|
SMMI members awarded £1milion from AHRC for project on maritime and the digital humanities archives
|
|
|
|
Dr John McAleer (Co-Investigator, History), Jason Sadler (Co-Investigator, Geodata/Geography), Dr Craig Lambert (Principal Investigator, History), and Dr Gary Baker (Research Fellow, History).
SMMI members, Craig Lambert and John McAleer (History) with Jason Sadler (Geodata/Geography) have been awarded £1million by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to undertake a 3-year project entitled ‘English Merchant Shipping, Maritime Communities, and Trade from the Spanish Armada to the Seven Years War, c.1588-c.1765’. The project is part of ongoing work on maritime and the digital humanities archives that have been supported by SIAH and will chart the growth of England’s (later Britain’s) emergence as a global trading nation and maritime power, challenging pre-existing notions of how and why the nation’s maritime empire emerged as it did. This will be achieved by undertaking the first, systematic, nationwide investigation of the records related to maritime commercial activity over two centuries. Read more here.
|
|
|
FELS and SMMI host Nature Based Solutions Networking Event
|
|
|
The Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences in partnership with the Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute recently held an in-person workshop to identify and draw together Southampton researchers with interests and expertise in Nature Based Solutions (NBS). Such nature-based actions can help protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, and play critical roles in mitigating climate change as well as increasing other benefits from nature that humans depend on–so-called ecosystem services. NBS include actions such as reforestation, climate-smart agriculture, natural flood or coastal management, or promoting microbial activities for waste and greenhouse-gas reductions. Research on how to effectively deploy NBS is highly interdisciplinary, as success depends on social, economic, bio-physiochemical and ecological conditions and acceptance of engineered enhancements of natural processes.
The workshop held on 30th March, was convened by Profs Steve Darby, Felix Eigenbrod and Damon Teagle and held face-to-face in the Centenary Building. The goal of the workshop was to build awareness of NBS activities across the University of Southampton and create new links so that we can undertake societally essential research and be responsive to funding opportunities that require pre-formed multi-disciplinary teams. A booklet of posters and a record of participants’ interests and expertise are available. Read more here.
|
|
|
SMMI’s Policy Fellow Wassim Dbouk highlights recent policy-focused activities
|
|
|
|
SMMI contributes wherever possible to the development of policy and strategic thinking about the growth of the marine and maritime sectors. In particular SMMI is keen to enhance the research, development and innovation activities within these sectors.
Wassim Dbouk, SMMI Policy Fellow specialises in creating and delivering policy engagement opportunities for researchers within the SMMI and in translating their research outcomes into policy-informing evidence.
SMMI’s recent policy influences include responses to two calls for evidence by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, updates on policy-informing research projects, and an end-of placement blog as follows:
- Prof Chris Hauton, Prof Jack Corbett, Dr Jasmin Godbold and Dr Maria Baker's response to the consultation on the ‘2030 Strategic Framework for International Climate and Nature Action’. Read more here.
- Prof Paul Kemp’s response to the consultation on ‘Draft Joint Fisheries Statement’. Read more here.
- Dr Sien van der Plank’s project on ‘Opportunities for Local Involvement in Transformational Adaptation on the English Coast’. Read more here.
- Stephanie Lavelle’s project on ‘Understanding Ecosystem Level Impacts of Plastic Pollution’. Read more here.
- Rhiannon Jones’ NERC-funded marine policy placement with Defra and the G7 FSOI. Read more here.
|
|
|
BLEACHED. An immersive exhibition where coral science meets the arts.
|
|
Bleached, a new science meets art exhibition was launched on Thursday 12 May. This immersive and interactive exhibition of colour, light and dark where science meets art is part of an exciting broader project relating to SMMI experts Professor Joerg Wiedenmann and Dr Cecilia D’Angelo’s research on coral reefs and the Vulgar Earth artist collective's artistic interpretation of their research.
The launch was attended by scientists, artists and policy makers who learned about the environmental and societal impacts of the Coral Reef Laboratory’s work while being inspired by art, coral and the environment. During his opening speech, Joerg highlighted the importance of the Coral Reef Lab’s research findings, stating “the decline of corals reefs is an urgent call for action for a more sustainable interaction with the environment. Not only in the oceans, but also on land. The fragile beauty of corals offers great opportunities to communicate this message through the arts to a wider audience".
