Last month CBESS and MASTS joined forces in Morecambe Bay to deliver a NERC funded residential skills development course for eleven postgraduate students and early career researchers. Leading researchers in the field of mudflat and saltmarsh ecology were brought in from institutions around the UK to impart their knowledge and experience of planning and conducting and major field campaigns in coastal habitats. The one week long course was based at Arnside’s YHA hostel, where we were excellently hosted by new owners Leah and Martin.
University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews: Morecambe Bay Recreational Stakeholder Workshop 8 May 2014
In cooperation with Morecambe Bay Partnership, University of St Andrews will be hosting a recreational stakeholder workshop in Barrow-in-Furness next month.
CBESS/MASTS: post-graduate training, feedback from last year’s participants
Applications for the 2015 ‘Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Assessment’ training course are open until 14th November 2014. In February we hope to build on the success of the 2014 course and we have made some additions and improvements to the program based on the feedback we received from students. We are also lucky to have an international component in the form of Professor Stefano Lanzoni from the University of Padova.
University of St Andrews: science discovery day 2014
On 8 March 2014, the University of St Andrews hosted Science Discovery Day at the School of Physics & Astronomy. Over 400 visitors got to try their hand at innovative science.
Autumn 2013: ecological data collection is over
In August 2013, the CBESS Team began the final push to collect data for the Summer Field Campaign in Morecambe Bay and the Essex Marshes. Conditions were very different to winter with fieldworkers suffering sunburn and dehydration, compared to suspected frost bite!
University of St Andrews: are salt marshes and mudflats dominated by producers or consumers?
As part of the fieldwork campaigns, The University of St Andrews has been measuring the community metabolism of salt marsh and mudflat areas, i.e. the CO2 fluxes due to either primary production or respiration of the mud or marsh and everything living in and on it.
University of St Andrews: long term salt marsh carbon exchange measurements
Salt marshes store a significant quantity of soil carbon, yet relatively little is known about the carbon uptake by these systems. Despite their importance, regular tidal inundation means that salt marsh ecosystems are rarely measured with long term measurements such as Eddy Covariance.
Radio 4: shared planet
How much is a honey bee worth? Can you put a price tag on a mountain?
CBESS at the University of St Andrews was interviewed by Radio 4’s Shared Planet to provide an insight into how researchers in the UK are trying to understand the value of Britain’s mudflats and salt marshes.
Lab Rats: all at sea!
Today is the last day that the Lab Rats: All at Sea! will be at the Edinburgh Science Festival.
CBESS: Stephen Watson appointed
Stephen Watson is joining the CBESS community as a PhD student supervised by Prof. David Patterson (School of Biology, University of St Andrews), Dr Nicola Beaumont and Dr Stephen Widdicombe (Plymouth Marine Laboratory).