Christopher Anderton

Christopher Anderton is a Chemist and team leader for the Biogeochemical Transformations team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), within the Environmental Molecular Sciences Division and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) user program. He concurrently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.

His educational background includes:

• PhD in Chemistry, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2010)
• BS in Chemistry, University of Colorado (2005)

Dr. Anderton's research centers on Inter-Kingdom Interactions, Spatial Metabolomics, and Mass Spectrometry Imaging. Leveraging multimodal imaging methods, he investigates chemical interactions across biological kingdoms—particularly in soils and the rhizosphere—to understand environmental resilience mechanisms. His work has significantly advanced mass spectrometry imaging capabilities at EMSL for analyzing bacterial communities, plant-microbe systems, and human health processes.

Analysis of his 2020 publications reveals dominant trends in applying advanced imaging techniques to diverse systems: plant-microbe symbiosis (soybean nodules, Setaria roots), soil microbiome dynamics under climate change, and clinical lipidomics in kidney disease. His methodological innovations focus on spatial metabolome visualization and multimodal imaging integration across environmental and biomedical contexts.

Dr. Anderton actively contributes to professional communities through the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Publications Committee and as a Founding Member/Executive Committee Member of the Imaging Mass Spectrometry Society. He leads collaborative research initiatives at PNNL's EMSL facility while mentoring through his adjunct professorship and STEM Ambassador role.