Research group

Healthy Oceans

Shoal of herring swimming in the ocean

Ocean health links researchers and practitioners in all aspects of marine biology. This includes resilience, biodiversity, conservation, evolution, and the impacts of pollution and anthropogenic activities on marine ecosystems.

About

The Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) Healthy Oceans Special Interest Group promotes cutting-edge research and engaged industry expertise to address the critical environmental, ecological and conservation challenges facing our oceans. 

Our collaborative approach aims to bridge the gap between academia, policy, industry, and the public. This enables us to develop and communicate innovative solutions that contribute to the health of our oceans.

We are particularly interested in key areas such as: 

  • monitoring marine biodiversity
  • investigating the impacts of marine pollution
  • understanding anthropogenic impacts on marine life
  • exploring marine resilience  

Our interests span spatial scales from studies of individual organisms to those covering whole ecosystems and the communities that depend upon them.  

To find out more about the Healthy Oceans Special Interest Group and what we do, get in touch with group champion Christopher Goatley.

Join the SMMI Community to sign up to this group and our other special interest groups.

Research highlights

People, projects and publications

People

Dr Ben Waterson

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Road transport
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Traveller Behaviour

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr Benjamin Cerfontaine

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Offshore renewable energy - wind, tidal and wave
  • Numerical and Physical Modelling of infrastructure for renewable energy
  • Constitutive modelling of geomaterials for cyclic loading

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Bharath Ganapathisubramani

Professor of Experimental Fluid Mechani

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr Bindi Shah PhD, FHEA

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • A key question that Bindi is interested in asking is: What shapes citizenship and a sense of belonging to the nation amongst immigrants and established ethnic minority communities?
  • Bindi is also interested in exploring the role of social capital for developing interdisciplinary solutions to climate crisis and biodiversity loss for marginalised communities.

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Blair Thornton

Professor of Marine Autonomy

Research interests

  • Autonomous robotic platforms allow detailed observations to be made over large areas in the ocean. For these systems to be useful, it is necessary to develop advanced sensing capabilities and methods to allow the robots to safely navigate and accurately localize themselves in complex, GPS denied environments. Once observations have been made, it’s necessary to interpret the large volumes of data that are gathered in an efficient and scalable way. For more information on research activities, please visit the Ocean Perception research website.
  • Seafloor 3D visual reconstruction: Development of deep-sea imaging hardware and processing pipelines for calibration, localisation and 3D mapping of the seafloor with full-field uncertainty characterisation.
  • BioCam (NERC NE/P020887/1): Development of a deep-sea, high-altitude seafloor imaging system for monitoring seafloor ecological variables as part of the Oceanids Marine Sensor Capital program. This project is a collaboration with Sonardyne International Ltd, the National Oceanography Centre and the ACFR University of SydneyAT-SEA (NERC NE/T010592/1): 3D visual survey of decommissioned seafloor infrastructure using a shore launched Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (Boaty McBoaface) as part of the INSITE program. This project is a collaboration with the National Oceanography Centre. Automated interpretation of data: Development of AI methods for rapid scalable interpretation of seafloor imagery.

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Carlos Ponce De Leon Albarran MBA, PhD, FRSC

Professor of Electrochemical Engineering

Research interests

  • Electrochemical energy conversion
  • Water treatment technology
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Dr Catherine Rychert

Associate Professor
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Dr Cathy Lucas

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • The role of gelatinous zooplankton in ecosystem structure and function.
  • Causes and consequences of jellyfish blooms.
  • Jellyfish and ecosystem servives in the coastal zone.

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr Cecilia D'angelo

Associate Professor
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Celia Prescott

Research interests

  • Eastern Mediterranean
  • Coastal sediment dynamics and nearshore hydrodynamics
  • Digital archaeology
Connect with Celia

Related research institutes, centres and groups

Related research institutes, centres and groups

Connect with us

Enquiries

If you're interested in joining us or collaborating, get in touch with the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.