Dr MARK SHIELDS
Research Fellow
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+44 (0)1224 274347
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+44 (0) 1224 274402
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m.a.shields@abdn.ac.uk
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Room F02, Oceanlab,University of Aberdeen,Main Street, Newburgh,Scotland, U.K., AB41 6AA
Research Fellow and ECOMAR Project Officer
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Personal Details
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Current Projects
The Environmental Interactions Of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies
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Biography
Mark Shields began working at Oceanlab in March 2010, taking on the role of Research Fellow and project coordinator for the NERC funded ECOMAR project. During the summer of 2010 he organised and participated on the final ECOMAR cruise (RRS James Cook,JC048) to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, North Atlantic Ocean. He is also a work package leader on the EU FP7 funded Coralfish project. More recently Markhas become involved in the KM3NET project and in particular the environmental impacts of a proposed neutrino telescope installation in the deep waters of the Mediterranean.
Prior to arriving at Oceanlab Mark spent just under three years working as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) University of the Highlands and Islands in Thurso, UK. His research focused on understanding and addressing the environmental implications of the developing wave and tidal renewable energy industry. He helped to develop the ERI's research portfolio and was responsible for the management of the ERI's offshore activities and the research vessel the ERI Aurora. Mark spent a large part of his time at sea collecting data from the very energetic waters of the Pentland Firth and was actively involved in a number of marine renewable energy research projects.
Mark completed his PhD at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) entitled 'Gradients in macrofaunal community structure and bioturbation potential along the Nordic Seas continental margin'. HIs research contributed to the NERC funded multidiscplinary Northern Seas programme of SAMS. In the summer of 2005 he was lucky enough to have the opportunity to take part on the RRS James Clark Ross cruise 127 to the Arctic to collect sediment samples for his PhD studies.
Prior to his PhD Mark completed a MSc in Marine Resource Development and Protection at Heriot-Watt University and a BSc (Hons) in Aquatic Bioscience at the University of Glasgow.
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Research Interests
- Deep-sea biology
- Benthic ecology
- Bioturbation and animal-sediment interactions
- Biodiversity and ecosystem function
- Marine renewable energy
- Ecology of tidal channels
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Collaborations
Dr David Hughes - Scottish Association for Marine Science, UK
Dr Angus Jackson - Environmental Research Institute, UK
Prof. Jonathan Side - Heriot-Watt University, UK
Dr Helena Wiklund - Natural History Musuem, UK
Dr Nataliya Budaeva - P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russia
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Research Grants
British Ecological Society - Annual Science Meeting Thematic Topic 'Marine Renewable Energy: the ecological implications of altering hydrodynamics'
Scottish Government - 'A review of the potential impacts of wave and tidal renewable energy developments on Scotland's marine environment' (led by Aquatera)
Scottish Funding Council and Highland and Islands Enterprice - Marine Supergen II affiliated PhD studentship 'Benthic habitats in extreme flow environments of the Pentland Firth'
The Insititue of Advanced Studies - 'Ecological modelling for marine renewable energy development' (led by Dr Eric Grist)
Dounreay Site Restoration Limited - 'Identification of suitable alternative samples for the marine species of the statuary environmental monitoring programme to ensure compliance with the Radioactve Substances Act (RSA) authorisations'
British Council - International Networking for Young Scientists
Various travel grants: British Council, UHI Millennium Institute, International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, EU Centre of Excellence for Baltic Development.
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Teaching Responsibilities
BI1006 - BUGs Biology for Undergraduates
ZO4536 - Abyssal and Hadal Environments
Honours Student Projects - 1 x Current/ 3 x Completed
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External Responsibilities
PhD Students
Astrid Harendza (ERI-UHI) - Ecological impacts associated with renewable energy devices in extreme marine environments. Co-supervisors - Dr Angus Jackson (ERI-UHI) and Prof Jon Side (HWU).
Committees
Member of the scientific steering group for the international conference 'The Environmental Interactions Of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies'' to be hosted in Orkney,1 - 3 May 2012. www.eimr.org
Other
2007 - present British Ecological Society Member
2008 - present Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Ambassador (STEM)
I have acted as a reviewer for the following journals: Progress in Oceanography, Marine Biology, Ocean and Coastal Management.
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Admin Responsibilities
Administration of staff pages and and news items on the Oceanlab website.
