The 21st MBA Postgraduate Conference took place at the University of Hull this April, providing an opportunity for professionals, students and post-graduate researchers to come together to share learning and discuss ongoing research aiming to increase the resilience of our marine ecosystems in the face of climate change. This year’s conference also focussed on providing opportunities for students and conservation professionals to connect and share advice on how to break into the conservation sector.
I attended and presented at the conference, which covered various themes such as renewable energy, habitat restoration mechanisms, sustainable fisheries management practices and understanding the spread of marine invasive non-native species (INNS). With a packed three days of research, discussion and some very practical career advice, here’s what stood out most.
Coastal restoration science
The conference’s first session shared insights into novel saltmarsh and kelp research that could potentially change how habitat restoration is undertaken. An interesting talk from the University of Hull explored the question of ‘how much blue carbon can restored saltmarsh sediments hold?’. Their findings show that the amount of carbon stored in restored saltmarsh soils varied across replanted species; providing crucial insight that could help tailor restoration options to maximise carbon sequestration whilst also restoring nature.
Newcastle University have investigated whether it is possible to recreate coastal habitats in a laboratory to better observe how they function as sea defences. They successfully recreated scale-model kelp forests to quantify how wave energy is attenuated; providing a useful mechanism to measure the role of these habitats as sea defences, with further potential applicability for a range of coastal habitats. Such research is vital to ensure restoration efforts are as efficient as possible, and maximise their impact on increasing the resilience of our coastlines in the face of climate change.
Practical careers advice
The second session of the day was fully careers focussed. Alongside representatives from The Wilder Humber project, SeaGrown, Blue Marine Foundation and the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI), I talked about the path I’ve taken to work in the marine conservation sector and provided insights into who we are and what we do at HMC. A panel session supplemented these talks, where it was a privilege to answer questions from students and offer advice on what to do (and what not to do!) when undertaking the daunting task of post-graduation job hunting. As an early-career professional myself, the take-home messages that stuck with me were:
- Transferable skills gained through study (whether this be undergraduate or post-graduate), volunteering and working are vitally important and should never be underestimated – emphasise them on job applications!
- Identify where your knowledge or experience gaps lie and find opportunities to fill them. This can be difficult, and potentially expensive, but if for example you’re at university and want to learn GIS, ask to sit in on those lectures even if they’re for people outside your subject area or undergraduate course.
While PhDs can be incredibly interesting, challenging and rewarding, providing a plethora of transferable skills, contacts and opportunities to conduct research with real-world impacts, many of us on the panel reflected that they are not strictly necessary for some roles. As such, it’s important for early career scientists to consider what area they want to work in and identify whether undertaking a PhD will help achieve that goal, or whether gaining relevant work experience will be more beneficial.
Trade-offs in marine management
Day two included thought-provoking talks on the balance between the social and economic benefits of implementing clean infrastructure, such as offshore wind farms (OWF), and the need to better understand and identify the impacts of these structures on the marine environment. Researchers at the University of Hull shared insights into ongoing research looking at the impact of offshore wind turbine vibrations on the bioturbation ability of marine invertebrates, and Bangor University shared their investigation into the potential impacts of offshore wind turbines with scour protection on the biodiversity of benthic infauna.
A poster presentation from the University of Hull also highlighted that, although overall biodiversity and species abundance often increases within offshore wind arrays, the introduction of such infrastructure fundamentally changes the ecology and species composition within these areas from more simple, soft sediments (with associated fauna) to heterogeneous, rocky habitats. As a result, UK waters are actually losing soft habitats with increasing OWF development. Overall, these sessions highlighted the many complex, intricate interactions and changes happening within OWF and emphasised that there are many unknowns remaining in this fast-moving space.
Insights for fisheries management
Day three provided valuable insight into fisheries management in the UK, with Seafish and researchers from the University of Hull and the University of Exeter sharing insights into Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs). They discussed how gear modification can protect sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean and how the development of an app could save millions of litres of fuel for the global fishing industry.
Further interesting research from the University of Exeter described how ecological niche models can be used in conjunction with fisheries monitoring data to identify opportunities for ecosystem-based fisheries management. This research showed that it is possible to use models to predict where top predators are likely to be during the year, and, in conjunction with current fisheries monitoring data (such as AIS) this can show the overlaps between seasonal fishing intensity and the likely presence of such species. This methodology could therefore be used by fisheries managers to introduce measures in specific locations to minimise the impacts of fishing activity on marine predators.
Final reflections
The sharing of such diverse research and the discussions that followed across the three days really echoed the conference’s concluding reflection that, with the positive, innovative, and collaborative work being undertaken across a range of marine sectors and disciplines, by both late and early career scientists, there is hope for changing the tide and collectively improving the health and resilience of our oceans.
The 22nd MBA Postgraduate Conference will be held at Newcastle University in 2026. To find out more about the MBA, head to their website.