Protecting Our Planet with Science

Patron: Rosalie Wright

Marine ecologist, specialising in nature restoration; Solent Seascape Project Coordinator, Blue Marine Foundation.

The Solent Seascape Project (SSP) is a long-term nature restoration initiative, the first of its kind in the UK. SSP is a partnership of ten organisations (including Blue Marine Foundation and the University of Portsmouth) working to reconnect and revive nature in the Solent, the coastal area between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. In collaboration with local communities, the project aims to create a thriving, functioning seascape for all.    

The partnership is restoring four critical coastal habitats: seagrass meadows, saltmarshes, seabird nesting sites and native oyster reefs. These habitats are home to incredible local marine wildlife, including thresher sharks, seahorses and many species of migrating birds. Restoring these habitats can help enhance their resilience to human impacts and climate change. 

In turn, these key habitats help counteract issues of water quality and erosion by providing valuable benefits such as water filtration (oyster reefs), sediment stabilisation and enhanced carbon sequestration (seagrass and saltmarsh). Also known as nature-based solutions, services from coastal habitats offer sustainable, long-term benefits for human well-being and our environment in the fight against climate change and other threats.   

Rosalie is the Solent Seascape Project Coordinator for Blue Marine Foundation. Blue Marine Foundation is a UK ocean conservation charity with a global impact in promoting the protection, regeneration, and sustainable use of our planet’s ocean. 

Rosalie studied Biology at the University of Oxford and is now a marine ecologist specialising in nature restoration. She previously worked in seascape research at the Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab and as Programme Coordinator for the United Nations Global Compact Network UK. Her work at the Seascape Ecology Lab involved studying remote sensing and artificial intelligence tools for marine biodiversity research and the benefits of art-science collaborations for outreach. Rosalie is an Early Career Representative for the British Ecological Society Conservation Group and founded their Conservation Careers Stories podcast. 

 Thanks to Luke Helmer at SSP for kindly giving us permission to use the session image.

Panellist: Arianna Olivelli - final-year Chemical Oceanography PhD Student, Imperial College London. 

Arianna is interested in understanding how human activities affect and pollute the marine environment and in translating scientific research into practical solutions.

Her current research focuses on reconstructing lead pollution pathways from land to the ocean and combines isotope geochemistry work in the laboratory with the development of machine learning applications to benchmark future levels of pollution.  

Prior to her PhD, Arianna worked as a researcher for the Marine Debris team at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation (CSIRO) in Hobart, Australia, and obtained a MSc in Marine Science and a BSc in Geological Sciences from Utrecht University (The Netherlands) and the University of Milan – Bicocca (Italy), respectively. She is an enthusiastic science communicator and has participated in several outreach activities aimed at students and adults alike, including, amongst others, the Great Exhibition Road Festival, Pint of Science, and the First Light Festival.  

Panellist: Ellie Pinches - Education Officer, Royal Meteorological Society (RMets).

Two extreme weather events in childhood captured Ellie’s attention to the world of weather and the universal importance of weather and climate to lives worldwide. Ellie then pursued studies in Meteorology and Climate at the University of Reading, with a year out at the University of Oklahoma, and then went onto a career in weather forecasting, in particular marine forecasting.

 After a short stint of managing environmental projects at a research institute (UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), Ellie now works as an Education Officer at the Royal Meteorological Society. Her work supports the teaching of weather and climate through the curriculum and in schools, and contributes to the Society’s overarching education aim that all school leavers depart with the basic climate literacy that enables them to make informed decisions about their own opportunities and responsibilities, and engage with the messages put forward by the media or politicians.

Panellist: Dr Helen Taylor - Conservation Programme Manager, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS).

Helen works as part of a team trying to save threatened species in Scotland and internationally. She has always been interested in wildlife and conservation, but her career path has been slightly unusual. After studying zoology at the University of Cambridge, Helen spent six years working in public relations, before returning to conservation via a four month stint as a volunteer in the Amazon in Peru.

 Helen’s experiences in Peru led her to study for a Masters in Conservation and Zoo Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University and then a PhD on conservation genetics of little spotted kiwi in New Zealand. She lived in New Zealand for eight years working on conservation research projects for a variety of bird species before returning to the UK for her current job where she focusses on reintroduction programmes for threatened invertebrates, improving native biodiversity at Highland Wildlife Park, and working with conservation partners in Brazil on giant armadillos and giant anteaters.