Staff Profile

Background

I am an experienced community ecologist with expertise in marine benthic habitats, with particular emphasis on intertidal rocky shore ecology, long-term time-series data sets and biogeography. Within my role at Newcastle University I work in three main areas: Teaching, discipline based Research and Scholarship (pedagogic research to better engage students in the research element of my discipline).

I teach both Undergraduate and Postgraduate students within the Marine Science discipline across a variety of modules. I have developed my pedagogy around Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), and achieved recognition as Fellow (2018) and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2021) with TEL at the centre of my practice. I do this creating novel teaching methods such as applications, virtual reality models and augmented reality toolkits to enhance in-person delivery. 

I complement my teaching by being active in research within the marine sciences and I investigate the impacts of multiple stressors and disturbances on the marine environment. This research informs not only my teaching practice but also how I approach teaching development.

In addition to the above I see engagement with external stakeholders and the wider community as a key part of my role. I sit on regional partnerships that link ongoing research in the marine sciences with organisations (government agencies, NGOs and industry) with a vested interest in the marine environment of the wider region. In addition, my research on Citizen Science engages local communities with environmental priorities to inspire and promote stewardship of our marine environment. This benefits not only my research but also our students providing several opportunities to develop skills and experience in the context of this network.

Qualifications

• 2021: Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• 2018: Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Studies in Academic Practice
• 2018: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• 2015: Newcastle Teaching Award
• 2014: Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• 2007: PhD in Marine Ecology / Newcastle University 
• 2003: BSc (Hons) Marine Biology / University of Hull  

Google Scholar: Click here.

Research Interests

My main research interests centre around the responses of marine biodiversity, specifically benthic invertebrates, to climate change, ocean acidification and multiple stressors; biogeography, macroecology, species distribution patterns. I have been heavily involved for the past 14 years in maintaining long-term time-series of intertidal species and communities around Britain and Europe as part of the Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change (MarClim) project. More recently, I have worked to incorporate Citizen Science into my main research interests and I have a 12 year track record working on marine Citizen Science projects. A key element of this is to involve local communities in the surveying of intertidal marine habitats, the collection of robust marine biodiversity data, input into key ecological questions and raise awareness for the ownership and accountability of the management and conservation of healthy marine resources.

Ongoing Research Projects

• Stronger Shores: Marine Habitats Protecting Coastal Communities (2022-2027): South Tyneside Council (https://strongershores.com/)
• Intertidal extreme impacts: metrics for assessment (2022-2023): Natural England
• Water and Disturbance Environmental Restoration on the Northumbrian Coast: WaDER (2021-2026): EU LIFE (https://tweedforum.org/our-work/life-wader)
• Investigating the Blue Carbon Linkages of Nearshore Sediment habitats (2021-2023): Durham Heritage Coast
• Community for Engaging Environments - N4CEE (2020-2022): NERC Funded
• The North Sea as a cold-water refuge: managing the impacts of climate change through microhabitat resolution temperature mapping: Robolimpets (2020-present): Natural England
• Northumbria Coast Invasive Non-Native Species Monitoring project (2018-present): Natural England
• Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change: MarClim Long-Term Time-Series (ongoing), led by the Marine Biological Association of the UK: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales

Recently Completed

• Assessment of Carbon Capture and Storage within the English North Sea (2020) Blue Marine Foundation
• Development of a teaching application for student engagement (2020-2021): SAgE Educational Development Fund
• Development of an AR Toolkit to enhance fieldwork engagement and delivery in the TEL context (2020-2020): SAgE Educational Development Fund
• Opening up Science for All (OPENER): A national scoping project to create a vision for citizen science and public engagement with environmental research in the UK (2019-2020): NERC Funded.
• Plastic Plankton: The prevalence of micro-plastics in the Dove Time Series (2016-2018): European Maritime Fisheries Fund
• Marine Strategy Framework Directive subtidal rock and mud indicators and monitoring (2016-2018): European Maritime Fisheries Fund
• Capturing our Coast (CoCoast) (2015-2018): NHLF Funded 