Colleagues and members of the public are welcome to visit the free exhibition in Southampton at the God’s House Tower art gallery until 5 June 2022. Read more here.
|
|
|
SMMI experts Stephen Turnock and Tony Molland have second edition of their book published on rudders, hydrofoils and control surfaces
|
|
|
SMMI experts Stephen Turnock and Tony Molland have made good use of their time during lockdown to write the second edition of Marine Rudders, Hydrofoils and Control Surfaces. The book includes up-to-date data and rudder design techniques that enable the rudder forces to be estimated, together with any interactions due to the hull and propeller. There is also a new chapter that provides detailed examination of the design of hydrofoils.
The content of the book comes from the long standing research interests of Profs Turnock and Molland, in yachts, ship manoeuvring and fascination in foiling craft performance in what was the Department of Ship Science and what is now the Maritime Engineering group in the School of Engineering at the University of Southampton. Read more here and the link to purchase the book is here.
|
|
|
SMMI expert gives first in-person lecture as part of the Marie Tharp Lecture Series for Ocean Research
|
|
|
|
Caption: Marie Tharp - A pioneer of modern oceanography
Prof. Rachael James (SOES) visited the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) in May 2022 to give the first in-person lecture as part of the GEOMAR Marie Tharp Lecture Series for Ocean Research since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lecture series aims to present high-profile female scientists in Marine Science as role models for young scientists so, in combination with a public lecture, Rachael met with GEOMAR researchers to discuss career paths and exchange experiences. She also had a great evening out with her first two PhD students, who have gone on to successful careers in academia and education and outreach at GEOMAR.
Marie Tharp (1920-2006) was a pioneer of modern oceanography. She made the first detailed maps of the ocean floor at a global scale that Rachael uses in her lectures even today. Marie’s observations were crucial for validating theories of plate tectonics and continental drift, yet her contributions to geology were only officially recognised towards the end of her career.
Rachael’s talk, Negative Emissions: Removing Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere, focused principally on her work on the potential contributions of Enhanced Rock Weathering and Ocean Alkalinisation for meeting Paris Agreement targets to limit global temperature rise to <2 °C above pre-industrial. As well as discussing the results from large-scale field experiments, Rachael emphasized the need for effective monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide removal.
|
|
|
Impact on science of Russia’s war in Ukraine
|
|
|
|
Image Credit: Detail of OTFW, Berlin, Mosaic, “Unser Leben” by Walter Womacka, 1964, Alexanderstraße 9, Berlin-Mitte, Germany (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons.
SMMI Research Fellow, Dr Sam Robinson has recently published two articles as part of the LSE Impact Blog series concerning the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on international science diplomacy. The first post (War in Ukraine highlights the enduring myths of science diplomacy) accounts for how contemporary theories of science and diplomacy fail to adequately provide a blueprint for how science, scientists and policymakers should respond to recent events. A second post (Global conflict and the rise of ‘post naïve’ science diplomacy) details the impact on science so far in the conflict, the Russian position and argues that it is already the time to start thinking about how scientific relations can be rebuilt once Russian aggression ceases. The posts were co-written with Dr Doubravka Olšákova of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
|
|
|
First paper published in Ocean Science for OES postgraduate focuses on the changing Atlantic influences on northwest European shelf seas
|
|
|
|
Summary of the physical findings
Matthew Clark, a postgraduate research student within Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton at the University of Southampton has had his first paper published in Ocean Science. The paper entitled “Weakening and warming of the European Slope Current since the late 1990s attributed to basin-scale density changes”, presents evidence for the variable North Atlantic influence on European shelf seas over the last 4 decades. Matt’s current research focuses on the changing North Atlantic Ocean and its effects within European shelf seas. Using ocean reanalysis products, as well as an eddy-resolving ocean model hindcast to force seawater particle trajectory calculations, he is analysing how the shelf seas are driven by basin-scale change over different timescales. There will be a strong emphasis on quantifying changes in temperature and salinity structure in the North Sea through future work. Matt’s paper can be accessed here.
|
|
|
Shipping poses significant threat to the endangered whale shark
|
|
|
|
Industrialised shipping may be leading to a large number of whale shark deaths across the world, according to a new study. Marine biologists from the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and the University of Southampton have led research which indicates that lethal collisions of whale sharks with large ships are vastly underestimated, and could be the reason why populations are falling. University of Southampton PhD Researcher Freya Womersley, who led the study as part of the Global Shark Movement Project said: “The maritime shipping industry that allows us to source a variety of everyday products from all over the world, may be causing the decline of whale sharks, which are a hugely important species in our oceans." Read more here.
