Professor Axel Miller


        Head and shoulder photo of SAMS deputy director, Professor Axel Miller

Deputy Director

I trained as an analytical chemist and have a research interest in biogeochemistry, in particular dissolved organic carbon. I came to SAMS in 1998 as one of the first lecturers tasked with developing the Marine Science BSc programme. As Head of, and later Associate Director for, Education I have been instrumental in developing SAMS' relationship with the University of the Highlands and Islands and ensuring that our undergraduate and postgraduate education offering is of the highest quality. With a natural aptitude for institutional management, I became Deputy Director of SAMS in 2013 after qualifying with an MBA in Higher Education Management. 

Contact details:
  • Axel.Miller@sams.ac.uk
  • +44 (0)1631 559 263
  • +44 (0)7824 77 77 32


  • Linkedin

Employment history

2014-15: Acting Director. SAMS - following the death of SAMS Director Professor Laurence Mee

2013-present: Deputy Director. SAMS

2012-13: Associate Director of Education. SAMS

2009-14: Dean of the MASTS Graduate School

2008-present: UHI Professor recognising my contribution to the development of the university

2007: Acting Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Science and Technology. UHI Millennium Institute (now UHI)

2005-08: Senior Lecturer in Marine Biogeochemistry. SAMS

2003-08: Education Coordinator. SAMS

1998-2003: Lecturer in Marine Chemistry. SAMS

1992-98: Higher Scientific Officer. Plymouth Marine Laboratory

1989-92: Postgraduate Research Assistant. University of Liverpool

1988-89: Scientific Officer. Plymouth Marine Laboratory

 

Education

2011: Part-time MBA in Higher Education Management. University of London

1996: PhD 'A reassessment of the determination of dissolved organic carbon in natural waters using high temperature catalytic oxidation'. University of Liverpool

1987: BSc (Hons) Environmental Science (1st class). Plymouth Polytechnic

Miller, A.E.J., Mantoura, R.F.C. and Preston, M.R., 1993. Shipboard investigation of DOC in the N.E. Atlantic using platinum based catalysts in a Shimadzu TOC-500, HTCO analyser. Mar. Chem., 41: 215-221.

Miller, A.E.J., Mantoura, R.F.C., Suzuki, Y. and Preston, M.R., 1993. Preliminary study of DOC in the Tamar Estuary, U.K., using UV-persulphate and HTCO techniques. Marine Chemistry, 41: 223-228. 

Williams, P.J.leB., Bauer, J., Benner, R., Hegeman, J., Ittekot, V., Miller, A.E.J., Normann, B., Suzuki, Y., Wangersky, P. and McCarthy, M., 1993. Measurement of Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrogen in Natural Waters – DOC subgroup report. Marine Chemistry, 41: 11-21.

Barlow, R.G., Miller, A.E.J., Fileman, T.W. and Mantoura, R.F.C., 1993. Vertical Distribution and Evolution of Pigment Biomarkers in the Western Alboran Sea, March 1992. Proceedings of the EROS 2000 4th Annual Workshop, 28th September - 2nd October, 1992, Plymouth, UK. Wat. Poll. Res. Rep., 30: 97-102.

Barlow, R.G., Miller, A.E.J., Fileman, T.W. and Mantoura, R.F.C., 1993. Deep Profiles of Particulate Organic Carbon and Pigment Biomarkers in the Western Alboran Sea, March 1992. Proceedings of the EROS 2000 4th Annual Workshop, 28th September - 2nd October, 1992, Plymouth, UK. Wat. Poll. Res. Rep., 30: 103-107. 

Department of the Environment. Standing Committee of Analysts. The instrumental determination of total organic carbon and related determinands 1995. Methods for the examination of waters and associated materials [47p.]. HMSO, 1995. [A.E.J. Miller was a member of the Department of the Environment, Standing Committee of Analysts (Working Group 3), which prepared this standard.]

Barlow, R.G., Mantoura, R.F.C., Peinert, R.D., Miller, A.E.J. and Fileman, T.W., 1995. Distribution, sedimentation and fate of pigment biomarkers following thermal stratification in the western Alboran Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 125: 279-291.

Miller, A.E.J., 1996. High temperature catalytic oxidation measurements of dissolved organic carbon and their relationship with apparent oxygen utilisation in the Arabian Sea. EOS, Trans. AGU, 76: OS71.

Cauwet, G., Miller, A.E.J., Brasse, S., Fengler, G., Mantoura, R.F.C., and Spitzy, A., 1997. Dissolved and particulate organic carbon in the western Mediterranean Sea. Deep-Sea Research II, 44(3-4): 769-779.

