Water World

Tiny marine crustaceans called copepods (literally ‘oar-feet’) are found throughout the global ocean, from pole to pole, and from the surface to the greatest depths. They are amongst the most numerous animals on our planet - but who's ever heard of a copepod or knows how they help regulate global climate? This talk will introduce marine copepods, explore their fascinating life histories (that involves one of, if not THE largest migration of animal biomass on earth), and explain how they help keep CO2 away from our atmosphere.

The British Isles have been worked for millennia for the ores that have fed industrial history. The extraction of these metals has left a legacy of pollution; with 9% of rivers in England and Wales failing their chemical targets due to minewater pollution. River ecology is impacted by toxicity from dissolved heavy metals, yet brown trout (Salmo trutta) appear to thrive in these most inhospitable environments. This talk examines what clues the genetic code of surviving fish might tell us about how they persist and what impact this metal pollution might be having on their populations.

Weather forecasts and end-of-century projections exist and are generally skilful. However, more intermediate timescale forecasting – eg for coming months/seasons – is often less well done. Seasonal forecasts of conditions across the shallow shelf seas of North West Europe would present benefits for industries that work there. Currently though, it is difficult to get forecasts right with existing tools. I am using different numerical modelling systems to find more skill in our forecasts, building towards a system that could potentially help end-users gain insight on these timescales.