I am interested in understanding the processes that govern the dynamics of marine ecosystems and the forces that regulate and affect it. I do this through modelling approaches. Modelling gives us the opportunity to a) understand how the different ecosystem levels are interacting and b) simulate and predict future scenarios of how the entire ecosystem might function.
My specific research interests cover a range of the ecosystem levels and focus on how to connect all ecosystem elements using a multi-disciplinary modelling approach. I have particular expertise in the foodweb model Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace.
I am currently working on an Exploratory Research (PASTIC-WEB) programme for the European Commission. The main goal of the project is to study the impact of plastic pollution up the marine food webs using Ecotracer.
Previous SAMS research projects
One Ocean Hub: Aiming to transform our response to the urgent challenges facing our ocean. Its research seeks to bridge current disconnections in law, science and policy and integrate governance frameworks to balance multiple ocean uses with conservation. Funded by UKRI through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). 2019-2024
DIVERSEAFOOD: Evaluating the potential of multi-trophic aquaculture to improve nutrition and ecosystem sustainability in the UK. Funded the Global Food Security Programme (BBSRC, NERC and Scottish Government), Mar 2019-Feb 2021.
Investigation of the novel challenges of an integrated offshore multi-purpose platform (INNO-MPP): Identifying interactions between co-located marine renewable energy devices, aquaculture and the environment. Funded by EPSRC/NERC. 2017-20
Marine Ecosystems Research Programme (MERP): Undertake and drive the Ecopath with Ecosim ecosystem models of the West Coast of Scotland and Celtic Sea. Funded by NERC. 2015-18
Benthic Biodiversity of Seamounts in the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIOR): Benthic biodiversity of seamounts in the Southwest Indian Ocean: sample collection, macrofauna taxonomy and univariate and multivariate analysis of the macrofaunal community. Funded by NERC. 2011-15
Peer-reviewed publication
Serpetti N., Benjamins S., Brain S., Collu M., Harvey B.J., Heymans J.J., Hughes A.D., Risch D., Rosinski S., Waggitt J.J. and Wilson B. (2021) Modeling Small Scale Impacts of Multi-Purpose Platforms: An Ecosystem Approach. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:694013. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.694013
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , … (2021). Mesoscale productivity fronts and local fishing opportunities in the European Seas. Fish and Fisheries, 22, 1227– 1247. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12585
Piroddi C, Akoglu E, Andonegi E, Bentley JW, Celic I, Coll M, ´ Dimarchopoulou D, Friedland R, de Mutsert K, Girardin R, Garcia-Gorriz E, Grizzetti B, Hernvann P-Y, Heymans JJ, Müller-Karulis B, Libralato S, Lynam CP, Macias D, Miladinova S, Moullec F, Palialexis A, Parn O, Serpetti N, Solidoro C, Steenbeek J, Stips A, Tomczak MT, Travers-Trolet M and Tsikliras AC (2021) Effects of Nutrient Management Scenarios on Marine Food Webs: A Pan-European Assessment in Support of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:596797. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.596797
Bentley, J.W., Serpetti, N., Fox, C., Heymans, J.J., and Reid, D.G., 2020. Retrospective analysis of the influence of environmental drivers on commercial stocks and fishing opportunities in the Irish Sea. Fisheries Oceanography 29 (5): 415-435. https://doi.org/10.1111/fog.12486.
Steenbeek, J., Romagnoni, G., Bentley J.W., Heymans, J.J., Serpetti, N., Gonçalves, M., Santos, C., Warmelink, H., Mayer, I., Keijser, X., Fairgrieve, R., Abspoel, L., 2020. Combining ecosystem modelling with serious gaming in support of transboundary maritime spatial planning. Ecology and Society 25(2):21. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11580-250221
Abhinav, K.A., Collu, M., Benjamins, S., Cai, H., Hughes, A., , Bod, J., Jude, S., Leithead, W., Lin, C., Liu, H., Recalde-Camacho, L., Serpetti, N., Sun, K., Wilson, B., Yue, H., Zhou, B.Z., 2020. Offshore multi-purpose platforms for a Blue Growth: a technological, socio-economic, and environmental review. Science of the Total Environment, in press.
Steenbeek, J., Romagnoni, G., Bentley J.W., Heymans, J.J., Serpetti, N., Gonçalves, M., Santos, C., Warmelink, H., Mayer, I., Keijser, X., Fairgrieve, R., Abspoel, L., 2020. Combining ecosystem modelling with serious gaming in support of transboundary maritime spatial planning. Ecology and Society, in press.
Bentley, J.W., Hines, D.E., Borrett, S.R., Serpetti, N., Hernandez-Milian, G., Fox, C., Heymans, J.J., and Reid, D.G., 2019. Combining scientific and fishers’ knowledge to co-create indicators of food web structure and function. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz121
Bentley J.W, Serpetti N., Fox C., Heymans J.J., and Reid D.G., 2019. Fishers’ knowledge improves the accuracy of food web model predictions. ICES Journal of Marine Science (2019), https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz003
Baudron AR, Serpetti N, Fallon NG, Heymans JJ, Fernandes PG (2019) Can the common fisheries policy achieve good environmental status in exploited ecosystems: The west of Scotland demersal fisheries example. Fisheries Research, Vol 211, p 217-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2018.10.024
Bentley JW, Hines D, Borrett S, Serpetti N, Fox C, Reid DG, Heymans JJ (2018) Diet uncertainty analysis strengthens model-derived indicators of food web structure and function. Ecological Indicators 98: 239-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.11.008
Spence, M.A., Blanchard, J.L., Rossberg, A.G., Heath, M.R., Heymans, J.J., Mackinson, S., Serpetti, N., Speirs, D.C., Thorpe, R.B., Blackwell, P.G., 2018. A general framework for combining ecosystem models. Fish Fish., 00: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12310
Serpetti, N., Baudron, A.R., Burrows, M.T., Payne, B.L., Helaouët, P., Fernandes, P.G. , Heymans, J.J. (2017) Impact of ocean warming on sustainable fisheries management informs the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 13438, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13220-7
Bentley JW, Serpetti N, Heymans JJ (2017) Investigating the potential impacts of ocean warming on the Norwegian and Barents Seas ecosystem using a time-dynamic food-web model. Ecological Modelling 360: 94-107
N. Serpetti, M.L. Taylor, D. Brennan, D.H. Green, A.D. Rogers, G.L.J. Paterson, B.E. Narayanaswamy. 2017. Ecological adaptations and commensal evolution of the Polynoidae (Polychaeta) on the Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge: a phylogenetic approach. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 137: 273–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.06.004
Narayanaswamy, B.E., Rea, T., Serpetti, N., Lamont P. What lies within; contents of coral and carbonate rubble from SW Indian Ocean seamounts. 2017. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 137: 157–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.06.018
Heath, M.R., Sabatino, A.D., Serpetti, N. and O’Hara Murray, R.B., 2016. Modelling the sensitivity of suspended sediment profiles to tidal current and wave conditions. Ocean & Coastal Management, in press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.10.018
Serpetti, N., U. Witte and M.R. Heath. Statistical Modeling of Variability in Sediment-Water Nutrient and Oxygen Fluxes. Frontiers in Earth Science (2016), 4:65. doi: 10.3389/feart.2016.00065
Scott, E, Serpetti, Steenbeek, J., Heymans, J.J. A Stepwise Fitting Procedure for automated fitting of Ecopath with Ecosim models. SoftwareX (2016), 5, 25-30. doi:10.1016/j.softx.2016.02.002
Carpentieri, P., Serpetti, N., Colloca, F., Criscoli, A., Ardizzone, G.D. 2016. Food preferences and rhythms of feeding activity of two coexisting demersal fish, the longspine snipefish Macroramphosus scolopax (Linnaeus, 1758) and boarfish Capros aper (Linnaeus, 1758), on the Mediterranean deep shelf. Marine Ecology, 37: 106-118. https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12265
Serpetti, N., E. Gontikaki, B.E. Narayanaswamy and U. Witte. 2013. Macrofaunal community inside and outside of the Darwin Mounds Special Area of Conservation, NE Atlantic. Biogeosciences, 10: 3705-3714.
Serpetti, N., M.R. Heath, M. Rose and U. Witte. 2012. High resolution mapping of sediment organic matter from acoustic reflectance data. Hydrobiologia, 680: 265-284.
