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Phil Novis

Senior Researcher - Phycologist
Systematics
Phil Novis
Location
Lincoln
Contact Phil

Research interests

Research interests

  • evolution of algae
  • taxonomy, ecology, distribution and dispersal of freshwater algae
  • extreme environments: alpine habitats, acid mine drainage, polar deserts

Current projects

  • Spirogyra and the influence of habitat enrichment on genome size
  • Australian dust on New Zealand glaciers: provenance, timing, and effect on algal ecology
  • Drivers of "lake snow", a nuisance mucilage in New Zealand lakes caused by the invasive diatom Lindavia intermedia
  • Assessment of eDNA methods to estimate nutrient turnover in pristine deepwater lakes
  • Algal diversity and evolution

Selected recent publications

Winton VH, Charlier BL, Jolly B, Purdie H, Anderson B, Hunt J, Dadic R, Taylor SB, Petherick L, Novis PM. In Press. New Zealand Southern Alps blanketed by red Australian dust during 2019/2020 severe bushfire and dust event. Geophysical Research Letters.

Novis PM, Podolyan A, Kodner R 2023. New Zealand isolates from snow of the widespread algal genus Raphidonema assigned to a single species. New Zealand Journal of Botany 62(1): 83–94.

Novis PM, Dhami M, Podolyan A, Matsumoto M, Kodner R 2023. The austral biflagellate Chloromonas rubroleosa (Chlorophyceae) is the closest relative of the unusual quadriflagellate genus Chlainomonas, both found in snow. Journal of Phycology 59(2): 342–355.

Novis PM, Bell TJ, Fraser P, Luiten CA, Hinkley SFR, Borges H, Schallenberg 2022. Nuisance mucilage produced by Lindavia intermedia (Bacillariophyceae) in New Zealand lakes. Inland Waters 12(2): 232–244.

Schallenberg M, Borges H, Bell TJ, Hinkley SFR, Novis PM 2022. Dynamics of pelagic mucilage produced by the invasive, cyclotelloid diatom, Lindavia intermedia, in oligotrophic lakes of New Zealand. PLOS Water 1(9): e0000028.

Kilroy C, Whitehead AL, Wood SA, Vandergoes MJ, Lambert P, Novis PM 2021. Predicting the potential distribution of the invasive freshwater diatom Lindavia intermedia in New Zealand lakes. Aquatic Invasions 16: 415–442.

Ahmmed F, Fraser-Miller SJ, Arachchige PSG, Schallenberg M, Novis P, Gordon KC 2021. Lake snow caused by the invasive diatom Lindavia intermedia can be discriminated from different sites and from other algae using vibrational spectroscopy. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 52(12): 2597–2608. 

Shain DH, Novis PM, Cridge AG, Zawierucha K, Geneva AJ, Dearden PK 2021. Five animal phyla in glacier ice reveal unprecedented biodiversity in New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Scientific Reports 11:3898. 

Novis PM, Sales RE, Gordon K, Manning N, Duleba M, Ács É, Dressler M, Schallenberg M 2020. Lindavia intermedia (Bacillariophyceae) and nuisance lake snow in New Zealand: chitin content and quantitative PCR methods to estimate cell concentrations and expression of chitin synthase. Journal of Phycology 56(5): 1232–1244. 

Mazumdar N, Novis PM, Visnovsky G, Gostomski P 2019. Effect of culturing parameters on the vegetative growth of Haematococcus alpinus (strain lcr-cc-261f) and modeling of its growth kinetics. Journal of Phycology 55(5): 1071–1081. 

Mazumdar N, Novis PM, Visnovsky G, Gostomski P 2019. Effect of nutrients on the growth of a new alpine strain of Haematococcus (Chlorophyceae) from New Zealand. Phycological Research 67(1): 21–27. 

Mazumdar N, Gopalakrishnan KK, Visnovsky G, Novis PM 2018. A novel alpine species of Haematococcus (Chlamydomonadales: Chlorophyta) from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 56(2): 216–226.  

Fang L, Leliaert F, Novis PM, Zhang Z, Zhue H, Liue G, Penny D, Zhong B 2018. Improving phylogenetic inference of core Chlorophyta using chloroplast sequences with strong phylogenetic signals and heterogeneous models. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 127: 248–255. 

Kilroy C, Novis P 2018. Is Didymosphenia geminata an introduced species in New Zealand? Evidence from trends in water chemistry, and chloroplast DNA. Ecology and Evolution 8(2): 904–919. 

Novis P, Schallenberg M, Saulnier-Talbot É, Kilroy C, Reid M 2017. The diatom Lindavia intermedia identified as the producer of nuisance pelagic mucilage in lakes. New Zealand Journal of Botany 55(4): 479–495.



Qualifications

Canterbury
PhD Biology
1997

Publications

Sparrow AD, Gregorich EG, Hopkins DW, Novis P, Elberling B, Greenfield LG 2011. Resource Limitations on Soil Microbial Activity in an Antarctic Dry Valley. Soil Science Society of America Journal 75(6): 2188-2197. WOS:000296553600017 https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2010.0303

Feng X, Simpson AJ, Gregorich EG, Elberling B, Hopkins DW, Sparrow AD, Novis PM, Greenfield LG, Simpson MJ 2010. Chemical characterization of microbial-dominated soil organic matter in the Garwood Valley, Antarctica. Geochimica et cosmochimica acta 74(22): 6485-6498.

Broady PA, Novis PM, Parsons MJ 2010. A tribute to Dr Elizabeth Flint, phycologist, in her 101st year. Phycologia 49(4): 307-308. ISI:000280232300001

Hawes I, Novis PM, Webster-Brown J, Wood S 2010. Freshwater ecosystem research in LGP. Antarctic 28(2): 24-26.

Novis PM 2010. Aerophytic algae. New Zealand science teacher 123: 29-.

Novis PM, Lorenz M, Broady PA, Flint EA 2010. Parallela Flint: its phylogenetic position in the Chlorophyceae and the polyphyly of Radiofilum Schmidle. Phycologia 49(4): 373-383. https://doi.org/doi:10.2216/09-65.1

Hopkins DW, Sparrow AD, Gregorich EG, Elberling B, Novis P, Fraser F, Scrimgeour C, Dennis PG, Meier-Augenstein W, Greenfield LG 2009. Isotopic evidence for the provenance and turnover of organic carbon by soil microorganisms in the Antarctic dry valleys. Environmental Microbiology 11(3): 597-608. WOS:000263755700006 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01830.x

Memberships

  • Board member Styx Living Laboratory, Styx Living Laboratory Trust board of management