University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool acted as the co-ordinator for the ODEMM project. The School of Environmental Science was established in 2009 to create a teaching and research centre which merged Liverpool’s environmental disciplines. The School is the largest environmental sciences institute in the north of England. Marine Biology and fisheries investigation have been a core part of the University’s portfolio since 1876. Current marine ecology programmes include investigations into the long term changes of benthic and zooplankton communities, the effects of fishing on ecosystem functioning, the design of MPA networks and ecosystem-based fisheries management. The School has strong links to other marine research institutes and is involved in several national and international projects to assess the effects of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic forcing factors on exploited species.

Key Personnel

Leonie Robinson is a lecturer in marine biology at the University of Liverpool. Her research background is in community ecology of marine ecosystems with particular reference to understanding the drivers, both natural and anthropogenic, of variability in temporal and spatial dynamics. She is interested in the application of ecological theory in underpinning management of marine resources (particularly: ecosystem-based management; ecosystem approaches to fisheries management; integrated assessment). She worked as the coordinating partner for the FP5 MAFCONS project and has recently developed a methodology with Cefas to identify the key pressures and drivers of impacts in marine ecosystems, which is now being used by the UK and OSPAR for integrated assessments.