Dr. Rachel Millar
Marine Conversation Officer, Ulster Wildlife Trust, UK
Expertise
Ostrea edulis
Biosecurity, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Site Selection
Project affiliation
NONI - Native Oyster Restoration in Northern Ireland
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Ms Hannah Grady
Director of Shellfish Harvest / Coastal Restoration Business Development, Running Tide Technologies, USA/Iceland
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Crassostrea angulata, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Ecosystem Service Quantification, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Seed Production, Site Selection, Oyster Supplier (Grow-out, Hatchery)
Exploring business partnerships and affiliations to deploy our cutting restoration technologies and ecosystem services for scalable and mobile seed and nursery operations - shellfish restoration application.
E-Mail: hannah.grady@runningtide.com
Web: www.runningtide.com
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Dr. Patrick Joyce
Postdoctoral Fellow, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Other Bivalve Species
Biosecurity, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Site Selection
I am interested in how the physical environment affects whole organism responses and species interactions. My work involves bivalves in general, as well as other species that frequently occur within bivalve beds. I have previously been involved with research involving ecological impacts and invasion success of the Pacific oyster, as well as documenting flat oyster population recovery. I am also interested in documenting how environmental conditions affect the population develop of bivalve populations.
E-Mail: patrickjoyce@cuhk.edu.hk
Web: paddy-joyce.netlify.app
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Mrs Lucy Hunt
Director, Sea Synergy, Ireland
Expertise
Ostrea edulis
Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Site Selection, Oyster Supplier (Wild Fishery)
Project affiliation
Sea Synergy native oyster research Portmagee Channel
We started a research project in 2021 and looking for funding to continue as we have found some of the largest oysters in ireland and believe the habitat should be protected for restoration rather than aquaculture of pacific oysters..
E-Mail: lucy@seasynergy.org
Web: Seasynergy.org
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Dr. Maximiliano Cledon
Scientific coordinator, Seastainable Ventures, Spain
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Crassostrea angulata, Other Bivalve Species
Invasive Species, Monitoring, Public Outreach, Site Selection
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Dr. David Smyth
Science Officer, Bangor University Wales, United Kingdom
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Biosecurity, Disease, Ecosystem Service Quantification, Historical Ecology, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Seed Production, Site Selection
Project affiliation
NONI Native Oysters Northern Ireland, Ulster Wildlife Trust Blue Carbon Habitats Shellfish Beds
I'am currently employed as a Science Officer with the Shellfish Centre Wales based at Bangor University. I have worked with native oyster population dynamics for more than 20 years. My particular expertise is the passive / benign approach to bivalve restoration. I have extensive experience in establishing, monitoring and augmenting both subtidal and intertidal native oyster, pearl oyster and horse mussel populations. I' am a predictive population modeler of invasive bivalve species, with Magallana gigas and Pinctada radiata species of interest. I'am currently working on the DAERA funded; Native Oysters Northern Ireland project (NONI) and the Ulster Wildlife Trust Blue Carbon Habitats project. I, am also connected with the Zoological Society of London "Wild Oysters" restoration hub at the Conwy Estuary Wales.
E-Mail: d.smyth@bangor.ac.uk
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Karin Didderen
marine ecologist, Bureau Waardenburg, Netherlands
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Other Bivalve Species
Ecosystem Service Quantification, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Site Selection
Project affiliation
Native oyster restoration in the Netherlands
I am involved in native oyster restoration, monitoring, ecosystem service quantification and outreach in the Netherlands, and to restoration in the USA and Australia. I contributed to the first active restoration pilots and the description of the first native oyster reef in the Dutch North sea. I am part of the Dutch Flat Oyster Consortium that is active in putting native oyster restoration on the policy agenda together with partners. I am also involved in designs of offshore wind farms, where populations of native oyster are actively promoted as well as new restoration techniques for oyster reef restoration.
E-Mail: k.didderen@buwa.nl
Web: https://www.platteoester.nl
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Mr Iain Ross
Managing Director, The Native Oyster & Shellfish Company Ltd, Scotland
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas
Aquaculture, Biosecurity, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Site Selection, Oyster Supplier (Grow-out)
Project affiliation
Glenmorangie DEEP
We produce Ostrea edulis for both the table and restoration market on our disease free farm in Wester Ross, Scotland. We have been involved in the on growing of the 'Native' since we started the farm and as a result have a great respect for this little creature and appreciate the challanges involved in their cultivation. We are a key supply chain partner of the Glenmorangie DEEP project and are working closely with that project to deliver significant volumes of part grown stock for relaying in the Dornoch Firth. We are also greatly interested in preservation of existing wild Scottish population and are working with others to identify, protect and enhance these.
