9th International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions 2016: Sydney

Chris Nall

University of Highlands and Islands

 

The Challenger Society Student Travel Award enabled me to attend and present at the 9th International Conference of Marine Bioinvasions in Sydney, Australia. My oral presentation title was ‘Biosecurity implications of the marine renewable energy industry’ and I presented it on the 21st January in the ‘Invasions in Industry’ session. It covered some of the research from my PhD, including information on introduction pathways of non-native species within the marine renewable energy industry, the capability of fouling non-native species establishing on wave and tidal energy devices, and potential management strategies to reduce and monitor the impact of non-native species in the industry. The session audience included a number of highly esteemed academic researchers as well as policy makers and regulators and my talk promoted some interesting discussion during the session and after it.

This was my first attendance to a large international conference and the ICMB is one of the most sort-after research conferences in the field of marine non-native species research. The Challenger Society Award gave me a fantastic opportunity to meet the well-respected researchers from around the world which this biennial conference attracts. It also enabled me to use the conference as platform for establishing myself as a recognised researcher in marine invasion ecology.

Profile:
I have just completed a PhD at the Environmental Research Institute, University of Highlands and Islands (PhD Title: Marine non-native species in northern Scotland and the implications for the marine renewable energy industry). My research focuses on the composition of biofouling communities on artificial structures in the marine environment (e.g. marine renewable energy devices) and the ecological and technical implications of biofouling. I am particularly interested in the potential for marine structures to facilitate the introduction and establishment of marine non-native species and the implications this has on the natural environment and how this impact during the consenting process for marine developments. 

Short twitter style post:
Interesting and thought provoking talks at the 9th International Conference of Marine Bioinvasions in Sydney #ICMB2016

Photo caption:
Building ‘research bridges’ at the 9th International Conference of Marine Bioinvasions in Sydney

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.

Read More


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.

Read More


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

Read More