Research Groups and Projects

Coastal Engineering

Environmental Assessment and Analysis

Marine Benthic ecology

Open Water Ecology

Areas of research

Sediment dynamics and morphology, with particular focus on climatic change
Coastal surveying techniques (Photogrammetric UAVs and Terrestrial Laser Scanner)
Ecological engineering to improve coastal biodiversity and resilience

Areas of research

Water Pollution
Ecosystem Health and Management
Coastal Water Quality

Areas of research

Coastal Surveys
Off-shore Environments
Conservation Issues

Areas of research

Biocoustic monitoring
Environmental impacts of marine renewable energy devices on marine mammals and seabirds
Animal movement, energy costs to diving seabirds
Effects of oceanography on foraging behaviours of marine mammals and seabirds

Research and Development Projects

(As of August 2019)

	Project Title	Project Partner	Status	SEACAMS Lead	SEACAMS Team
1	Porthcawl Harbourside Acoustic Monitoring	Porthcawl Harbourside CIC	Complete	Chiara Bertelli	Open Water
2	Marine survey data analysis software development	Titan Environment Surveys	Complete	Chris Lowe	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
3	Product development of micro-bubble barriers for coastal silt management and fish protection	Frog Environmental Ltd	Complete	Ruth Callaway	Marine Benthic Ecology
4	Distribution and identification of fish of conservation importance using hydro-acoustics	Tidal Lagoon Power	Complete	Chris Lowe	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
5	Ecological engineering to improve coastal biodiversity and resilience	Tidal Lagoon Power	Complete	John Griffin	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
6	Monitoring of intertidal morphodynamics in Swansea Bay	Tidal Lagoon Power	Complete	Iain Fairley	Coastal Engineering
7	Modelling sediment transport around Swansea Bay and the sandbank systems of the Bristol Channel	Tidal Lagoon Power	Complete	Jose Horillo-Caraballo	Coastal Engineering
8	Assessing the distribution of diving birds in relation to current strength and renewable energy devices	Marine Environmental Pembrokeshire	Complete	Emily Shepard	Open Water
9	Use of the experimental wave tank for testing equipment	WaveTricity	Complete	Jose Horrillo-Caraballo	Coastal Engineering
10	Review of baseline data requirements for marine mammals at a tidal energy site	Nova Innovations	Complete	Hanna Nuuttila	Open Water
11	Developing new products from shellfish waste - Shell waste as soil conditioners or filtration media	Quay Fresh and Frozen Foods Ltd	Complete	Kam Tang Chiara Bertelli Anouska Mendzil	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
12	Developing new products from shellfish waste - waste shells as replacement microbeads	Quay Fresh and Frozen Foods Ltd	Complete	Kam Tang Chiara Bertelli Anouska Mendzil	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
13	Evaluating the use of static acoustic, UAVs and underwater cameras to assess the functionality of the Bardsey tidal site to cetaceans	Nova Innovations	Complete	Hanna Nuuttila Anouska Mendzil	Open Water
14	Estimates of wave climate at a potential wave energy test site around Milford Haven	Bombora; Marine Energy Wales	Complete	Iain Fairley	Coastal Engineering
15	Floating and fixed artificial reefs as biodiversity enhancements in coastal waters	Tidal Lagoon Power	Ongoing	Ruth Callaway	Marine Benthic Ecology
16	Biodiversity enhancement of tidal lagoons using seagrass restoration	Tidal Lagoon Power	Ongoing	Richard Unsworth	Marine Benthic Ecology
17	Assessing the impact of tidal energy devices on grey seals movements and energy expenditure	Marine Environmental Wales	Ongoing	Luca Borger	Open Water
18	High resolution assessment of Pembrokeshire wave energy resources	WaveHub	Ongoing	Iain Fairley	Coastal Engineering
19	Developing new methods for identifying herring spawn on the sea bed; assisting with site selection for tidal turbine trials in Milford Haven	Port of Milford Haven	Ongoing	David Clarke	Open Water
20	Trialling eDNA data collection for small cetaceans in Welsh waters affected by MRE developments	Sea Watch Foundation; Gower Coast Adventures; Sea Trust; Manx Whale and Dolphin	Ongoing	Chiara Bertelli Anouska Mendzil	Open Water
21	Assessing the distribution and diving behaviour of seabirds in relation to tidal conditions and marine energy installations	Marine Energy Wales	Ongoing	Emma-Louise Cole	Open Water
22	Biofouling community on a wave energy device	Bombora	Ongoing	Bettina Walter Ruth Callaway	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
23	Effectiveness of bubble screens on controlling fish ingress and attenuating sound	Pembroke Power Station; Frog Environmental	Ongoing	David Clarke Nick Fleming	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
24	Using genetics to discriminate components of herring catch in PPS intake	Pembroke Power Station	Ongoing	David Clarke Mike Gwilliam	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
25	Tidal resources in the Milford Haven META	Marine Energy Wales	Ongoing	Jose Horrillo Caraballo Iain Fairley	Coastal Engineering
26	Assessing biochemical and bioactive properties in marine compounds	Pembrokeshire Seaweeds	Ongoing	Bettina Walter Kam Tang	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
27	Biology of marine concretes	WaveTricity	Ongoing	John Griffin Matt Perkins	Environmental Assessment and Analysis
28	Developing a towed array for acoustic fish tracking; applying to Shad	Salar Environmental Services Ltd	Ongoing	David Clarke	Open Water
29	Use of UAV to map intertidal grain size	DMANDS	Ongoing	Iain Fairley	Coastal Engineering
30	Trials of cetacean deterrent devices around MRE installations	Celtic Deep; Nova Innovations	Ongoing	Chiara Bertelli	Open Water
31	Investigating the diving behaviour of seabirds in relation to tidal conditions using animal attached technologies	Royal Society for the Protection of Birds	Ongoing	Emily Shepard Emma-Louise Cole	Open Water
32	From formaldehyde to Thiel fixation: Adapting methods from human anatomy	Coastal Assessment; Liaison; Monitoring (CALM) Ltd	Ongoing	Ruth Callaway	Marine Benthic Ecology
33	Improving marine restoration methods for enhancing the blue	WWF; Project Seagrass	Ongoing	Richard Unsworth	Marine Benthic Ecology
34	Assisting with site selection for a community tidal turbine project: Assessing the drivers for cetacean, seal and seabird abundance and distribution at a tidal energy site	Transition Bro Gwaun	Ongoing	Hanna Nuuttila	Open Water
35	Improving baited video methods for assessing fish around marine renewable structures	Ocean Ecology; Marine Energy Wales; Bombora	Ongoing	Richard Unsworth	Marine Benthic Ecology
36	Developing protocols for data collection, handling and analysis protocols for baseline monitoring at a tidal energy site	Sea Trust	Ongoing	Hanna Nuuttila	Open Water
37	Use of wave energy platform for opportunistic environmental monitoring	Marine Power Systems Ltd	New	Bettina Walter Hanna Nuuttila	Open Water
38	Investigating the potential of indigenous jellyfish species	Jellagen Pty Ltd	New	Nick Fleming	Open Water
39	Design of towed deployment survey system	Titan Environmental Survey Ltd	New	Chris Lowe Iain Fairley Ian Masters	Coastal Engineering
40	Acoustic tracking of Sea Trout in Swansea Bay. A pilot study	Pontardawe and Swansea Angling Society Ltd	New	David Clarke Chris Lowe	Open Water
41	Measuring disturbance effects of UAVs on grey seals	Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum	Ongoing	Chiara Bertelli Anouska Mendzil	Open Water