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We can see the effects of climate change and human impact all around us: rainforests are falling, glaciers are shrinking, there's an island of plastic in the Pacific –but what about where we can't see so easily? How have global events affected the underwater world and the creatures that live there? Join experts from Heriot-Watt and the University of Edinburgh to explore what's going on below the surface...
Scotland’s corals reefs: beautiful, diverse and under threat
Dr Fiona Murray
(Postdoctoral Research Associate, The University of Edinburgh )
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to travel far to find beautiful coral reefs. From depths of 200m down to over a kilometre below the sea surface in Scottish waters live the Lophelia reefs – massive coral reefs that are home to hundreds of species of fish, shrimp, sponges, and a whole host of other creatures rarely seen. But, like their tropical cousins, the world of Scotland’s coral reefs is changing. Join us to find out where our Scottish corals life, what lives on these reefs, why their futures are now uncertain and how we can protect these amazing places.
Life without microbes? Unimaginable
Dr Tony Gutierrez
(Associate Professor of Environmental Microbiology & Biotechnology Heriot-Watt University)
Did you know you are more microbe than human? That everywhere you go, you leave behind an imprint of your microbiology and share your microbes with other people and animals alike? What would life be were microbes wiped off the face of the world? In this talk, we will explore the various ways microbes impact us and other life on the planet, why life is as it is today because of microbes. And what could they possibly have had to do with the Deep water Horizon oil spill
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