|
|
|
Risk of intense tropical cyclones will double by 2050
|
|
|
|
Image: PxHere
Human-caused climate change will make strong tropical cyclones twice as frequent by the middle of the century, putting large parts of the world at risk, according to a new study published in Scientific Advances. The analysis also projects that maximum wind speeds associated with these cyclones could increase by around 20%. Despite being amongst the world’s most destructive extreme weather events, tropical cyclones are relatively rare. In a given year, only around 80-100 tropical cyclones form globally, most of which never make landfall. In addition, accurate global historical records are scarce, making it hard to predict where they will occur and what actions Governments should take to prepare. To overcome this limitation, an international group of scientists involving SMMI member Ivan Haigh from the University of Southampton developed a new approach that combined historical data with global climate models to generate hundreds of thousands of “synthetic tropical cyclones”. Read more here.
|
|
NOTE: CALLS COMING SOON AND WITH NO DEADLINE, TOWARDS THE END OF THIS SECTION.
EPSRC Launches Call to Establish Manufacturing Research Hubs for a Sustainable Future - Stage 1 applications to be submitted by 7 JUNE 2022
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is inviting applicants to establish large-scale, multidisciplinary research hubs focused on manufacturing, environmental sustainability and net zero. The hubs will deliver a programme of innovative research in the engineering and physical sciences related to the challenges in commercialising early stage research, manufacturing and environmental sustainability. They will feature high-quality, multidisciplinary research, strong engagement with relevant manufacturing industries, and will take a leadership role in their national network. Read more here.
NERC - Environmental response to hydrogen emissions - DEADLINE: 16 JUNE 2022
The call has been issued to explore the environmental response to hydrogen emissions. The call is funded by NERC and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The funders (NERC and BEIS), along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for Transport (DfT), will establish a Programme Executive Board (PEB) to oversee the progress of the programme. It is acknowledged that replacing carbon-containing fossil fuels (eg natural gas) with hydrogen would lead to reductions in carbon dioxide and methane emissions and therefore have a significant climate benefit. The implementation of a hydrogen economy will be a critical part of delivering net zero by 2050 in the UK. Read more here.
Innovate UK Announces Net Zero Hydrogen Fund Competitions - DEADLINE: 22 JUNE 2022
The Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) is providing capital and development expenditure to support the commercial deployment of new low carbon hydrogen production projects during the 2020s. The aim is to ensure the UK has a diverse and secure decarbonised energy system, fit for meeting the ambition of 10GW low carbon hydrogen production by 2030, and the Government’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050. Read more here.
UK Carbon Capture Storage Research Centre Flexible Fund Opens for 2022 - DEADLINE: 12 JULY 2022
The UK Carbon Capture Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC) is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Energy Theme. UKCCSRC operates a flexible fund to support CCS research projects that contribute to the UK Government's net-zero objectives. Read more here.
Clean Maritime Demonstration - IUK Announces Round 2 Competitions - DEADLINE: 13 JULY 2022
The Department for Transport will work with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, to invest £12 million in innovative feasibility studies and pre-deployment projects. This competition is part of a suite of interventions to be launched by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE). UK SHORE aims to transform the UK into a global leader in the design and manufacturing of clean maritime technology.
Strand 1 of the competition is funding detailed feasibility studies and plans for innovative technology demonstrations of scalable clean maritime solutions. Projects must undertake a technical and economic feasibility study associated with the development and real world demonstration of one or more specific themes. Strand 2 of the competition is funding agile technology demonstrations and pre-deployment testing of clean maritime technologies. Projects must design, develop and test novel clean maritime technologies focused for on-vessel technologies or shoreside infrastructure including at ports and harbours. Read more here.
NO DEADLINE CALLS:
Innovate UK - Fisheries and Seafood Scheme - NO DEADLINE
This supports projects based in England that secure sustainable growth across the catching, processing and aquaculture sectors and that protect and enhance the marine environment. Further details here.
EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship - NO DEADLINE
Apply for a fellowship focusing on either: Energy or Mathematical Sciences. You must have either a PhD or at least four years’ experience in a relevant field by the start of your fellowship. An eligible UK research organisation must host and support you during your fellowship. Your fellowship can be up to three years long. This is prorated for part-time fellows, at a minimum of 50% FTE. The project can use one or a combination of discovery science, innovation, instrumentation and technique development or software engineering. Further details here.
NERC - International ocean discovery programme – workshop funding support scheme - NO DEADLINE
This supports UK scientists in the organisation of, or participation in, IODP-related workshops, sandpits, training, outreach or other events. Eligible workshops must make use of IODP samples, data or results, or involve planning for the collection of such materials. Further details here.
|
|
6-9 June 2022 - 7th International Congress for Underwater Archaeology - Helsinki
In Helsinki, the congress focuses on delivering information and interpretations of the underwater cultural heritage or remains, which are strongly linked to living and working along lakes, rivers and seas. The aim is to share the experience of this heritage to the general public and to the research community. This mission of delivery becomes of great importance as it forms an integral part of the narrative told by the studies of our past. The importance of this task is highlighted in a world that faces challenges of the Climate Change, pollution of water, and other types of human related uncertainties of the future. Read more here.
