While our taught modules will ground your understanding of marine ecosystem dynamics, research methodologies and environmental governance, you will develop your research skills by designing and completing a supervised project.

Major sites for projects include the:

• Red Sea
• Maldives
• Bahamas
• Northumberland coast (UK)

The project will develop a detailed knowledge of your chosen research topic by drawing on the research communities within the Ecology Research Group, in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.

You can design your research project, producing a research proposal upon application.

Topics can be highly varied to suit your interests. However, there are a few project ideas to choose from below, developed by staff working on existing larger research projects:

• Isotope Ecology of Fishes in the Changing Arctic (PDF: 376KB)
• Zooplankton’s Gut Microbiome in a Plastic Ocean (PDF: 212KB)
• Marine Monitoring Methods and Marine Strategy Framework Directive Indicators  (PDF: 389KB)

Our staff have over 30 years of research and teaching experience, both in the UK and overseas. Their expertise spans the natural and social sciences in coastal-marine science and management. 

The Ecology Research Group was formed in 2017, and comprises 21 academics, 12 post-docs, and a large cohort of postgraduate research students.

We work across the spectrum, from fundamental ecological science to application and translation into management and policy. We are interdisciplinary, applied, and, in some cases, develop cutting-edge technology. This includes work in complexity science and environmental genomics. We collaborate with colleagues from across the University, nationally and internationally and our work has societal impacts.

This research group has had notable successes in their work on:

• coral reefs (Professor John Bythell, Professor Alasdair Edwards, Professor Nicholas Polunin)
• physical oceanography and climate modelling (Professor Andrew Willmott, Dr Miguel Maqueda)
• marine spatial mapping and systems planning (Dr Clare Fitzsimmons)
• marine protected areas and management (Professor Nicholas Polunin)
• food webs (Professor Nicholas Polunin)

They are also active in:

• marine mammal monitoring (Dr Per Berggren)
• citizen science and outreach (Dr Jane Delaney)
• deep sea ecology and marine time series (Dr Ben Wigham)

There are exceptional opportunities if you see yourself in a marine environmental science research career. We have official partnerships with:

• Northumberland Inshore Fishery and Conservation Authority
• Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia
• Haribon Foundation, Philippines (a major non-governmental organisation)

Our partnerships provide you with the opportunity for exchanges and involvement. We also have strong links with:

• King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia
• Cape Eleuthera Institute, Bahamas
• Banyan Tree Global Foundation, Maldives

Previous students have worked with KAUST on a project based at a Red Sea facility. The focus of this project was the environmental impact of land based agriculture.

There are opportunities for involvement in key papers. Previous students have often led on papers and projects in areas that include: 

Tropical coastal management

Hicks CC, McClanahan, TRM, Cinner JE, Hills JM (2009) Trade offs in values assigned to ecological goods and services associated with different coral reef management strategies. Ecology and Society. 14 (1): 10.

Marine ecosystem services

Smith V, Fitzsimmons C (2011) Local livelihood diversification: conservation and Socio-economics of scuba diving in the Solomon Islands. International Journal of Ecotourism. 10: 179-196.

North Sea marine policy

Scarff G, Fitzsimmons C, Gray T (2014) The new mode of marine governance in the UK: aspirations and challenges. Marine Policy. 51: 96-102.

Marine biology

Tanzil JTI, Brown BE, Tudhope AW, Dunne RP (2009), Decline in skeletal growth of the coral Porites lutea from the Andaman Sea, South Thailand between 1984 and 2005, Coral Reefs 28: 519-528

Coral reef ecology

McWilliam JN, Hawkins AD (2013) A comparison of inshore marine soundscapes. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 446: 166-176.

Marine protected area management

Peterson AM, Stead SM (2011) Rule breaking and livelihood options in marine protected areas. Environmental Conservation. 38: 342-352.

Fisheries ecology and sustainability

Hart K, Gray T, Stead SM (2013) Consumptive versus non-consumptive use of sea turtles? Stakeholder perceptions about sustainable use in three communities near Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica. Marine Policy. 42: 236-244.

Three taught modules worth 60 credits are delivered in week blocks during semester one. A research project worth 120 credits is undertaken across semesters 2 and 3.

The course is delivered by the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.

You will have access to a wealth of excellent facilities, including:

• the Dove Marine Laboratory (Cullercoats)
• our versatile twin-hulled research vessel, The Princess Royal 
• our shore station at Blyth
• dedicated computers and laboratories

• MST8011 Marine Ecosystems
• MST8024 Marine Governance and Society
• MST8025 Marine Ecosystems Research
• NES8010 Quantitative Ecological Research Methods

• 8 week Pre-sessional entry: IELTS 6.0 overall (with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills)
• 12 week Pre-sessional entry:  IELTS 5.5 overall (with a minimum of 5.0 in all sub-skills)