The sea slug Berghia coerulescens has been recorded for the first time in the British Isles. Nick Jouault, former chair to the Marine Biology Department of the Société Jersiaise, sighted the nudibranch (confirmed by expert Bernard Picton) on 8th August 2022 near Les Écréhous reef in Jersey. Founded in 1873, the Société Jersiaise is dedicated … Read more
During the first of the summer heatwaves, a group from DASSH and the MBA’s Darwin Tree of Life team headed to Lundy Marine Festival. Hannah and Summer, of DASSH, were on Lundy island as part of the Marine Bioblitz that took place in July. During the Bioblitz, 74 species were observed as part of the … Read more
Written by Kes Scott-Somme The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition is arguably the biggest interactive science event in the UK. Open for free to the public, it lets cutting edge science projects communicate directly with interested individuals. MBA staff Joanna Harley, Patrick Adkins and Kes Scott-Somme went along to represent the project they work on; … Read more
Written by Joanna Harley On a sunny day in June, 37 naturalists and 27 school students joined forces with the Darwin Tree of Life Project (DToL) for the Marine Biological Association’s annual Bioblitz at Mount Batten Bay. The Bioblitz ran simultaneously between Mount Batten Bay, Plymouth and Little Sparta, Scotland, and the day was spent … Read more
A landmark project to sequence the genomes of all 70,000 species of eukaryotic organisms in Britain and Ireland will be on show this summer at one of the largest free science festivals in the UK. The Darwin Tree of Life project, a collaboration between eight leading research organisations and funded by Wellcome, is a collaboration between experts … Read more
Those of us working on the Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) project based at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) are on a mission to collect and identify all Eukaryote species in the ocean surrounding Britain and Ireland. Some of these are notoriously tricky to identify, so we often work with experts who know a lot about … Read more
This week as many celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we’ve put the spotlight on one of our female scientists. Kesella Scott-Somme, Research Assistant on the Darwin Tree of Life project team at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) talks about her experience as a women in marine biology and how inclusivity is key in … Read more
Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809; which would make Saturday 12 February, 2022 his 213th Birthday! However the scientific journey he started is still just in its early days. In 1837 Darwin first sketched his theories of how life might evolve along the branches of an imaginary tree, which he referred to as the … Read more
Without action to curb climate change and protect the health of global ecosystems, Earth is forecast to lose 50 per cent of its biodiversity by the end of this century. Researchers from the Marine Biological Association (MBA) are collecting marine species in a UK-wide initiative to sequence the genomes (genetic information) of thousands of native species. This … Read more
Marine Biological Association (MBA) Research Fellow Dr Nova Mieszkowska and PhD student Katherine Park from the Mieszkowska Group have published a paper in Diversity and Distributions on rapid niche shifts which act as drivers for the spread of non-indigenous species. Non-indigenous species (NIS) are one of the biggest threats to global biodiversity. Identifying environmental niche shifts is key for forecasting future species … Read more
The Marine Biological Association
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The Marine Biological Association conducts, promotes and supports scientific research into all aspects of life in the sea. We're working with our ever-growing membership to provide a clear and independent voice on behalf of the marine biological community