6-10 June 2022 - Posidonia - The International Shipping Exhibition - Athens, Greece
Posidonia brings the whole shipping world to its exhibitors. The international shipping community attends in strength with national pavilions and thousands of visitors. Read more here.
8 June 2022 - THE SOLENT SUMMIT to launch the SOLENT FREEPORT and the SOLENT 2050 STRATEGY - Horizon Cruise Terminal, Southampton
The Solent Freeport is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that signifi es the start of a new era for the Solent, creating jobs and driving innovation. The LEP’s Solent 2050 Strategy will help the region realise its potential as a world-renowned economic cluster and support our communities to prosper. Read more here.
14 June 2022 - Ocean Governance Panel Discussion - NOC, Southampton
NOC and the Centre for Global Constitutionalism are partnering together to host a panel discussion about ocean governance and sustainable development entitled “A Constitution for the Ocean?”. This interdisciplinary panel from the social sciences, humanities and ocean diplomacy will reflect on what kinds of global governance instruments are required for the world to meet UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Ocean and Life Below Water. Speakers will also consider the challenges set by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in light of existing and emerging international norms, laws and institutions. Read more here.
18 June 2022 - TEDx Southampton University
The first confirmed speaker is alumnus Owen Gaffney. Owen’s talk, ‘The planetary emergency: this decade critical’, will reveal the science that shows the planetary emergency we face, and how the necessary changes are within our power through ‘positive tipping points’. Owen’s recent co-authored book ‘Breaking Boundaries’ features a foreword by Greta Thunberg, and the documentary of the book on Netflix is narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Read more here.
21 June 2022 - Digital Environment: A Networking Event co-sponsored by FELS and FEPS - Boldrewood Innovation Campus - Southampton
The event will harness Southampton’s large community of researchers who are interested in the environmental, observational and computer/data sciences. The programme will comprise a series of rapid-fire presentations that afford an opportunity to understand the breadth of Southampton’s expertise, complemented by interactive discussion sessions. The goal is to stimulate collaborations that lead to new research activities, including funding bids. Digital Environment is one of 8 priority areas in NERC’s Delivery Plan. A number of recent funding calls have been focused in this area, and it is very likely that it will continue to attract considerable funding in the future. Register and read more here.
21-23 June 2022 - Seawork 2022 - Southampton
Seawork is a ‘one stop shop’ providing access to the commercial marine and workboat business. Read more here.
27 June - 1 July 2022 - UN Ocean Conference - Lisbon, Portugal
The Ocean Conference, co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal, comes at a critical time as the world is seeking to address many of the deep-rooted problems of our societies laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic and which will require major structural transformations and common shared solutions that are anchored in the SDGs. To mobilize action, the Conference will seek to propel much needed science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action. Read more here.
30 June - 1 July 2022 - Waterjet Propulsion 2022 - online
The Royal Institution of Naval Architects and MARIC are providing a platform to discuss the latest developments on water-jet related technology, and to promote the exchange of novel ideas, technological progress, and possible cooperation among interested parties. Read more here.
16-25 September 2022 - Southampton International Boat Show 2022 - Southampton
Britain’s biggest and best festival of boating, showcases a plethora of beautifully designed boats and products from hundreds of global marine brands. From kayaks to catamarans, SUPS to superyachts, there’s a boat for everyone. Read more here.
26-30 September 2022 - Sea Tech Week® 2022: Maritime transport - Brest, France
Sea Tech Week® is a week-long international event focusing on marine science and technology. It brings together every two years more than 1,000 leading international experts in various marine-related disciplines to the city of Brest, France. Sea Tech Week® includes a scientific and technology conference, a professional exhibition, B2B meetings and social events. Registration for the event is likely to be in March. Read more and check the link here.
29 November - 1 December 2022 - Scaling Decarbonisation Solutions - Reducing Emissions by 2030 - Rotterdam, Netherlands
The social demand for an environmentally conscious transition of sea trade is encouraging ship owners and regulators to take on this challenge with technical and operational solutions to meet the environmental goals. To further investigate The Royal Institution of Naval Architects and Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS) have partnered to offer a conference that will provide a platform to discuss the scalability of current technologies and policies that will transform the shipping industry. Submit your abstract by 4 July 2022. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
