Jack Longsden

I am a marine science PhD student at Newcastle University and British Antarctic Survey, based at the Dove Marine Laboratory. My work investigates the effects of climate change and marine heatwaves on sessile benthic communities. The aim of this work is to investigate ‘the biofouling future’ using novel heated settlement panels to investigate how biofouling communities might respond to future climate scenarios and increasingly frequent marine heatwaves. These communities will be assessed using visual taxonomic identification, as well as cutting-edge molecular techniques to examine the genetic responses of organisms to temperature change. The goal of this work is to provide insights into the future of biofouling species, with global relevance and the potential to influence the marine industry.