Jennifer Scott, postgraduate researcher, CDT SuMMeR: Cohort 1

Previously an Oceanographer at Marine Scotland working on the COMPASS project, with a background in oceanography and paleoclimate reconstruction. Undertaken a Masters by Research at the University of Edinburgh reconstructing sea surface temperatures in the Western Arabian Sea over the last glacial-interglacial cycle to investigate controls on monsoon dynamics. Experience as a Paleoceanographic Technician at Heriot Watt University investigating ocean oxygenation during past warm periods. BSc in Environmental Geoscience from University of Edinburgh.

My research interests cover all things marine, as demonstrated by my research experience. I have previously investigated the ocean thousands of years in the past, looking to better understand controls of ocean temperature and oxygenation. In my role as an Oceanographer I investigated oceanographic conditions and variability in a Scottish loch based on sustained observations at different spatial and temporal scales. During this time I became interested in marine plastic pollution, one of the greatest threats our ocean is currently facing. My PhD will focus on microplastics and the microbes associated with them, also known as the Plastisphere.

We are facing one of the most important marine pollution crises on our planet, threatening the biodiversity of marine ecosystems, coastal tourism, fisheries and aquaculture. Plastics pollution is ubiquitous and persistent in the marine environment, and dominated by the smaller abundant plastic particles (<5 mm) defined as microplastics, for which their fate and impacts we still don’t fully understand. My PhD research investigates microbial colonisation and biofilm development on microplastics in the marine environment as well as assessing the biodegradation potential of these microbes. My research is across a range of study environments and depths, looking at the Plastisphere of a coastal Vietnamese site and the deep-sea subarctic North Atlantic. Through in-situ incubations of environmentally relevant microplastic polymer types and control materials we will gain an improved understanding of biofilm development, community succession and differences between microplastic polymer types and control material communities. Through incubation of environmental samples with isotopically labelled plastics we will use DNA-stable isotope probing to identify microbes capable of degrading microplastics. 

I applied for the CDT SuMMeR as the transdisciplinary approach with which the PhD projects were designed allows the problem to be considered from many different approaches and acknowledges that marine resource issues don’t fit neatly into one discipline. This approach is key to developing effective solutions and management and I am really excited by this approach. I wanted to become part of the next generation of innovative, transdisciplinary researchers, solution providers and practitioners CDT SuMMeR will develop, and I am excited to see where this training can take me in my PhD and beyond.