Dr Cecilia Liszka
I obtained my undergraduate degree in Geography from Cambridge University in 2005,and then worked on climate change mitigation programmes and policy for a number of years.
I returned to academia in 2013, obtaining an MSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of East Anglia in 2014 and a PhD in Biological Oceanography in 2019 from UEA, whilst based at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. During the PhD I investigated the role of zooplankton populations and communities in the active flux of carbon in the Southern Ocean, through processes such as diel vertical migration, faecal pellet production, and respiration, conducting fieldwork on two Southern Ocean cruises.
In 2018/9 I participated in a 3-person sailing expedition from Europe to Brazil via the Canary Islands and Cape Verde; this included getting a crash course in boat maintenance and repair along the way. Since 2019 I have been working as a zooplankton ecologist at the British Antarctic Survey, with projects including characterising the plankton and nekton community structure of the South Sandwich Islands and determining the environmental variables driving this structure; the response of the plankton community to the mega-berg A68; and modelling the distribution of krill around CCAMLR Area 48
Latest News
Potential Availability of NERC Ship Time During the 25/26 Programme Year
The NERC Marine Facilities Programme for 2025/2026 for the RRS Discovery and the RRS James Cook has been published on the Marine Facilities Planning website.
The RRS Discovery programme currently contains a 79 day alongside slot between the 2nd of November 2025 and the 19th of January 2026, which is available for science delivery if funded science projects can make use of this time. Due to the location of the vessel, the ship is most likely to be able to deliver fieldwork in the North and East Atlantic regions. Some support for science capability within the National Marine Equipment Pool is potentially available, although there is no capacity for use of autonomous vehicles or remotely operated vehicles. Any fieldwork within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) will need the appropriate diplomatic clearance submitted to coastal states at least 6 months in advance, and to NMF with sufficient lead time for processing via the FCDO.
If interested in making use of this ship time, please contact NERC Marine Planning (marineplanning@nerc.ukri.org) ASAP to start discussions.
THE MARINE FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD – CAN YOU HELP?
The Marine Facilities Advisory Board advises the National Oceanography Centre on marine facilities and services, including the Natural Environment Research Council’s National Marine Equipment Pool (NMEP), the British Oceanographic Data Centre and the British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility.
NOC Association AGM 2025
NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025
The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. Although discussion topics are being finalised, we will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join. To participate, please complete your registration here. For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk