Meet the MISSION ATLANTIC Scientists: Clare Webster, Co-Lead on Data technology and management for IEA (WP2) and Pelagic Mapping: ecosystem, resources and pressures (WP3)

Where are you from and where are you currently based?

I’m Scottish and am working at the University of St. Andrews.

Academic background and research areas:

Research Fellow, currently studying mesopelagic fish and zooplankton using nets and active acoustics. Background researching zooplankton in ice-impacted coastal environments.

Current role and work within MISSION ATLANTIC:

I work with Roland Proud in St. Andrews and together we work with Lennert Schepers as leader of WP2, and Guillem Chust as leader of WP3, focusing on big data and mapping pelagic biomes. We believe efficient analyses of large data sets will contribute to successful ecosystem management. We work with large data sets from pelagic acoustic systems that are fitted under sea-going vessels, on towed bodies, and installed on underwater gliders. Some of our key results so far have included mapping new provinces at the ocean-basin scale (new Atlantic 3D biogeography).

Do you have anything about the Atlantic Ocean you would like to share?

You get out what you put in!

Favorite Ocean fact:

Animals in the twilight zone vertically migrate to the surface at night to feed on phytoplankton in relative safety, and by returning to mesopelagic depths during the day, they actively shuttle carbon from the surface to depth. This increases the efficiency of the carbon pump, and ultimately helps to remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere!