Dr Alan MacDonald

Research Software Engineer

I work at the boundary of science and software, building web and mobile apps and working with research data. Starting in ecological modelling, I now focus on building digital tools.

... I'm the person in IT that can't fix your computer.

Contact details:

Past Projects

Diverseafood: Investigating the potential of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) to improve fatty acdi budgets. I am building a mass based model of the IMTA system, parameterised for fatty acids, to understand the flow of energy and nutrient. Funded by BBSRC 2019-21

RiseUp: Resilience of the UK seafood system to the COVID-19 disruption. Funded by ESRC. 2020-22

 

Olin A, Banas N, Heath M, Wright P, MacDonald A, Wanless S, Daunt F, Speakman J and Nager R (2026) Prey, not temperature, is the dominant driver of juvenile growth in North Sea sandeels. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 776, pp.1-18. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps15010 

MacDonald A, Serpetti N and Franco SC (2024) Optimising seafood nutritional value and environmental sustainability in aquaculture through a novel integrated modelling tool applicable to IMTA and monoculture. Aquaculture, 590, p.741046.

MacDonald A, Speirs DC, Greenstreet SPR, Boulcott P, Heath MR (2019) Trends in sandeel growth and abundance off the east coast of Scotland. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6:201

MacDonald A, Heath MR, Greenstreet SPR, Speirs DC (2019) Timing of sandeel spawning and hatching off the east coast of Scotland. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6:70

MacDonald A, Speirs DC, Greenstreet SPR, Heath MR (2018) Exploring the influence of food and temperature on North Sea sandeels using a new dynamic energy budget model. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5:339

MacDonald A, Heath MR, Edwards M, Furness RW, Pinnegar JK, Wanless S, Speirs DC, Greenstreet SPR (2015) Climate driven trophic cascades affecting seabirds around the British Isles. Oceanography and Marine Biology - An Annual Review. 53, 55-79

 

Employment history

Since 2019 Postdoctoral Research Associate in Aquaculture Modelling, SAMS

2017-19 Research Assistant working on 1) modelling sandeel dynamics and 2) estimating bycatch of birds and marine mammals in UK waters. University of Strathclyde

 

Qualifications

2017 PhD Modelling the impact of environmental change on the physiology and ecology of sandeels. University of Strathclyde

2011 MSc Applied Mathematics with Biological and Ecological Modelling. Heriot-Watt University

2010 BSc Mathematics. University of Strathclyde