Alvarez-Salgado, X.A. and Miller, A.E.J., 1998. Simultaneous determination of dissolved organic carbon and total dissolved nitrogen in seawater by high temperature catalytic oxidation: conditions for precise shipboard measurements. Marine Chemistry, 62(3/4): 325-333.

Alvarez-Salgado, X.A. & Miller, A.E.J., 1999. Dissolved organic carbon in a large macrotidal estuary (the Humber, NE England): behaviour during estuarine mixing. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 37(3-7): 216-224.

Miller, A.E.J., 1999. Education for the 21st Century - A University for the Highlands & Islands of Scotland – Marine Science Teaching. NERC NEWS, March 1999, p.24-25.

Miller, A.E.J., 1999. Seasonal investigations of dissolved organic carbon dynamics in the Tamar Estuary, UK. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 49: 891-908.

Miller, A.E.J., Wassmann, P. and Øygarden, S., 1999. DOC/DON Distribution and Vertical Export in North Norwegian Fjords. In Christian Wexels Riser and Paul Wassman (eds) Plankton Ecology and Vertical Flux on Polar and Sub-polar Shelves and Fjords of Norway and Spitsbergen, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway (Extended Abstracts).

Spyres, G., Nimmo, M., Worsfold, P.J., Achterberg, E.P. and Miller, A.E.J., 2000. Determination of dissolved organic carbon in seawater using high temperature catalytic oxidation techniques. Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 19: 498-506.

Miller, A.E.J., 2000. Scotland’s First BSc in Marine Science. OCEAN Challenge, Volume 10(2): 9.

Joint, I.R., Wollast, R., Chou, L., Batten, S., Elskens, M., Edwards, E., Hirst, A., Burkill, P.H., Groom, S., Gibb, S.W., Miller, A.E.J., Hydes, D., Dehairs, F., Antia, A., Barlow, R.G., Rees, A.P., Pomroy, A., Brockmann, U., Cummings, D.G., Lampitt, R., Loijens, M., Mantoura, R.F.C., Miller, P., Raabe, T., Alvarez-Salgado, X.A., Stelfox, C. and Woolfenden, J., 2001. Pelagic production at the Celtic Sea shelf break. Deep Sea Research II, 48: 3049-3081.

Hydes, D.J., Le Gall, A.C., Miller, A.E.J., Brockmann, U., Raabe, T., Holley, S., Alvarez-Salgado, X.A., Antia, A., Balzer, W., Chou, L., Elskens, M., Helder, W., Joint, I.R., and Orren, M., 2001. Supply and demand of nutrients and dissolved organic matter at and across the NW European shelf break in relation to hydrography and biogeochemical activity. Deep Sea Research II, 48: 3023-3047.

Robinson, C., Widdicombe, C.E., Zubkov, M.V., Tarran, G.A., Miller, A.E.J. and Rees, A.P., March 2001. Plankton community respiration during a coccolithophore bloom. Oceanography Magazine, 14(1).

Loh, P.S., Reeves, A.D., Overnell, J., Harvey, S.M. and Miller, A.E.J., 2002. Assessment of terrigenous organic carbon input to the total organic carbon in sediments from Scottish transitional waters (sea lochs): methodology and preliminary results. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 6(6): 959-970.

Robinson, C., Widdicombe, C.E., Zubkov, M.V., Tarran, G.A., Miller, A.E.J. and Rees, A.P., 2002. Plankton community respiration during a coccolithophore bloom. Deep Sea Research II, 49: 2929-2950.

Álvarez-Salgado, X.A., Figueiras, F.G., Pérez, F.F., Groom, S., Nogueira, E., Borges, A., Chou, L., C.G. Castro, C.G., Moncoiffe, G, Beloso, S., Miller, A.E.J., Frankignoulle, M., Savidge, G. and Wollast, R., 2003. Thermohaline, Chemical and Biological Characterisation of the Poleward Flowing Portuguese Coastal Counter Current off NW Spain. Progress in Oceanography, 56: 281-321.

Davidson, K., Gilpin, L.C., Hart, M., Fouilland, E., Mitchell, E., Álvarez Calleja, I., Laurant, C., Miller, A.E.J. and Leakey, R.J. 2007. The influence of the balance of inorganic and organic nitrogen on microbial food web trophic dynamics. Limnology and Oceanography, 52(5): 2147-2163.

