Experts - Ecosystem Service Quantification

During my time as a project manager for The Rich North Sea I was responsible for the Gemini ZeeEnergie & WINOR pilot project. Further, I've been a.i. responsible for the Borssele Blauwwind oyster table project. Both projects included contract management, managing stakeholders and subcontractors, practical monitoring expeditions, vessel procurement and (scientific) reporting. Starting from 2024 I combined my passion for engineering, ecology, monitoring and offshore wind into my company Seaward. Feel free to reach out to me without any obligation for any questions regarding engineering and monitoring with an ecological angle. I love to think along and bring sub sea ecology or monitoring to a higher level. Kind regards, Frank

E-Mail: info@seaward.blue
Web: seaward.blue

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

I have almost 30 years of experience in studies of marine bivalves, both from the perspective of their aquaculture and from their use in environmental research. I have extensive experience in bivalve culture techniques from broodstock, larval culture and seed, as well as in the assessment of physiological rates that integrate the energy balance in order to estimate their energy potential or SFG (scope for growth). I have also been interested in the nutritional requirements and digestive biochemistry of different species of bivalves, mainly during growing, in order to develop alternative diets. I have been involved in pollution and toxicological studies using bivalves as biomonitors and species model. Actually, I am promoting, together with almost 20 scientists from different disciplines, the recovery of the environmental quality of the Mar Menor lagoon (SE Spain), severely affected by eutrophication, by the restoration of the flat oyster beds.

E-Mail: marina.albentosa@ieo.es
Web: http://www.ieo.es:8080/es_ES/web/murcia/historia

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

I work on the effects of ocean acidification and warming on oysters and other aquaculture species, as well as on biogenic habitats and marine invasive species. This research is mainly based in the NE Atlantic, the Mediterranean, China and Japan. I am President of the British Phycological Society with an interest in how the movement of oysters can present biosecurity challenges as well as major ecosystem benefits.

E-Mail: jhall-spencer@plymouth.ac.uk
Web: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/jason-hall-spencer

E-Mail: afrankic@gmail.com
Web: www.umb.edu/GHP

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

I have a PhD from the University of Barcelona obtained in 2010. My research background is in the ecology, biology, and pathology of benthic invertebrates, with a particular focus on the ecological role that filter-feeders, such as bivalves, play in the ecosystem. I have studied the role of bivalves in shaping coastal environments, e.g. mitigating the symptoms of eutrophication, reducing the occurrence of harmful and nuisance algal blooms, and restoring ecosystem functions. Also, I have investigated how the environment can affect the health and physiology of the invertebrates themselves including both immune and pathological studies. My research has provided valuable information for the management of aquaculture species, fisheries and natural resources, as well as for conservation and restoration purposes.

E-Mail: galimany@icm.csic.es

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

I have > ten years experience in native oyster restoration, ecosystem service quantification and historical ecology in the USA, Australia and Europe. I have worked with NORA to develop Biosecurity Guidelines, having undertaken my PhD on aquatic invasive species at the University to Cambridge. I was a contributing author to the "Oyster Habitat Restoration Monitoring and Assessment Handbook" (2014) and author and editor of the "Restoration Guidelines for Shellfish Reefs" (2019) and the "European Native Oyster Habitat Restoration Handbook, UK and Ireland" (2020) and therefore have broad, high-level experience of oyster restoration. I am also a longstanding member of the Essex Native Oyster Restoration Initiative, and have provided project-level advice for several native oyster projects throughout the UK.

E-Mail: secretariat@noraeurope.eu

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

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

Sustainable use of bivalve populations with special emphasis on management of native and non-native bivalves and aquaculture. More specifically in aquaculture: semi-intensive and extensive seed production of oysters and mussels and developmen of new protocols and techniques for grow out. restoration efforts. More specifically in management: interactions between native and non-native species, ecosystem services, management of invasive species and monitoring of native species. Strong focus on applied aspects and research-industry collaboration.

E-Mail: asa.strand@ivl.se
Web: https://www.ivl.se/sidor/vara-omraden/vatten/vatten-i-ekosystem/forvaltning-av-marina-ekosystem.html