E-Mail: info@maorachbeag.scot
Web: https://scottishshellfishcompany.com/
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Alison Debney
Programme Lead, Ecosystem Restoration, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), United Kingdom
Expertise
Ostrea edulis
Aquaculture, Biosecurity, Historical Ecology, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Site Selection
Project affiliation
Essex Native Oyster Restoration Initiative, Wild Oyster, Native Oyster Network - UK & Ireland
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Dr. Loren Coen
Research Prof., Dept. of Biological Sciences, HBOI, Florida Atlantic University, US
Expertise
Other Bivalve Species
Disease, Ecosystem Service Quantification, Historical Ecology, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Site Selection
Project affiliation
OIMMP Mapping intertidal oysters, GEMS, Brevard Lagoon Restoration
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Mr Hein Sas
Owner, Sas Consultancy, Nederland
Expertise
Ostrea edulis
Biosecurity, Disease, Historical Ecology, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Seed Production, Site Selection
Project affiliation
All Dutch native oyster retoration projects, in one way or the other
As one of the initiators of native oyster restoration in Dutch waters, I am currently functioning as an informal network coordinator, operating between the various restoration projects and related organisations. With the purpose of stimulating cooperation and exchange of information, in order to speed up the learning curve we have to go through. As member of the NORA Advisory Board I also attempt to stimulate cross-border cooperation and information exchange at a European level.
E-Mail: hsas@xs4all.nl
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Dr. Anamarija Frankic
Research Professor, University of Zadar Croatia, Croatia
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Ecosystem Service Quantification, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Site Selection
Project affiliation
NORRI.ie
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Dr. Jose M. Fariñas-Franco
Assistant Lecturer, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Ireland
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Ecosystem Service Quantification, Historical Ecology, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Site Selection
I'm a marine ecologist and scientific diver studying the ecological functioning of marine habitats of high biodiversity, especially biogenic habitats formed by shellfish, the effects of anthropogenic impacts and the development of novel approaches for impact amelioration and ecological restoration. I have expertise in the aquaculture of biogenic reef forming bivalves (oysters, horse mussels) with the purpose of ecological restoration, site selection of restoration and translocation and monitoring of success using biodiversity of the associated community, survival and recruitment as metrics. In the past I have worked in several shellfish restoration projects such as the Modiolus Restoration Plan in Strangford Lough (Northern Ireland), monitoring condition and recovery in horse mussel Modiolus modiolus populations following restoration, and the Dornoch Firth Environmental Enhancement Project (DEEP) in Scotland for the reintroduction of the native oyster Ostrea edulis, largely working on site selection and historical ecology.
E-Mail: josemaria.farinas-franco@gmit.ie
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Dr. Ana Bratoš Cetinić
University of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Historical Ecology, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Seed Production, Site Selection, Oyster Supplier (Grow-out)
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Ms Corina Peter
Research Assistant, Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz centre for polar and marine research, Germany
Expertise
Ostrea edulis
Public Outreach, Site Selection
Project affiliation
RESTORE, PROCEED
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Dr. Stéphane POUVREAU
Marine biologist - Benthic ecologist - Scientific diver, Ifremer (French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea), France
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Site Selection
Project affiliation
The FOREVER (Flat Oyster REcoVERy) project
Stéphane is a marine biologist, working at Ifremer near Brest, in France. His current research is focused on the ecology and ecophysiology of temperate marines bivalves especially the flat oyster, the pacific oyster, but also the pectinids (Black and Great scallops). In another life during his PhD, he has also worked on the pearl oyster ecology in French Polynesia. Most of his projects is connected with conservation, restoration, aquaculture & fisheries. He is in charge of a national long term monitoring program on the pacific oyster reproduction (VELYGER) and a regional project on the flat oyster ecology & restoration (FOREVER). He is also involved in a new project on the black scallop ecology (MASCOET). Locally, Stéphane co-animates a regional research site (ZABRI) in relation with the International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER). He is also a scientific diver and cannot conceive his work without going regularly at field !
