My research addresses the topics of sustainable resource management, blue economy and marine conservation, and focuses on gaining an understanding of the effects of anthropogenic activities on marine ecosystems, their functioning and resilience. In my research I employ diverse methods such as offshore and coastal surveys, laboratory experiments, and evidence synthesis techniques to quantify the impact of human activities on marine life and ecosystems and to study the effectiveness of different natural resource sustainability and management tools. Understanding and sustainably managing marine benthic communities, which offer valuable ecosystem services, is essential for preserving these crucial natural resources.

My postgraduate teaching focuses on the principles of applied field and laboratory techniques, along with evidence synthesis methods such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

At the Lyell Centre, I lead the Marine Evidence Synthesis research group, which focuses on systematically collecting, evaluating, and synthesizing scientific evidence on specific marine management and conservation challenges, such as the effects of fishing, aquaculture, pollution, climate change,  habitat restoration and ecosystem functions. This helps stakeholders implement effective and sustainable actions to protect marine biodiversity and maintain ecosystem services.

I have been a co-chair of the ICES working group on Fisheries Benthic Impact and Tradeoffs (WGFBIT) since 2021, with input into the assessments evaluating trade-offs between environmental impact and food production. 

I obtained a PhD in Marine Ecology from Bangor University, UK, in 2013 and since then have been active in scientific research participating in the capacity of a postdoctoral researcher and principal investigator on a number of international multi-institution research projects funded through EU- and UK-funding programmes. In 2017, I received the prestigious EU-Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action Individual Fellowship, and in 2020 I joined the Lyell Centre specializing in marine benthic ecology, fisheries sustainability and marine evidence synthesis.

• NERC Highlight Topic, Impacts of trawling on seabed carbon storage (Co-I: 2023 – 2027) (£2.4M)
• Fisheries Industry Science Partnership, Environmental Assessment of Scallop Innovation Gear (PI: 2023 – 2025) (£780,000)
• NERC Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources Programme, Marine Spatial Planning Addressing Climate Effects (Co-I: 20221 – 2024) (£1M)
• Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Ocean Carbon DA (PI: 2023 – 2024) (£280,000)
• Seafood Innovation Fund (SIF2), Low Impact Scallop Innovation Gear (PI: 2020 – 2022) (£250,000)
• ASSEMBLE Plus call 2020, Trawling and Hypoxia Impact on Nutrient Cycling (PI: 2021)
• EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship, The effect of seagrass bed habitat quality on selected ecosystem services, PIONEER (2018-2019) (£144,489.30)