Our marine technology research contributes to four themes:
Marine Science has a long and distinguished history in the North of England; our marine laboratory was set up in 1908, our ecological time series go back to 1969 (among the longest anywhere), our BSc, MSc and PhD students and post-doctoral scientists occupy important positions in government, academia and industry around the world and our diversity of expertise rightly reflects that of the oceans - 90% of the Earth's habitable volume sustaining 32 of the 33 animal phyla (21 of these exclusively marine).
Major international agreements and policy documents including those of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Convention on Biological Diversity, OSPAR and the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive have signalled substantial increases in commitment to better management of the global marine environment. Whether the concern be for biodiversity conservation, impacts of pollution, carbon offset, fisheries sustainability, food security, offshore wind farms or increasing the efficiency of marine transport, we are in a radically new era. But time and resources are short; we need to define a research strategy with which to competently and comprehensively address the evolving needs of the marine world. Our vision of serving our region while being internationally research active is being met by sustaining an outstanding diversity in our expertise, and investments in three areas – Marine Ecosystems & Governance, Marine Biogeochemistry and Applied Marine Science.
marineNewcastle ( www.ncl.ac.uk/marinenewcastle ) is one of ten thematic areas in the the Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability (NIReS) ( www.ncl.ac.uk/sustainability ), which coordinates research across traditional discipline boundaries.