MASTS is made by and for its members
Search
Close this search box.

Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland

Biogeochemistry Forum

Welcome to the MASTS Marine Biogeochemistry Forum

This Forum provides an integrated platform for knowledge exchange (information, education, networking), enabling the MASTS community to collaborate on Marine Biogeochemistry Research.
The Forum ensures marine biogeochemists play a key role in shaping the future Scottish marine environment, promoting national as well as international biogeochemistry accessibility.

Sand and seashells

News & Events

Featured
All Forums

Forum Activities & Resources

2024: MASTS Open Forum Session “Test pilot: Using biomolecular proxies to identify physiological status and feeding history in a large pilot whale mass stranding event”

Speaker: Anna Kebke (University of Glasgow) >> Recording available on YouTube!

Whale in the seaAnna Kebke, a PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow with the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) utilizes fatty acids and stable isotopes to enhance our understanding of cetacean ecophysiology and explore their applications in understanding factors in marine mammal stranding events. The focal point of her PhD is the 2023 pilot whale (Globicephala melas) mass stranding event on the Isle of Lewis, involving 55 individual animals. This mass stranding serves as a pivotal case study for understanding pilot whale ecology in Northeast Atlantic waters and informing Scottish marine mammal management. This research contributes to an international and multidisciplinary investigation that seeks to shed light on the health and ecology of the animals prior to stranding. In this talk, Anna will present preliminary data from the event with the goal of developing a standardized protocol for incorporating stable isotopes and fatty acids into the routine analysis of stranded cetaceans.

MASTS Open Forum Sessions aim at connecting the MASTS community with its diverse Research Forums and Steering Groups. At these sessions, Forums “open their doors” to present their members’ work and network with the community. 

Resources

At the MASTS Annual Science Meeting 2023 in Glasgow the Forum gathered for the first time to introduce itself to the MASTS community and to look for interested members to join or provide input for Forum activities.

Forum Objectives

The Marine Biogeochemistry Forum (MBF) strives to ensure marine biogeochemists play a key role in shaping the future Scottish marine environment. Scottish marine biogeochemists are respected world-wide, and the MBF has facilitated consolidation of the Scottish marine biogeochemistry community by developing a united research strategy, with scientific excellence at its core. This is particularly important since a better understanding of biogeochemical processes and their sensitivity is required to evaluate their response to natural and anthropogenic change in the 21st Century and beyond.

WavesBiogeochemistry is a key component of large national and international funding schemes and MBF research primarily addresses three environmental grand challenges: climate change and carbon cycling (including blue carbon and ocean acidification), open ocean biogeochemistry, and marine biomineralisation. In particular, the MBF has been pivotal in the formation of new initiatives including the role of nature-based solutions in mitigating climate change (e.g. The Scottish Blue Carbon Forum and industry-driven habitat restoration). Effective biogeochemistry frequently requires the parallel measurement of multiple processes, often over long-time scales via monitoring infrastructure. The critical mass of scientists and infrastructure within MASTS enables MBF to unify those resources, conducting high profile and high impact research of benefit to both society and science.

The Forum promotes international and national biogeochemistry accessibility, ensuring both international and within-MASTS interaction and impact, and facilitating common goals. Integration and communication are achieved using cross-cutting research agendas, themed workshops, meetings and social media.

  • Consolidate a critical mass of biogeochemists within MASTS, providing an opportunity to conduct key and high-profile impactful research
  • Promote and facilitate biogeochemistry accessibility across the MASTS Research Themes and Forums, ensuring within-MASTS interaction and impact, and facilitating common goals
  • Enable impact and knowledge exchange of MASTS MBF outputs by directly engaging with a range of stakeholders across the policy, industrial and public sectors
  • Provision of student and researcher support to accelerate biogeochemical advances

Forum Steering Group

MASTS Logo, a seahorse
Forum Convenor: Alex Poulton (Heriot-Watt University)

Dr | Associate Professor | Biological Oceanography

Interests: Marine Ecology | Global plankton ecology | Aquatic Biogeochemistry | Linkages between diversity, primary production, bio-mineralisation, nutrient recycling

MASTS Logo, a seahorse
Forum Convenor: Robyn Tuerena (SAMS)

Dr | Lecturer in Nutrient Biogeochemistry

Interests: Nutrient and carbon cycling on local to basin scales and their interactions with phytoplankton and marine food webs | Nutrient concentrations, stable isotope techniques, stoichiometric tools

Anna Belcher (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
Claire Powell (Cefas)
David Paterson (University of St Andrews)
Hannah Muir (Swansea University)
Julie Hope (University of St Andrews)
Marta Maria Cecchetto (Heriot-Watt University)
Natalie Hicks (University of Essex)
MASTS Resources

We’re working behind the scenes to bring you a suite of useful, and updateable, resources including: 

  • Find an expert
  • Find facilities & equipment
  • MASTS Publications

 

If you would like to be updated when the resources section is live please let us know.