Serpetti, N., M.R. Heath, E. Armstrong and U. Witte. 2011. Blending single beam RoxAnn and multi-beam swathe QTC hydro-acoustic discrimination techniques for the Stonehaven area, Scotland, UK. Journal of Sea Research, 65: 442-455
Book
Scientific writing for a species ID manual for divers in the Mediterranean Sea. La nuova guida al Seawatching, mare aperto e coste, 2006. MUZZIO editor.
Reports
Last, E.K., Ferguson, M., Serpetti, N., Narayanaswamy, B.E., Hughes, D.J. 2020. [Geodia] and other massive sponges on Atlanto-Arctic upper bathyal mixed sediment. In Tyler-Walters H. and Hiscock K. (eds) Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. https://dx.doi.org/10.17031/marlinhab.1199.1
Last, E.K., Ferguson, M., Serpetti, N., Narayanaswamy, B.E., Hughes, D.J. 2019. [Geodia] and other massive sponges on Atlanto-Arctic upper bathyal coarse sediment. In Tyler-Walters H. and Hiscock K. (eds) Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. https://dx.doi.org/10.17031/marlinhab.1190.1
Bentley, J. W., Serpetti, N., Fox, C., Reid, D., Heymans, J. J. (2019) Modelling the food web in the Irish Sea in the context of a depleted commercial fish community. Part 2: ICES Ecopath with Ecosim Key Run. Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban. U.K. Report no. 297, p.86 10.13140/RG.2.2.15136.12809
ICES. 2019. Working Group on Ecosystem Assessment of Western European Shelf Seas (WGEAWESS). ICES Scientific Reports. 1:64. 75 pp. http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5604
Bentley, J.W., Serpetti, N., Fox, C., Reid, D., Heymans, J.J. (2018) Modelling the food web in the Irish Sea in the context of a depleted commercial fish community. Part 1: Ecopath Technical Report. Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban. U.K. Report no. 294, p.147 10.6084/m9.figshare.6323120.v1
Marine Ecosystem Research Programme - Final Programme Report, January 2019. https://www.marine-ecosystems.org.uk/getattachment/d61d41d4-bcca-4725-adcb-a29319f27826/MERP_Final_Report_January_2019
Marine Ecosystem Research Programme - Cumulative effects, 2018. https://www.marine-ecosystems.org.uk/getmedia/98ba04f4-c7b9-46c1-aba6-90b50dd29b83/MERP_Cumulative_Effects.pdf
Marine Ecosystem Research Programme - Understanding trade-offs, 2018. https://www.marine-ecosystems.org.uk/getmedia/e9751dd8-c0f2-4726-9a46-0a23682ab16c/Understanding_tradeoffs.pdf
Marine Ecosystem Research Programme - Fish, Fisheries and Fishing, 2018. https://www.marine-ecosystems.org.uk/getmedia/89f2afd2-5447-4d3b-b011-676397ead1ae/MERP_Fish-Fisheries-Fishing_Leaflet_HR.pdf
Serpetti, N. 2012. Modelling and mapping the physical and biogeochemical properties of sediments on the North Sea coastal waters. PhD Thesis. University of Aberdeen. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.553875
Rogers, AD; Boersch-Supan, PH; Chen, C; Chivers, A; Copley, JT; Djurhuus, A; Ferrero, TJ; Huhnerbach, V; Lamont, P; Marsh, L., 2012.IUCN/UNDP/ASCLME/NERC. https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/cruise_inventory/reports/jc066.pdf
Huvenne, VAI; Bett, BJ; Henry, LA; Masson, DG; Piechaud, N; Serpetti, N; Witte, U. 2012. Report on the environmental status of the Darwin Mounds, 8 years after their initial protection. HERMIONE Deliverable 4.11. Southampton, National Oceanography Centre. http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/500724
Current teaching activity
Guest lecturer on BSc Marine Science: Year 4 module 'Ecosystem modelling' (Ecopath with Ecosim)
Past teaching experience at SAMS
BSc Marine Science: Lecturing on year 4 module 'Ecosystem modelling' (Ecopath with Ecosim)
BSc Marine Science: Lecturing on year 4 module 'Deep-sea ecosystems' (deep-sea seamounts)
BSc Marine Science: Lecturing on year 3 module 'Marine zoology' (polychaete taxonomy)
Ecosystem-based Management of Marine Systems MSc: Teaching modelling 'Ecopath with Ecosim'