Postgraduate Supervision

• Laura Bentley (NERC IAPETUS2 DTP) - Using citizen science to inform coastal and marine natural capital approaches (with Drs Katherine Simpson, David Bailey and Bryce Stewart)
• Jack Longsden (NERC IAPETUS2 DTP) - The effects of climate warming and heatwaves on in situ benthic marine community development (with Profs Lloyd Peck and Melody Clark)
• Rodrigo Munoz (NERC IAPETUS2 DTP) - Physical and biological drivers of UK kelp forest urchin barrens (with Prof Pip Moore)
• Robyn Mastin-Wynne - In-situ experiments to establish the role that UK kelp forests play in attenuating wave energy (with Prof Pip Moore and the Stronger Shores Team)
• Jack Duffy - Hydrodynamic modelling to understand the role of seagrass, kelp and oyster beds in dampening wave action (with Prof Pip Moore and the Stronger Shores Team)
• Charlotte Jennings (NERC ONEPlanet DTP) - Seagrass restoration and recovery in a bay of international importance (with Prof Pip Moore)
• Lucia Yllan - Adaptations and behaviour of Pomacentridae (with Dr Theresa Rueger)
• Lukas Edwards - Eco-evolutionary dynamics (with Dr Isabel Smallegange)
• Ainsley Hatt (NERC IAPETUS2 DTP) - Future Biofouling (with Profs Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark and Tony Clare)
• Harry Catherall - Structure and function of kelp forest along an industrialised coastline (with Prof Pip Moore)

Director of Student Recruitment

Contributor: 

·        NES1501 Marine Biology

·        NES1505 Marine Practical Skills

·        NES2504 Research and Employability Skills 

·        NES2505 Marine Practical Skills II

·        NES3504 Advanced Research Skills

·        NES3505 Marine Research Project

·        NES8025 Marine Ecosystems Research 

UK Professional Standards Framework

·        Newcastle Educational Practice Mentor

• Articles

  • Robinson R, Sugden H, Rao P, Towers A, Wysocka J, Delany J. What makes an engaging environment? Lessons learnt from co-created initiatives with diverse community groups. Journal of Participatory Research Methods 2024. In Press.
  • Carrillo-Barragan P, Fitzsimmons C, Lloyd-Hartley H, Tinlin-Mackenzie A, Scott C, Sugden H. Fifty-year study of microplastics ingested by brachyuran and fish larvae in the central English North Sea. Environmental Pollution 2024, 342, 123060.
  • Robinson D, Delany J, Sugden H. Beyond science: Exploring the value of co-created citizen science for diverse community groups. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice 2024, 9(1), 13.
  • Tinlin-Mackenzie A, Sugden H, Scott CL, Kennedy R, Fitzsimmons C. Trawling for evidence: An ecosystem-based multi-method trawling impact assessment. Fisheries Research 2023, 268, 106858.
  • Carrillo-Barragan P, Sugden H, Scott CL, Fitzsimmons C. Enzymatic digestion method development for long-term stored chitinaceous planktonic samples. Marine Pollution Bulletin 2022, 179, 113691.
  • Earp H, Vye S, Bohn K, Burrows M, Chenery J, Dickens S, Foster C, Grist H, Lamont P, Long S, Morrall Z, Pocklington J, Scott A, Watson G, West V, Jenkins S, Delany J, Sugden H. Do You See What I See? Quantifying Inter-Observer Variability in an Intertidal Marine Citizen Science Experiment. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice 2022, 7(1).
  • Mieszkowska N, Burrows MT, Hawkins SJ, Sugden H. Impacts of pervasive climate change and extreme events on rocky intertidal communities: evidence from long-term data. Frontiers in Marine Science 2021, 8, 642764.
  • Vye SR, Dickens S, Adams L, Bohn K, Chenery J, Dobson N, Dunn RE, Earp HS, Evans M, Foster C, Grist H, Holt B, Hull S, Jenkins S, Lamont P, Long S, Mieszkowska N, Millard J, Morrall Z, Pack K, Parry-Wilson H, Pocklington J, Pottas J, Richardson L, Scott A, Sugden H, Watson G, West V, Winton D, Delany J, Burrows MT. Patterns of abundance across geographical ranges as a predictor for responses to climate change: Evidence from UK rocky shores. Diversity and Distributions 2020, 26(10), 1357-1365.
  • Mieszkowska N, Sugden H, Firth LB, Hawkins SJ. The role of sustained observations in tracking impacts of environmental change on marine biodiversity and ecosystems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2014, 372, 2025.
  • Bers AV, Diaz ER, da Gama BAP, Vieira-Silva F, Dobretsov S, Valdivia N, Thiel M, Scardino AJ, McQuaid CD, Sudgen HE, Thomason JC, Wahl M. Relevance of mytilid shell microtopographies for fouling defence - a global comparison. Biofouling 2010, 26(3), 367-377.
  • Solan M, DeVoogd NJ, Becking LE, Cleary DFR, GuidiGuilvard LD, Thistle D, Khripounoff A, Gasparini S, Danovaro R, Bianchelli S, Gambi C, Mea M, Zeppilli D, Kochzius M, Seidel C, Hauschild J, Kirchhoff S, Mester P, MeyerWachsmuth I, Nuryanto A, Timm J, Christie H, Norderhaug KM, Fredriksen S, Blight AJ, Allcock AL, Maggs CA, Johnson M, Hawkins SJ, Sugden HE, Mieszkowska N, Moore PJ, Poloczanska E, Leaper R, Herbert RJH, Genner MJ, Moschella PS, Thompson RC, Jenkins SR, Southward AJ, Burrows MT, Salo T, Gustafsson C, Boström C, Godbold JA. Marine biodiversity: current understanding and future research. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2009, 396, 165-306.
  • Hawkins SJ, Sugden HE, Mieszkowska N, Moore PJ, Poloczanska E, Leaper R, Herbert R, Genner MJ, Moschella PS, Thompson RC, Jenkins SR, Southward AJ, Burrows MT. Consequences of climate-driven biodiversity changes for ecosystem functioning. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2009, 396, 245-259.
  • Sugden H, Lenz M, Molis M, Wahl M, Thomason JC. The interaction between nutrient availability and disturbance frequency on the diversity of benthic marine communities on the north-east coast of England. Journal of Animal Ecology 2008, 77(1), 24-31.
  • Sugden H, Panusch R, Lenz M, Wahl M, Thomason JC. Temporal variability of disturbances: Is this important for diversity and structure of marine fouling assemblages?. Marine Ecology 2007, 28(3), 368-376.

