Viv rimmer

Responsibilities

I currently work as part of the Teaching Preparation team in the Hopkins Building. Duties include preparing materials and equipment for practicals, laying out and clearing for classes, and practical demonstrating. I provide training and assessment for new users of histology equipment (cryostat, microtome and staining facilities), and molecular biology facilities and equipment in Harborne Building. I also have various other maintenance and housekeeping duties in the School, and input Reading Herbarium specimen data for web-based access.

Publications

The trail pheromone of the ant Manica rubida. A.B. Attygalle et al. Actes Coll. Insectes Soc. 2 (1985), 159-166.

The ship rat (Rattus rattus) on Lundy, 1991. P.A. Smith et al. J. Zool. Lond. (1993), 231, 689-695.

Relative sensitivity of life-cycle and biomarker responses in four earthworm species exposed to zinc. D.J. Spurgeon et al. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 19 (2000), 1800-1808.

Genetic changes within freshwater bryozoan populations suggest temporal gene flow from statoblast banks. J.R. Freeland et al. Limnol. Oceanogr. 46 (2001), 1121-1129.

Evidence for a residual post-glacial founder effect in a highly dispersive freshwater invertebrate. J.R. Freeland et al. Limnol. Oceanogr. 49 (2004) 879-883.

Are rare species rare or just overlooked? Assessing the distribution of the freshwater bryozoan, Lophopus crystallinus. S.L.L. Hill et al. Biological Conservation 135 (2007), 223 -234.

Career history

After graduating from Aberystwyth in 1981 with a BSc (Hons) in Botany and Zoology, I tried a variety of jobs, coming to the University of Reading in 1989 as a technician in the Zoology Department, when I provided technical input to a wide range of research projects in ecology, farm animal welfare and molecular biology. I moved to a teaching and research technical support role in 2008.