Ocean Watch: Monitoring the Health of Our Seas

Oil pollution is a major threat to marine environments, but luckily, we have the help of some superbugs! Come and learn about the ecology and physiology of the oil-degrading bacteria, how they can be utilised in the bioremediation of our One Ocean, and how we may be able to engineer them for the production of environmentally friendly products.

TBC

Our rivers and oceans are constantly being polluted with chemicals from countless sources, but it can be difficult to assess the risks that these chemicals present to different aquatic species. To better target our conservation and clean-up efforts, we need to understand where and when fish are most vulnerable to pollution, but current methods may only tell us about recent conditions, and not the history of that fish. The body is full of so-called ‘archive structures’; hard tissue that forms and remains stable throughout the animal’s lifetime. These include ear stones, gill cartilage, and eye lenses, and have the potential to capture chemicals from the surrounding water. In my talk I will tell you about current chemistry methods to assess the exposure of fish to pollutants in the environment, and how eyes may hold the key to unlocking a fish’s past environmental conditions.