Will Goodall-Copestake

Population Geneticist

Will Goodall-Copestake

Contact

Will Goodall-Copestake

Biography

I have worked as a research scientist at BAS since 2006, having previously worked as a research assistant on several ecology and technology driven genetics projects in Dutch, French and Scottish laboratories. My PhD was in Evolutionary and Environmental Biology (based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) and BSc was in Agricultural Botany, both degrees were awarded by the University of Glasgow.

In addition to working in research, I also have a role as an Innovation Champion at BAS. This involves providing a communication link between the Directorate for Innovation and scientists, collating innovation ideas and discussing follow-up actions.

I presently co-supervise two PhD students from the University of Cambridge and two PhD students from University College London, am a fellow of the Linnean Society, professional member of the Marine Biological Association and council member for the Systematics Association.

Research interests

Working with colleagues and collaborators at BAS headquarters and in the field, I use morphological and genetics -based methods to characterise biological diversity in a wide range of settings to support environmental conservation efforts, fisheries management and technological innovations. Recent and ongoing projects include:

  • Morphology based characterisation of benthic and pelagic biodiversity around South Atlantic Islands and seamounts
  • Morphology based assessments of biodiversity in deglaciating Antarctic Peninsula fjords
  • Genetic assessment of skates (Amblyraja spp) caught as by-catch around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  • Genetic (eDNA) profiling of seawater from sustained surveying sites off South Georgia and along the Drake Passage
  • Genetic characterisation of fungi and bacteria associated with polar liverworts and the flowering plant Colobanthus quitensis

I also have an interest in the biology of gelatinous zooplankton (in particular doliolids, pyrosomes, salps) and in the dynamics of nuclear ribosomal DNA and mitochondrial DNA – including novel genetic metrics derived from these DNA regions. My research on these subjects is linked to conservation and innovation through applied collaborations.

 

Publications on Google Scholar

 

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2019

Pérez-Espona, Sílvia, Goodall-Copestake, William Paul, Savirina, Anna, Bobovikova, Jekaterina, Molina-Rubio, Carles, Pérez-Barbería, F. Javier. (2019) First assessment of MHC diversity in wild Scottish red deer populations. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 65. 10.1007/s10344-019-1254-x

2018

Barnes, David K.A., Morley, Simon A., Bell, J., Brewin, P., Bridgen, K., Collins, M., Glass, T., Goodall-Copestake, Will P., Henry, L., Laptikhovsky, V., Piechaud, N., Richardson, A., Rose, P., Sands, Chester J., Schofield, A., Shreeve, R., Small, A., Stamford, T., Taylor, B.. (2018) Marine plastics threatens giant Atlantic Marine Protected Areas. Current Biology, 28. R1137-R1138. 10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.064

Goodall-Copestake, Will. (2018) nrDNA:mtDNA copy number ratios as a comparative metric for evolutionary and conservation genetics. Heredity, 121. 105-111. 10.1038/s41437-018-0088-8

Pérez-Espona, S., Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Berghoff, S.M., Edwards, K.J., Franks, N.R.. (2018) Army imposters: diversification of army ant-mimicking beetles with their Eciton hosts. Insectes Sociaux, 65. 59-75. 10.1007/s00040-017-0588-1

2017

Goodall-Copestake, William P.. (2017) One tunic but more than one barcode: evolutionary insights from dynamic mitochondrial DNA in Salpa thompsoni (Tunicata: Salpida). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 120. 637-648. 10.1111/bij.12915

2016

Dickinson, Iain, Goodall-Copestake, William, Thorne, Michael A.S., Schlitt, Thomas, Ávila-Jiménez, Maria L., Pearce, David A.. (2016) Extremophiles in an Antarctic Marine Ecosystem. Microorganisms, 4. 18 pp. doi:10.3390/microorganisms4010008

2015

Seear, P.J., Rosato, E., Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Barber, I.. (2015) The molecular evolution of spiggin nesting glue in sticklebacks. Molecular Ecology, 24. 4474-4488. doi:10.1111/mec.13317

2014

Newsham, K.K., Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Ochyra, R., Vana, J.. (2014) Mycothalli of the hepatic Barbilophozia hatcheri in Antarctica: distribution and identities of mycobionts. Fungal Ecology, 11. 91-99. 10.1016/j.funeco.2014.05.001

Goodall-Copestake, W. P.. (2014) Morphological and molecular characterization of salps (Thalia spp.) from the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. Journal of Plankton Research, 36. 883-888. doi:10.1093/plankt/fbu013

2012

Nielsen, Johanna F., English, Sinead, Goodall-Copestake, Will P., Wang, Jinliang, Walling, Craig A., Bateman, Andrew W., Flower, Tom P., Sutcliffe, Robert L., Samson, Jamie, Thavarajah, Nathan K., Kruuk, Loeske. E. B., Clutton-Brock, Tim H., Pemberton, Josephine M.. (2012) Inbreeding and inbreeding depression of early life traits in a cooperative mammal. Molecular Ecology, 21. 2788-2804. 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05565.x

Seear, Paul J., Goodall-Copestake, William P., Fleming, Andrew H., Rosato, Ezio, Tarling, Geraint A.. (2012) Seasonal and spatial influences on gene expression in Antarctic krill Euphausia superba. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 467. 61-75. doi:10.3354/meps09947

Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Tarling, G.A., Murphy, E.J.. (2012) On the comparison of population-level estimates of haplotype and nucleotide diversity: a case study using the gene cox1 in animals. Heredity, 109. 50-56. 10.1038/hdy.2012.12

Leese, Florian, Brand, Philipp, Rozenberg, Andrey, Mayer, Christoph, Agrawal, Shobhit, Dambach, Johannes, Dietz, Lars, Doemel, Jana S., Goodall-Copestake, William P., Held, Christoph, Jackson, Jennifer A., Lampert, Kathrin P., Linse, Katrin, Macher, Jan N., Nolzen, Jennifer, Raupach, Michael J., Rivera, Nicole T., Schubart, Christoph D., Striewski, Sebastian, Tollrian , Ralph, Sands, Chester J.. (2012) Exploring Pandora’s Box: potential and pitfalls of low coverage genome surveys for evolutionary biology. PLoS One, 7. 19 pp. 10.1371/journal.pone.0049202

2010

Seear, Paul J., Tarling, Geraint A., Burns, Gavin, Goodall-Copestake, Will P., Gaten, Edward, Ozkaya, Ozge, Rosato, Ezio. (2010) Differential gene expression during the moult cycle of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). BMC Genomics, 11. 13 pp. 10.1186/1471-2164-11-582

Tarling, Geraint A., Ensor, Natalie S., Fregin, Torsten, Goodall-Copestake, Will P., Fretwell, Peter. (2010) An introduction to the biology of Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica Sars). In: The biology of Northern krill, London, Academic Press, 1-40. (Advances in Marine Biology, ).

Goodall-Copestake, WP, Perez-Espona, S, Clark, MS, Murphy, EJ, Seear, PJ, Tarling, GA. (2010) Swarms of diversity at the gene cox1 in Antarctic krill. Heredity, 104. 513-518. 10.1038/hdy.2009.188

2009

Perez-Espona, S., Perez-Barberia, F.J., Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Jiggins, C.D., Gordon, I.J., Pemberton, J.M.. (2009) Are there any native red deer left in mainland Scotland?. Deer Magazine, Spring. 22-25.

2008

Sands, Chester J., McInnes, Sandra J., Marley, Nigel J., Goodall-Copestake, William P., Convey, Peter, Linse, Katrin. (2008) Phylum Tardigrada: an “individual” approach. Cladistics, 24. 861-871. 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00219.x