The Global Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Abigail's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
About Abigail
I am an interdisciplinary marine conservation ecologist and associate professor in marine conservation whose teaching and research focus on the generation of national and international impact through the integration of scientific results into the policy process. I use natural and social science skills and expertise to enable the sustainable use of our marine and coastal environments through science. My key areas of scientific interest are the separation of climate responses in biodiversity from those due to anthropogenic disturbances, ecosystem responses to the combined effects of direct pressures and climate change, and linking ecological changes to manageable human pressures. I actively create impact through science-policy knowledge exchange, working closely with policy makers at the UK, European and international levels, to deliver policy informed by the best available evidence. I lead the UK’s and OSPAR’s implementations of the UK Marine Strategy/Marine Strategy Framework Directive for pelagic habitats, which includes the coordination, development and implementation of pelagic indicators and environmental targets. I’ve also held two NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowships and a Defra Chief Scientific Advisor’s Systems Research Fellowship. I encourage my students to understand the practical policy process and how and why scientific research should be applied and used in a policy and conservation context.I love teaching and I try to encourage my students to see why plankton are key ecosystem indicators, to develop an understanding of the practical policy process, and to understand how and why scientific research should be applied and used in a policy and conservation context.
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/plankton-policy
Teaching
I am the programme lead for MSc Marine Conservation t at the University of Plymouth. I love teaching and I try to encourage my students to see why plankton are key ecosystem indicators, to develop an understanding of the practical policy process, and to understand how and why scientific research should be applied and used in a policy and conservation context.Degree programs: Undergraduate modules:
- OS205 Human impacts on marine ecosystems
- OS307 Conservation, Policy, and Planning
- OS313 Marine Conservation Residential Field Trip - Scientific diving, Bali
- MAR532 Marine Conservation Practice
- MAR533 Marine Conservation Project
- MBIO505: Marine Conservation Theory