• Book Chapters

  • Hawkins SJ, Pack KE, Firth LB, Mieszkowska N, Evans AJ, Åberg P, Bohn K, Castro J, Griffin J, Coleman R, Crowe T, Cruz T, Ferreira J, Hyder K, Adams LC, Epstein G, Boaventura D, Silva A, Herbert R, Johnson MP, Martins GM, Arenas F, Sugden H, Moore PJ, Moschella PS, Pannacciulli F, Davies MS, Dos Santos AM, Lima F, Ribeiro P, Proud SV, Hill AS, Kim HG, Vale M, Borges D, Masterson-Algar P, Hartnoll PRG, Thompson RC, Burrows MT, Jenkins SR. The intertidal zone of the North-East Atlantic region: pattern and process. In: Hawkins, SJ; Bohn, K; Firth, LB; Williams, GA, ed. Interactions in the Marine Benthos: Global Patterns and Processes. Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp.7-46.
  • Mieszkowska N, Sugden HE. Climate-Driven Range Shifts Within Benthic Habitats Across a Marine Biogeographic Transition Zone. In: Alex J. Dumbrell, Rebecca L. Kordas and Guy Woodward, ed. Large-Scale Ecology: Model Systems to Global Perspectives. London: Elsevier, 2016, pp.325-369.
  • Canning-Clode J, Sugden HE. Assessing macrofouling Section 1: Assessing fouling assemblages. In: Dobretsov, S; Thomason, JC; Williams, DN, ed. Biofouling Methods. Wiley-Blackwell, 2014, pp.252-270.
  • Hawkins SJ, Sugden HE, Moschella PS, Mieszkowska N, Thompson RC, Burrows MT. The Seashore. In: Maclean, N, ed. Silent Summer: The State of the Wildlife in Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp.591-614.
  • Hawkins SJ, Sugden HE, Mieszkowska N, Burrows MT, Baxter JM. Managing marine species in a rapidly changing world. In: Baxter, J.M., Galbraith, C.A, ed. Species Management: Challenges and Solutions for the 21st Century. Edinburgh: Stationery Office Books, 2010, pp.91-108.
  • Sugden H, Underwood AJ, Hawkins SJ. The aesthetic value of littoral hard substrata and an ethical framework for appreciation and conservation. In: Wahl, M, ed. Marine Hard Bottom Communities: Patterns, Scales, Dynamics, Functions, Shifts. Berlin; New York: Springer Verlag, 2009, pp.409-422.

• Reports

  • Burrows MT, Moore P, Sugden H, Fitzsimmons C, Smeaton C, Austin W, Parker R, Kröger S, Powell C, Gregory L, Procter W, Brook T. Assessment of carbon capture and storage in natural systems within the English North Sea (Including within Marine Protected Areas). London: Blue Marine Foundation, 2021.
  • Mieszkowska N, Burrows M, Sugden H. Impacts of climate change on intertidal habitats, relevant to the coastal and marine environment around the UK. Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership, 2020. MCCIP Science Review 2020.