Welcome to the Ecology Department

Research activities within the Ecology Department cover a wide  range of topics, centred around four main themes - AQUACULTURE, COASTAL ECOLOGY, DEEP SEA RESEARCH and Marine Coastal Policy. The key drivers of our research are the responses of individuals and communities to environmental changes caused by human activities and changing climate.  Our work is cast both in theoretical and applied contexts, attempting to understand ecosystem processes and their sensitivities.

Much of our work is focussed on the “Northern Seas” from the west of Scotland sea lochs and NE Atlantic, to the Svalbard fjords and continental margin, areas thought to be particularly sensitive to changing climate and/or alterations of global circulation processes.  However, we are also at work at several other locations around the globe, for example the Antarctic, the Arctic, the Mediterranean, Papa New Guinea and the Arabian Sea. This gives us the ability to see the bigger picture of a dynamic global ecosystem responding to dynamic environmental and anthropogenic forcing.

Within (and across) each of the research themes, a wide range of project activities are undertaken varying in scale from large EU projects like ECASA, SPICOSA and HERMES, through NERC Core Programme and responsive grants, Government Department commissions and commercial contracts, to a range of individual PhD studentships.

Currently the group comprises over 30 Researchers, Support Scientists and PhD Students working in a number of fields. Several PhD students at UK Universities are co-supervised by Ecology Department Staff.

For more details on our research themes and topics please select from the links below.

	Aquaculture Environment Interactions Integrated Aquaculture Algal Toxins, Shellfish and Human Health
	Intertidal Ecology Subtidal Reef Ecology Marine Mammals Marine Aliens Marine Environmental Genomics Zooplankton Dynamics
	Cold Water Corals Deep Sea Benthic Research Deep Sea Fisheries Research
	Marine Coastal Policy ICZM
	Oceans2025 - Theme 4 - 'Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function'. Full details of the programme can be found at www.oceans2025.org

Contact information for Ecology staff memebrs and PhD students can be found here.