E-Mail: Stephane.Pouvreau@Ifremer.fr
Web: https://www-iuem.univ-brest.fr/lemar/?lang=en
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Dr. Norbert Dankers
Estuarine ecologist, Retired Wageningen Marine Research, The Netherlands
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Other Bivalve Species
Ecosystem Service Quantification, Historical Ecology, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Site Selection
Worked in WaddenSea for 40 years on many aspects of ecology. Much on impacts on mussel and cockle. Studied natural development of introduced Pacific Oyster and recovery of mussel beds in impacted areas. Monitored specific mussel beds for more than 25 years. Contributed to the birth of quantifying Environmental services in 1978. Much interest and experience in ICZM (Integrated Coastal Zone Management)
E-Mail: norbertdankers@hotmail.com
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Dr. JOHN A. THEODOROU
Assistant Professor, DEPT OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION, FISHERIES & AQUACULTURE, Greece
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Seed Production, Site Selection
John A. Theodorou is a Shellfish Biologist (MSc University of Wales at Bangor, UK) specialized in Aquaculture and the Fisheries Product Quality Management & Marketing (Hull University, UK). His Ph.D. thesis referred to the Risk Analysis of the Mediterranean mussel farming (Ph.D. Gent University, Belgium). He has 20 years of hands-on experience in mussel farming and contributed to over 30 industrial and academic projects. As an expert, he contributed to the development of the FAO-GFCM Shellfish Demonstrative Centre in the Black Sea (2018). He coordinates 3 ongoing projects related to the: effects of the pearl oysters (i) and ascidians (ii) in shellfish activities and the (iii) use of aquaculture techniques for population recovery of the endangered Pinna nobilis. He is served as Assistant Professor in the School of Animal Production, Fisheries & Aquaculture, Patras University, Greece. He published 22 research papers and contributed to 13 book chapters of concerned actions.
E-Mail: jtheo@upatras.gr
Web: http://asfa.upatras.gr/?page_id=1888
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Dr. Irrintzi Ibarrola
Senior Lecturer (Tenure), University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Site Selection
Project affiliation
The Mar Menor Oyster Project
Senior lecturer in Comparative and environmental animal physiology in the University of the Basque Country (North Spain). My research (since 1989) is focused on the physiological energetics of marine bivalves. This includes multidisciplinary analysis (physiology, cell biology, genomics) of the effect that exogenous variables (temperature, salinity, food availability) exert on the physiological performance, growth and reproduction of the bivalves at individual scale. In the last 10 years, my research is focused on the physiological and genetic basis of the endogenously determined inter-individual differences in growth rate in both hatchery produced and wild populations of bivalves.
E-Mail: irrintzi.ibarrola@ehu.eus
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Dr. Tom Cameron
Senior Lecturer in Ecology, School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, United Kingdom
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas, Other Bivalve Species
Aquaculture, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Site Selection
Project affiliation
ENORI
I am an applied ecologist working in marine and freshwater habitats to understand the consequences of individual variation in behaviour, survival, growth and reproduction of organisms in a population, community and evolution context. A great deal of the research in my group at Essex is on shellfish and fish including aquaculture and wild fisheries, and restoration and recovery of fish and shellfish stocks and habitats. At Essex we work from individual physiological responses of shellfish in our marine laboratories to the ecology of on bed mariculture and fisheries at multiple spatial scales. We work closely with oyster producers in Essex and beyond to deliver sustainable and profitable businesses and food security from the blue growth sector. Beyond shellfish and fish our group also works on saltmarshes, coastal marshes, mudflat and seagrass beds from microbial ecosystem functions to carbon capture and all services in between.
