PhD Studentship in Marine Ecology – Quantifying changes in marine ecosystem services in a changing climate.

Interested in understanding how marine ecosystem services will change under a changing climate? This interdisciplinary PhD project is focussed on trying to better understand and inform management of marine social-ecological systems by identifying key marine ecosystem services, predicting how these might change under future climate change, and identifying areas of greatest value and resilience.

Globally, ecosystems and the biodiversity they support are subjected to increasing human pressures that can negatively impact ecosystem condition and functioning. In turn, degradation from cumulative pressures can reduce societal benefits from ecosystems, i.e., ecosystem services. However, little is currently known about how the distribution and integrity of marine ecosystem services (e.g., fisheries, storm protection, recreational space, etc.) may change under future climate conditions, and the impacts that this may have on society. Ecosystem services provide the “common language” to facilitate stakeholder engagement and explore synergies and trade-offs between different values and benefits to society.

This PhD project will aim to:

1.Identify key marine ecosystem services (e.g., from kelp forests) and stacks of ecosystems services (sets of associated services that appear together repeatedly across space and/or time) through systematic literature review for one or more case study areas in the UK.

2.Estimate spatial distributions of ecosystem services (e.g., Rullens et al., 2021) and explore how these might change under future climate change using statistical approaches.

3.Investigate the interactions (e.g. synergies and trade-offs) among services to help prioritise areas of greatest value and resilience for current day, and future ecosystem services using decision support tools.

Award Summary

• 100% home fees covered and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £18,994 (2023/24 UKRI rate) for three years. Research & Training funding of £3,000 will be provided to support the project.

Number Of Awards: 1

Start Date: September 2024

Award Duration: 3 Years

Application Closing Date: 20th April 2024

Sponsor: Newcastle University

Supervisors: Dr Fabrice Stephenson, Professor Clare Fitzsimmons and Dr Sarah Coulthard

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:

• Search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8315F
• Select ‘PhD Marine Science (Full Time)” as the programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Details’ section:

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form
• The studentship code SNES286 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field
• When prompted regarding your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

In the ‘Supporting Documentation’ section please upload:

• your CV

Contact Details

Dr Fabrice Stephenson (Fabrice.Stephenson@newcastle.ac.uk)

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a subject relevant to the proposed PhD project (e.g., ecology, biology, zoology).

Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

The studentship covers fees at the Home Rate. International applicants are welcome to apply but will be required to cover the difference between Home and International fees.