Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/R005354/1
Synthesising, analysing and interpreting diverse evidence and data in marine conservation and marine protected area management
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor R Stafford, Bournemouth University, Faculty of Science and Technology
- Grant held at:
- Bournemouth University, Faculty of Science and Technology
- Science Area:
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Marine
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- Conservation Ecology
- Conservation management
- Protected areas
- Population Ecology
- Biodiversity
- Ecosystem services
- Marine populations
- Marine protected areas
- Population modelling
- Environmental Informatics
- Aquatic environments
- Data analysis
- Data-assimilative modelling
- Abstract:
- Throughout the UK, large numbers of marine protected areas (MPAs) are either currently being designated or management measures being put in place to help conserve features of conservation importance (e.g. specific habitats or species). There is considerable published data (much from NERC funding) on sustainable fisheries management, MPAs and many aspects of species' ecology, as well as important input from monitoring surveys and expert knowledge from stakeholders (including conservation charities and fisher groups), which can be used to support these management decisions. However, these data are in very different formats, and may be subject to different levels of confidence (for example, opinion would be less certain than published research). While MPAs are used as a focus of current policy and management importance, these same issues correspond to management of many other marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments, and these areas of application will be highlighted in the course. This training grant would allow participants to extract and evaluate data from the wide range of sources available, and integrate available data to make predictions on the effectiveness of management to protect the features of conservation concern. The underlying methods of making predictions are based on Bayesian belief networks (BBNs). Training will initially be provided to a group of 25 ECRs, through an online delivery platform, consisting of well-established online learning techniques. The training will cover 1) the ability to extract information in usable and comparable format from papers, unpublished datasets and from interviews or engagement with stakeholders directly; 2) how to build BBN models using the Microsoft Excel interface designed by the applicants; 3) how to integrate management measures into the BBN; 4) how to interpret outputs in line with conservation goals and law; and 5) how to communicate these finding back to a wide variety of stakeholders. Full online/telephone support will be given to participants, and they will also be able to undertake assignments to earn formal recognition of postgraduate credit for the course. BBNs have been well researched, further developed and specifically applied to environmental and MPA management by the academic applicants, who have also previously demonstrated the ability to effectively train people in these techniques. As such, the unique ability of the course to provide a complete experience of evidence synthesis from extracting data to communicating results to stakeholders is a result of the design of the initial research, rather than being overambitious in scope for the course. While other courses exist using BBNs, they focus on commercial software (rather than free templates for Microsoft Excel) and do not provide the details of extracting data from different studies nor the subject focus often needed. The training will be fully integrated between academic staff who work across both conservation and data analysis fields, and also with government agencies responsible for implementing management plans. In particular, the agency partners will provide information on the need for integration of evidence, the data they collect and hold, and communication with stakeholders. It is expected that many participants in this course will take employment in the conservation sector, and will use these techniques in their work. Hence the impact will be directly influencing management and policy decisions by using the techniques. To further ensure impact, the online resources will be freely available for use by anyone once the initial cohort has completed (but unaccredited). This means employees of organisations such as government bodies, NGOs and charities can all use these techniques to help with questions in environmental management. The impact of the research will be from its use to directly influence management decisions for both MPAs and other environments in the UK and worldwide.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/R005354/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Evidence Synthesis
This training grant award has a total value of £32,647
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Other Costs |
|---|
| £32,647 |
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