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Marine Science Postgraduate Research

Look at unanswered questions about protecting endangered species and habitats with our marine science research degrees. Investigate managing the ocean environment for future generations.

Research strengths

Our research spans organismal studies, large-scale processes, and management procedures. It falls into two broad areas:

  • marine organisms and ecosystem research
  • coastal processes and management

Our work with marine organisms and ecosystem research includes:

  • gamete maturation and fertilisation biology of marine invertebrates
  • chemical/physiological ecology of marine invertebrates
  • reef ecology, especially trophodynamics, the structure and dynamics of marine food webs generally

Our coastal processes and management research looks at:

  • effects of fishing and marine protected areas on benthic communities
  • air-sea exchange of biogases, element cycling in oceans, gaseous tracer technology
Academic papers 

Previous students have often led on papers and projects in areas including:

Tropical coastal management

  • Hicks CC, McClanahan, TRM, Cinner JE, Hills JM (2009)
  • Trade offs in values assigned to ecological goods and services associated with different coral reef management strategies
  • Ecology and Society 14 (1): 10

Marine ecosystem services

  • Smith V, Fitzsimmons C (2011)
  • Local livelihood diversification: conservation and Socio-economics of scuba diving in the Solomon Islands
  • International Journal of Ecotourism 10: 179-196

North Sea marine policy

  • Scarff G, Fitzsimmons C, Gray T (2014)
  • The new mode of marine governance in the UK: aspirations and challenges
  • Marine Policy 51: 96-102

Marine biology

  • Tanzil JTI, Brown BE, Tudhope AW, Dunne RP (2009)
  • Decline in skeletal growth of the coral Porites lutea from the Andaman Sea, South Thailand between 1984 and 2005
  • Coral Reefs 28: 519-528

Coral reef ecology

  • McWilliam JN, Hawkins AD (2013)
  • A comparison of inshore marine soundscapes
  • Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 446: 166-176

Marine protected area management

  • Peterson AM, Stead SM (2011)
  • Rule breaking and livelihood options in marine protected areas
  • Environmental Conservation 38: 342-352

Fisheries ecology and sustainability

  • Hart K, Gray T, Stead SM (2013)
  • Consumptive versus non-consumptive use of sea turtles? Stakeholder perceptions about sustainable use in three communities near Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica
  • Marine Policy 42: 236-244

Funding opportunities

We have a variety of funding available that you can apply for.

Our research has uncovered man-made pollutants in the deepest corners of our planet.