Loh, P.S., Reeves, A.D., Harvey, S.M., Overnell, J., and Miller, A.E.J., 2008. The fate of terrestrial organic matter in two Scottish sea lochs. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 76(3): 537-550. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2007.07.023

Loh, P.S., Miller, A.E.J., Reeves, A.D., Harvey, S.M., and Overnell, J.2008. Assessing the biodegradability of terrestrially-derived organic matter in Scottish sea loch sediments. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 12: 811-823. [http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/811/2008/hess-12-811-2008.html]

Loh, P.S., Miller, A.E.J., Reeves, A.D., Harvey, S.M., and Overnell, J., 2008. Optimised recovery of lignin-derived phenols in a Scottish fjord by the CuO oxidation method. RSC Journal of Environmental Monitoring 10(10): 1187-1194. DOI: 10:1039/b808970a

Lønborg, C.L., Davidson, K., Álvarez-Salgado, X.A., Miller, A.E.J. 2009. Bioavailability and bacterial degradation rates of dissolved organic matter in a temperate coastal area during an annual cycle. Marine Chemistry, 113(3-4): 219-226. DOI: 10.1016/j.marchem.2009.02.003

Lønborg, C.L., Álvarez-Salgado, X.A., Davidson, K., and Miller, A.E.J. 2009. Production of bioavailable and refractory dissolved organic matter by coastal heterotrophic microbial populations. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 82(4): 682-688. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2009.02.026

Lønborg, C.L., Álvarez-Salgado, X.A., Martínez-García, S., Miller, A.E.J. and Teira, E., 2010. Stoichiometry of dissolved organic matter and the kinetics of its microbial degradation in a coastal upwelling system. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 58:117-126. DOI: 10.3354/ame01364

Pete, R., Davidson, K., Hart, M.C, Gutierrez, T. and Miller, A.E.J., 2010. Diatom derived dissolved organic matter as a driver of bacterial productivity: the role of nutrient limitation. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 391(1-2): 20.26. DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2010.06.002

Loh, P.S., Reeves, A.D., Miller, A.E.J., Harvey, S.M., and Overnell, J., 2010. Sediment fluxes and carbon budgets in Loch Creran, Western Scotland. Fjord Systems and Archives. Geological Society of London, special Publications, 344: 103-124.  DOI: 10.1144/SP344.10   [ISBN: 978-1-86239-312-70]

 

Miscellaneous

Miller, A.E.J. 1998. R.R.S. Charles Darwin Cruise 110-B, 5-19th January, 1998. OMEX II Cruise. Plymouth Marine Laboratory Cruise Report, 57pp.

Research Assessment Exercise 2001, Unit of Assessment 21, Environmental Sciences, UHI Millennium Institute submission. [A.E.J. Miller and S.W. Gibb prepared the strategy document, in collaboration with G.B. Shimmield and M. Price; all of the ancillary documentation was compiled by J. Foster.]

Research Assessment Exercise 2008, Unit of Assessment 17, Earth Systems & Environmental Sciences, UHI Millennium Institute submission. [G.B. Shimmield and A.E.J. Miller prepared the strategy document, in collaboration with S.W. Gibb; all of the ancillary documentation was compiled by H. McNeill, with the assistance of S. Gontarek.]


Final contract reports

Mantoura, R.F.C. and Miller, A.E.J. WRc project no. EC4113RX - Final Report: Bacterial Bioassay of Metal Complexation Capacity in UK Estuarine and Coastal Marine Waters, October, 1989.

Miller, A.E.J., Mantoura, R.F.C. and Preston, M.R. NERC (BOFS) Special Topic grant no. GST/02/372 - Final Report: A Reassessment of the Role of Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Oceanic Fluxes of Carbon Using a Novel High Temperature Catalytic Oxidation Method, March, 1992.

Mantoura, R.F.C., Barlow, R.G. and Miller, A.E.J. EU MAST grant no. MAS2-CT-93-0069 - Final Report: Dissolved Organic Carbon and Pigment Biomarker Fluxes, August, 1996, 18 pp.

Miller, A.E.J., and Alvarez-Salgado, X.A. NERC (LOIS-RACS) Special Topic grant no. GST/02/1355 - Final Report: Distributions of Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Distributionsin the Humber Estuary, December, 1996, 6 pp.

Miller, A.E.J., Alvarez-Salgado, X.A. and Mantoura, R.F.C. NERC (LOIS-SES) Special Topic grant no. GST/02/1355 - Final Report: Determination of Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Distributions Across the Hebridean Shelf Using High Temperature Catalytic Oxidation, March, 1997, 10 pp.

