Category Archives: Uncategorized
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
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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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
Putting the science in science-policy
Achieving Good Environmental Status most definitely requires science-policy collaboration. At the OSPAR level, for marine biodiversity, this collaboration happens through ICG-COBAM (the Intersessional Correspondence Group on Coordinated Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring). Our delivery of the 2017 Intermediate Assessment, the first … Continue reading
Posted in Knowledge Exchange, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR
Tagged knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, OSPAR, policy, policy makers
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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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Brexit and Ecology
Originally posted on Ecology for the Masses:
The last three years have seen some serious political upheaval in the European region, Brexit being perhaps the pinnacle of that. It’s an issue on which everyone has an opinion and which no…
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Influencing the future of UK fisheries – providing evidence as a witness in Parliament
The UK practices evidence-based environmental policy making, where scientific data and research play a key role in informing decisions about how we manage the environment. Much of the UK’s scientific knowledge, however, lies outside of Parliament and Government. Parliamentary Inquiries … Continue reading
How can we use marine biodiversity indicators for marine conservation policy and management?
Indicators are effective tools for summarising and communicating key aspects of ecosystem state and have a long record of use in marine pollution and fisheries management. The application of biodiversity indicators to assess the status of species, habitats, and functional … Continue reading
How can marine parks enhance coastal cities?
The UK has 15 National Parks. All of these are terrestrial and celebrate our moors, mountains, and broads. Unlike other countries like Malaysia, Greece, India, Thailand, and Costa Rica, amongst others, as of spring 2019 the UK does not have … Continue reading
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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Plankton and Policy 