E-Mail: tcameron@essex.ac.uk
Web: https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/camer52908/thomas-cameron
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Dr. Andrew Woolmer
Marine Ecologist / Oyster Farmer, Atlantic Edge Oysters (Tethys Oysters Ltd), UK
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas
Aquaculture, Biosecurity, Invasive Species, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Seed Production, Site Selection, Oyster Supplier (Grow-out, Spatting Pond)
Project affiliation
Mumbles Oyster Restoration Project, Welsh Native Oyster Restoration Project
A marine biologist with long history in oyster restoration and wild fisheries management. He developed and run a successful restoration project in Swansea Bay (Wales) which has reported early indications of spill over and recruitment. An advisor to UK Government agencies he has recently produced a number of advice documents and strategy reports. He is currently involved in restoration projects in Wales and Cornwall and has advised on a number of similar projects across the UK. Most recently he has developed a commercial oyster farm in Pembrokeshire which grows Ostrea edulis for restoration alongside a commercial crop of Crassostrea gigas to support the activity. The next step is development of spatting ponds to produce cost-effective native oyster seed.
E-Mail: andy@atlanticedgeoysters.co.uk
Web: www.atlanticedgeoysters.co.uk
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Dr. William Sanderson
MASTS Reader / Associate Professor, Hariot-Watt University, UK
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Other Bivalve Species
Biosecurity, Disease, Ecosystem Service Quantification, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Seed Production, Site Selection
Project affiliation
Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project
Societal benefits, restoration, ecology, biodiversity & monitoring of: 1. Shellfish reefs, 2. Marine Protected Areas 3. Priority habitats of nature conservation importance, The win-win between biodiversity conservation, ecosystem function and marine development Biodiversity mapping and management in Marine Spatial Planning Sustainable development and habitat use by species of high biodiversity conservation importance
E-Mail: w.g.sanderson@hw.ac.uk
Web: https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/persons/william-sanderson
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Dr. Luke Helmer
Scientific Officer, Blue Marine Foundation / University of Portsmouth / University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Expertise
Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas
Aquaculture, Biosecurity, Disease, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Oyster Habitat Restoration, Public Outreach, Seed Production, Site Selection
Project affiliation
Solent Oyster Restoration Project / The Wild Oysters Project
Primarily focused on providing a strong scientific foundation for the Solent Oyster Restoration Project, my intrests are broad as there are many issues to consider within our system. My previous research has involved invasive species, restoration aquaculture systems, disease and associated biodiversity. More recently we have been working on scaling up reef restoration and I have been encouraging the movement towards integrated ecosystem restoration (Oysters, Saltmarsh, Seagrass and Kelp). Outreach, communication and engement with a range of audiences is also something that I keen to develop across Europe following our successful activities in the UK.
E-Mail: luke@bluemarinefoundation.com
Web: https://www.bluemarinefoundation.com/projects/solent/
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Dr. Joanne Preston
Reader in Marine Ecology & Evolution, University of Porstmouth, United Kingdom
Expertise
Ostrea edulis
Biosecurity, Disease, Ecosystem Service Quantification, Invasive Species, Monitoring, Seed Production, Site Selection
Project affiliation
Solent Oyster Restoration Project, Native Oyster Network
My conversation priority is the interconnected restoration of coastal habitats, particularly oyster reefs, seagrass and saltmarsh. My research is focused on the ecology of these species and habitats, and thier interactions with environmental pressures such as climate change, microplastics, disease, invasive species and excessive nutrients (eutrophication). I am also intersted in host-pathogen interactions in filter-feeders, and genetic adaptations and diversity of the native oyster. In 2017 I founded the UK and Ireland Native Oyster Restoration Network in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London, which aims to catalyse a national approach to oyster habitat restoration via action, communication and providing evidence for policy change. I'm an advisory board member for the European Native Oyster Restoration Alliance and a founding member of the Solent Oyster Restoration Project team, led by Blue Marine Foundation, for which I act as an technical and scientific advisor alongside active restoration practice.
E-Mail: joanne.preston@port.ac.uk
Web: https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/joanne-preston
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Dr. Boze Hancock
Senior Marine Habitat Restoration Scientist, The Nature Conservancy, United States
Expertise
Ostrea edulis
Aquaculture, Biosecurity, Disease, Ecosystem Service Quantification, Genetics, Historical Ecology, Monitoring, Site Selection
Developing the science, networks and communication to allow the scale-up of shellfish reef restoration to address habitat destruction on an ecologically meaningful scale. This includes developing the primary science to support restoration and quantifying the ecosystem services provided by the restored habitat, translating that science into formats accessible to a variety of practitioners and facilitating knowledge exchange across a range of projects, geographies and taxa.
E-Mail: BHANCOCK@TNC.ORG
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