Category Archives: Policy
Assessing the state of marine biodiversity in the Northeast Atlantic – for the first time, ever!
A paper has recently come out that I’m really, really proud of. As you might (or might not!) know, the EU countries are committed to achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) in their marine waters under the EU Marine Strategy Framework … Continue reading
Come do a PhD with me!
Developing meaningful marine biodiversity indicators to support conservation I’m looking for an exceptional candidate to carry out an interdisciplinary PhDship at University of Plymouth, in collaboration with Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the Marine Biological Association. The PhD is co-funded with … Continue reading
Posted in Marine Conservation, PhdShip, Plankton, Policy, students
Tagged knowledge exchange, marine policy, Plankton, policy, students
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Plankton Highlights 2020
It’s been a busy year in plankton science for policy in the UK and OSPAR. Much of our work focused on further developing our ability to assess the state of pelagic habitats through the Improving Confidence Evaluating GES for Regional … Continue reading
Posted in Knowledge Exchange, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy
Tagged ICEGRAPH, marine policy, Plankton, policy
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Why do we need a global plankton diversity monitoring programme?
When most people think of biodiversity they think of iconic habitats like rainforests and coral reefs. Much of the ocean’s biodiversity, however, is too small to see without a microscope. Plankton are one of the most diverse groups of organisms … Continue reading
Posted in Marine Conservation, Plankton, Policy
Tagged CPR, knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, Plankton, policy, policy makers
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Communicating science to policy: Parliamentary POSTnotes
The transfer of science from academia into policy is a challenge that is lamented at science and policy workshops, conferences, and meetings. In the UK we are actually improving this knowledge transfer process through joint science-policy working groups, co-production of … Continue reading
Senior Policy Fellow: I’m now a (part-time) civil servant (advisor)!
In fall of 2018 Defra (UK Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) advertised for a Senior Policy Fellow – Marine to work with Prof Ian Boyd (Chief Scientific Advisor) and his team to develop a systems approach to thinking … Continue reading
Posted in Brexit, Knowledge Exchange, Marine Conservation, Policy
Tagged conservation, knowledge exchange, marine policy, policy, policy makers
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Assessing pelagic habitats: Changes in plankton diversity
EU Member States are required to assess the Good Environmental Status (GES) of their pelagic habitats under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). OSPAR has coordinated this process in the Northeast Atlantic, supporting the development of a suite of three … Continue reading
Posted in Knowledge Exchange, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged conservation, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, policy, policy makers
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Using plankton lifeforms to assess the state of the pelagic habitat
Change in plankton communities can affect the functioning of marine ecosystems. Plankton play a critical role in global oxygen production (one out of every two breaths we take was produced by phytoplankton!), are integral to nutrient and carbon cycling, and … Continue reading
Posted in Knowledge Exchange, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged conservation, Indicators, knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, policy, policy makers
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Increasing Confidence in Evaluating GES for Regional Assessments of Pelagic Habitats – ICEGRAPH
We’ve just had a new project funded! ICEGRAPH: Increasing Confidence in Evaluating GES for Regional Assessments of Pelagic Habitats is a £190,000 project funded by EMFF/MMO to fill some of the scientific gaps around assessing state and understanding change in pelagic … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, Indicators, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged biodiversity, conservation, Indicators, knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, Plankton, policy, policy makers
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Putting a historical plankton dataset to work for marine policy challenges
In marine ecology, it is widely accepted that monitoring data spanning long time-scales are essential for understanding ecosystem change, especially for the detection of community shifts linked to climate variability. Data spanning multiple decades are also essential for biodiversity policy, … Continue reading
Plankton and Policy 