In episode one of our fresh batch of ‘Behind the Scenes’ stories, we speak with Prof. J Murray Roberts, a marine biologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and chief researcher in iAtlantic, a massive ecosystem- and ocean-wide health check of the Atlantic.
The planet is facing critical changes and our ocean is at the centre of this, explains the professor, who is looking for ecosystem tipping points and what is driving them – salinity and acidity levels, marine litter, ocean stress and habitat loss, and more. They are combing through existing data and collecting fresh insights from biochemical sensors and robot submersibles cruising the ocean depths. Listeners will get the chance to learn about this study which demands an international commitment of expertise, equipment, infrastructure, data and personnel.
Murray is also coordinator of the European ATLAS project and was previously director of the Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology at Heriot-Watt University. He studied biology at the University of York and obtained his PhD at the University of Glasgow. Fascinated with the underwater world from a young age, he is today a leading authority on marine life, co-author of ‘Cold-water corals’ by Cambridge University Press, and a clearly a man on a big ‘maritime’ mission.
Find out more:
· Read Murray Robert’s Horizon Magazine interview
· Learn about the iAtlantic project
· Read the press story about iAtlantic
· Discover more on the EU Mission to Restore our Ocean and Waters
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