals most notably: Marine Biology Chronobiology International Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Soil Biology & Biochemistry, N.E.R.C. etc

Publication (non peer reviewed)

Last, K. S., Rosato, E. 2005. “Clock Watching”. Planet Earth, (Winter 2005), 18-19. See: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/publications/planetearth/2004/winter/win04-clockwatching.pdf

Last, K. 1999. “Worm Clocks”. NERC News, 11-13.

Wood, C., Daly, S., Hendrick, V. J., and Last, K. S. 1999. “Marine Conservation Society Hurghada Reef Monitoring Programme 1999. Report and Further Recommendations”, Marine Conservation Society.

Wood, C., Daly, S., Hendrick, V. J., and Last, K. S. 1998. “Marine Conservation Society Hurghada Reef Monitoring Programme 1998. Report and Recommendations”, Marine Conservation Society.

Thomason, J. C., Hills, J. M., Wieczorek, S., Todd, C. D., Head, R., Hornby, S., Last, K., and Warren, J. 1998. Conference proceedings abstract. “Supply and settlement dynamics of Semibalanus balanoides cyprids: the weak link in the chain?” Marine Biofouling, Plymouth

Recent Grant Capture (last 2 years)

• VORT (Marine Aggregate Sustainability Fund: value ~£140,000)
• EPOCA (FP7: value ~£80,000)
• ECOMARINE (commercial: value ~£1,200)
• Teaching (commercial: value ~£1000)

Other (e.g. measures of esteem)

• Chair of the SAMS Aquarium Comittee
• STEMNET Science Ambassador
• Received prestigeous GlaxoSmithCline poster award at the House of Commons 2006 showcase of British science, engineering and technology (SET) part of the UK National Science Week.
• Awarded best student speaker at the Annual Postgraduate Conference, Newcastle, UK (1999) “Sex, Worms and Video Tape”.

• Awarded best student speaker at the 6^th International Polychaete Conference in Curitiba, Brazil (1998), “Photoperiodic control of growth and segment proliferation by Nereis (Neanthes) virens in relation to real time and state of maturity”.