Miller, A.E.J., Alvarez-Salgado, X.A. and Mantoura, R.F.C. DoE Contract Reference no. PECD 7/8/233 - Final Report: ‘New’ Dissolved Organic Carbon Analyses and Implications for Pollution Chemistry of Estuaries, July, 1997, 89 pp.

Miller, A.E.J., Alvarez-Salgado, X.A. and Mantoura, R.F.C. EU MAST OMEX grant no. MAS3-CT-96-0056 - Final Report: Determinations of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen fluxes across the Goban Spur using a novel high temperature catalytic oxidation technique, July, 1997, 13 pp.

Miller, A.E.J. EU MASTOC Project: A Microanalytical System for Total Organic Carbon in Seawater - Final Report: Dissolved Organic Carbon in Seawater, February 1999, 83pp.

Miller, A.E.J. EU MAST ESCAPE grant no. MAS3-CT-96-0050 - Final Report: Dissolved Organic Carbon & Total Dissolved Nitrogen Analysis Using High Temperature Catalytic Oxidation, February 2000, 13 pp.

Spyres, G. and Miller, A.E.J., 2000. EU MAST OMEX grant no. MAS3-CT97-0076 - Final Report: The Cycling of Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) at the Iberian Margin, October, 2000, 13 pp.

Alumni research students

Sam Jones 'Shelf edge exchange and the influence on coastal oceanography. UHI. (PhD 2012-16)

Beatriz de Francisco Mora 'Effects of ocean warming and acidification on the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa' UHI Millennium Institute (PhD 2010)

Christian Lønborg 'The importance of dissolved organic matter in two contrasting marine waters.' UHI Millennium Institute (PhD 2006-2009)

Romain Pete 'The influence of organic nutrient perturbation on marine microbial community dynamics' UHI Millennium Institute (PhD 2004-2008)

Emma Suddick 'Impacts of CDOM photochemistry on freshwater nitrogen biogeochemistry' UHI Millennium Institute (PhD 2002-2007)

Alex MacDonald 'Influences on salmonid survival in a Scottish West Highland river.' UHI Millennium Institute (MPhil, 2001-2007). 

Pei Sun Loh 'The role terrigenous organic carbon in Scottish sea loch sediment diagenesis' UHI Millennium Institute (PhD 2000-2005)

Vera Jones 'Characterisation of dissolved organic nitrogen in aquatic environments.' UHI Millennium Institute (PhD 1999-2002) 

Oseas Costa Jr 'Nutrification and its effects on coral reefs from Southern Bahia, Brazil.' University of Plymouth (PhD 1998-2001)

Georgina Spyres 'The biogeochemical cycling of dissolved organic carbon in the Iberian Margin upwelling system, NE Atlantic Ocean'. University of Plymouth (1997-2002)

Lecturing

Since arriving at SAMS I have been a member of the core teaching team who created the BSc (Hons) Marine Science. In so doing, I was the first module leader for a number of courses: Principles of Chemistry (year 1), Chemical Oceanography (year 2), Marine and Estuarine Systems (year 2), Marine Pollution (year 3) and Defining the Marine Carbon Cycle (year 4).  I have also contributed to the delivery of other modules: Introducing Marine Science (year 1), Marine Science Field Course (year 2), Marine Resources (year 2), Marine Biogeochemical Cycling (year 3) and Case Study (year 4).

Currently I only provide a few lectures but greatly enjoy my role as a personal academic tutor for several undergraduate and Master-level students.


External examiner

Heriot-Watt University: BSc (Hons) Applied Marine Biology / BSc (Hons) Marine Biology  2011-13

University of York: MSc Environmental Science and Management  2011-14

PhD students: Lindsay L Vare PhD 2007; Carolina Nebot PhD 2009

President Elect: Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association (2017)

External reviewer / chair of panel: Portugese Research Council 2014; 2015; NERC Oil & Gas Innovation Programme: Decommissioning 2016

Royal Society of Chemistry member and chartered chemist since 1997

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2007

Participation in array of international research programmes eg BOFS, JGOFS (Japan), OMEX, JGOES (UK), LOIS (SES), BIOGEST, PRIME, ESCAPE, OMEX II 

Participation in 35 shipboard expeditions

Reviewer of manuscripts eg for Marine Chemistry; Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science; Analytica Chimica Acta; Deep-Sea Research I; Deep-Sea Research II; Limnology & Oceanography; Continental Shelf Research; Marine Environmental Research; Geophysical Research Letters; Organic Geochemistry; Progress in Oceanography; FEMS Microbiology Ecology; Organic Geochemistry; Hydrology and Earth Systems Sciences etc.