IDCORE: Teaching modelling 'Ecopath with Ecosim'
Alumni research students
Jacob Bentley: Modelling the food web in the Irish Sea in the context of a depleted commercial fish community. PhD 2016-2020. Cullen Fellowship programme: Marine Institute, Galway and hosted by UHI
Jacob Bentley: Investigating the potential impacts of ocean warming on the Norwegian Seas ecosystem using a time-dynamic food-web model. MSc 2015-16. University of St Andrews and SAMS
Jareth David King: Using an ecological modelling approach to assess the impact of temperature upon the Irish Sea Ecosystem. MSc 2015-16. University of St Andrews and SAMS
Adam John Chivers: The Biodiversity and Ecology of Senghor Seamount (NE Atlantic). PhD 2010-13. UHI
Alex Schweizer: Macrobenthic Community Structure and Diversity in the Rockall Trough: A 30-year Time Series Study. MRes 2012-13. University of St Andrews and SAMS
Stephen Watson: Seasonal and inter-annual trends in macrobenthic community structure in the Rockall Trough, NE Atlantic. MRes 2011-12. University of St Andrews and SAMS
Research expedition
22-23 September 2015. MERP sampling cruise, Belfast, Irish Sea on the RV Coristes
May 2015. The Extended Ellett Line cruise, North Atlantic on RRV Discovery
May 2013. The Extended Ellett Line cruise, North Atlantic on RRV James Cook
Nov-Dec 2011. Benthic sampling cruise, Southwest Indian Ocean on RRV James Cook
May 2008 to July 2009, monthly coring sampling off shore Stonehaven, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK on the RV Temora
September 2008. Marine Scotland sampling off shore Stonehaven, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK on the RV Alba na Mara
April 2007. Marine Scotland sampling off shore Stonehaven, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK on the RV Clupea
July 2006. Marine Scotland sampling. Trawling for juvenile herrings in the Scottish west coast lochs on the RV Clupea
March & May 2002, “LEPTO” trawling sampling survey
July & November 2001, “LEPTO” trawling sampling survey
June 2001. “MEDIT” trawling sampling survey
October 2000 and 2001. “GROUND” trawling sampling survey
Public engagement / outreach
British Science Festival. Newcastle 2013
Deep-Sea Ecology Halloween Event. Ocean Explorer Centre 2014
Oban Festival of the Sea 2016
Awards
October 2014 - MASTS small grant: Phylogenetic analysis of Valvifera (Isopoda) from the Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge (£1000)
Paper reviewing
Elsevier journal reviewer for Progress in Oceanography, Ecosystem Modelling and Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Inter-Research Science Centre reviewer for Aquaculture Environment Interactions
Employment history
2021-present: Contract agent at the European Commission - Joint Research Centre. Italy
2020-21: PDRA at the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics. Italy
2015-20: Postdoctoral Research Associate. SAMS
2011-15: Postdoctoral Research Associate. SAMS
2011: Research Assistant. University of Aberdeen
2006-07: Research Assistant. University of Aberdeen
2003-04: Research Assistant. Univerity of Rome 'La Sapienza'. Italy
Qualifications
2011 PhD 'Biogeochemistry/modelling and mapping the physical and biogeochemical properties of sediments on the North Sea coastal waters'. University of Aberdeen
2003 BSc (1st class) Biological Sciences. Thesis: Trophic ecology and population distribution of two coexisting demersal fish, the longspine snipefish Macroramphosus scolopax (Linnaeus, 1758) and boarfish Capros aper (Linnaeus, 1758), on the Mediterranean deep shelf. University of Rome 'La Sapienza' (Italy)
Certifications
2014-2015: Experience on diving in cold waters, British Sub-Aqua Club member (BSAC)
2008: Personal sea survival techniques certificate, Falck Nutec Ltd, Aberdeen
2000: Advanced Open Water Diver, Licence PADI (2nd Level)
1999: Open Water Diver, Licence PADI (1st Level)