Ocean Ecology Team
26th July 2019
Over the past few months, we have welcomed a number of exciting additions to the team helping to increase our overall capacity and service our ever-expanding client base. Ross Griffin, Technical Director, explains how the management team is “thrilled to welcome Joe and Bryan to the team given the wealth of experience and specialist expertise they bring to the table. Attracting this calibre of talent is a promising sign for the development of the organisation and helps us to cement ourselves as one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist marine ecological services”. Read more about the new team members below.
Dr Joseph Turner – Senior Marine Ecologist
Earlier this year we welcomed Dr Joseph Turner following completion of his PhD at the University of Western Australia. Joe brings a wealth of expertise in marine spatial ecology to the team gained through his time working for the JNCC and Natural England and his PhD research. In these roles Joe was responsible for developing NMBAQC / JNCC best practice guidance for the interpretation of seabed imagery, as well as analysing and manipulating high volumes of AUV imagery for habitat mapping purposes, utilising machine learning techniques. He has an advanced knowledge of the software package R to manipulate and analyse large datasets, and has a strong publication record with a focus on habitat mapping, distribution modelling, and seabed imagery methodologies.
In his new position as Senior Marine Ecologist at Ocean Ecology, Joe will be playing a key role in the development of our seabed habitat mapping capabilities, and has already been applying his expertise to map cold-water coral reefs (Lophelia), deep-sea sponge communities and ross worm (Sabellaria spinulosa) reefs throughout the North, Norwegian and Barents Seas.
of experience and specialist expertise they bring to the table"
Bryan Wasson – Principal Marine Taxonomist
More recently we’ve welcomed Bryan Wasson to our laboratory team who holds over twenty years of experience in the field of taxonomic identification of marine and estuarine benthic macrofauna. Bryan has worked in several commercial laboratories throughout his career as well as working as a freelance taxonomist and is therefore considered one of the industry’s leading figures in his field. Bryan has published several research papers over recent years, comprising a mixture of new taxa records for the UK and papers addressing taxonomic issues including the description of new species.
In his new role as Principal Marine Taxonomist, Bryan will be providing a presence in West Wales at a remote laboratory and will be working on samples collected from UK and international waters.
