L-R Professor Steve Newstead (Acting Vice Chancellor) with Dr Jingjing Xu, Dr Philip Hosegood, Dr James Benhin, Dr Deborah Greaves, Professor Laurence Mee (Director Marine Institute) and Dr Daniel Conley pictured at the Welcome Event held for new staff.
Professor Laurence Mee, Director of the Marine Institute welcomed 15 new staff who have recently been appointed by the University of Plymouth to help the Marine Institute develop its position as a leading world facility at the forefront of marine research.
The appointees included six academic staff, three post doctoral Research Fellows, two additions to the Innovation Team, three Graduate School Research scholars and two Marine Institute Studentships.
Dr James Benhin (Lecture in Marine and Coastal Environmental Economics) and Dr Jingjing Xu (Lecturer in Maritime Law and Economics) have positions in the Plymouth Business School. Dr Xu is the Leader of the Research Group looking at the socio-economic impact of the Wave Hub development off the Cornish Coast.
Professor Fauzi Mantoura has been appointed as Professor of Environmental Impact Assessments. He is joined by Dr Daniel Conley (Reader in Coastal Dynamics Modelling) and Dr Philip Hosegood (Lecturer in Coastal Wave Dynamic)s and are appointed in the School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences (SEOES).
Dr Deborah Greaves takes up an appointment as Reader in Coastal and Marine Engineering at the School of Engineering, part of the Faculty of Technology.
Three post doctoral Research Fellowships which are directly attached to the Wavehub project have been awarded to Dr Emma Sheehan, Dr Stephen Cotterel; and Dr Philippa Moore.
Additional staff for the Innovation Team, lead by Jim Grant, include Jo Thompson-Byrne as Senior Project Manager and Yen-Ghiang (Gavin) Chang (Research Assistant). Gavin is presently involved on an € 10 million EU project - Intermodal Port Access & Commodities Transport in Europe (IMPACTE) - which aims to promote and facilitate sustainable port based development and distribution activities in Europe.
Graduate School Research Scholarships have been awarded to Charlotte Marshall, Sian Rees and Rachel Shelley. Charlotte is investigating predictive species modelling as a tool to aid marine spatial planning. Sian’s PhD topic is to estimate the value of marine conservation in the United Kingdom. Rachel is studying the nature of zinc and copper biogeochemistry in the Atlantic Ocean.
For the first time two Marine Institute Studentships have been awarded. The recipients are Kate de la Hay whose area of interest lies in the behavioural consequences of ocean acidification in decapod crustaceans and Simon Oliver who is looking at the issue of automatic biota recognition in fresh and sea water, based on taxonomic features.
Professor Laurence Mee in his welcome emphasised the “value that the Marine Institute attaches to the development of young researchers in all areas of marine and maritime activity”. Professor Mee also thanked the Acting Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Steve Newstead, who was present “for his dedicated support and enthusiasm to the development of the Marine Institute”.
During the Welcome Event a new 32 page brochure describing the activities of the Marine Institute was launched by Commander Ian Hugo MNI, Queen’s Harbour Master, Plymouth. He described the brochure as a clear illustration of the commitment of the University of Plymouth to marine and maritime interests with which he has considerable empathy in his professional capacity.
Professor Dr Andrew Chadwick, Associate Director (Innovation) described the newly formed Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMARE). PRIMARE is a joint collaborative venture with Exeter University and has been set up to research the harnessing of energy from the sea.
PRIMARE will be working alongside the £28 million Wave Hub project which is, being developed by the South West Regional Development Agency, off the coast of Cornwall.