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Conference Proceedings
Shields (2009) Ecological significance of high energy environments. Ecological Modelling for Marine Renewable Energy Development Workshop, Glasgow, UK. July 2009.
Shields, Pandian, Side, Gibb, Harris, Kerr and Woolf (2008) A multidisciplinary approach to advancing marine renewable energy research in Scotland. 2nd International Conference on Ocean Energy, Brest, France. October 2008.
Shields, Ford and Woolf (2008) Ecological considerations for tidal energy development in Scotland.10th World Renewable Energy Congress, Glasgow, UK. July 2008.
Shields, Dillon, Woolf and Ford. Ecological considerations for tidal energy development within the Pentland Firth (Scotland, UK). International Network for Offshore Renewable Energy Workshop 2008.
Shields and Hughes (2007). Polychaete feeding guilds at the Norwegian continental margin. Abstract, Arctic Frontiers, 21-26 January 2007, Tromsø, Norway.
Shields and Hughes (2006). Gradients in macrofaunal community structure along a latitudinal transect within the Northern Seas region. Abstract, 11th International Deep-Sea Biology Symposium, 9-14 July 2006, Southampton, UK.
Shields and Hughes (2006). The feeding guilds of polychaetes located along a latitudinal transect within the Northern Seas region. Abstract, 11th International Deep-Sea Biology Symposium, 9-14 July 2006, Southampton, UK.
Shields, Hughes and Gage (2004). Macrofaunal abundance, biomass and bioturbation potential within the Northern Seas region: Initial results. Abstract, 1st Nereis Park Conference, Bioturbation: The Ever Changing Seafloor, 7-9th November 2004, Carry-Le-Rouet, France.
Breur, Harvey, Hughes and Shields (2004). The relationship between faunal density and oxygen dynamics in deep-sea sediment along a north Atlantic latitudinal transect. Abstract, 1st Nereis Park Conference, Bioturbation: The Ever Changing Seafloor, 7-9th November 2004, Carry-Le-Rouet, France.
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Publications
- Harendza, A., Jackson, A.C., Shields, M.A., Side, J. (2011) Habitat mapping of a key tidal energy development site using underwater acoustic and remote sampling. Proceedings of the Underwater Acoustic Measurements: Technologies and Results. pp. 1-8.
- Aquatera (2011) A review of the potential impacts of wave and tidal energy development on Scotland's marine environment. Technical report to: Marine Scotland. Issued by: Aquatera, in collaboration with: SMRU Ltd., EMEC, SAMS, Aberdeen University, ERI, ICIT and RGU. p324. 34 pp.
- Shields, M.A., Woolf, D.L., Grist, E.P.M., Kerr, S.A., Jackson, A.C., Haris, R.E., Bell, M.C., Beharie, R., Want, A., Osalusi, E., Gibb, S.W., Side, J. (2011) Marine Renewable Energy: The ecological implications of altering the hydrodynamics of the marine environment. Ocean and Coastal Management 54: 2-9 doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2010.10.036
- Kedra, M. & Shields, M.A. (2011) On the deep-sea Nephasoma species in the Eastern North Atlantic - taxonomic guide. Marine Biology Research 7: 43.53. Link
- Kerr, S.A., Gibb, S.W., Grist, E.P.M., Harendza, A.,Harris, R.E., Jackson, A.C., Shields, M.A., Side, J.C.(2010) Wave and tidal energy in the Pentland Firth Area - how much environmental monitoring is enough?. Report on the SRDG Stakholder Workshop1st December 2010. Link
- Shields, M.A. & Kedra, M. (2009) A deep burrowing sipunculan of ecological and geochemical importance. Deep-Sea Research Part I 56: 2057-2064. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2009.07.006
- Pandian, P.K., Ruscoe, J.P., Shields, M.A., Side, J.C., Harris, R.E., Kerr, S.A., Bullen, C.R. (2009) Seabed habitat mapping techniques: an overview of the performance of various systems. Mediterranean Marine Science 10: 29-43. Link
- Shields, M.A. & Hughes, D.J. (2009) Large-scale variation in macrofaunal communities along the eastern Nordic Seas continental margin: A comparison of four stations with contrasting food supply. Progress in Oceanography 82:125-136. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2009.05.001
- Shields, M.A., Dillon, L.J., Woolf, D.K., Ford, A.T. (2009). Strategic priorities for assessing ecological impacts of marine renewable energy devices in the Pentland Firth (Scotland, UK). Marine Policy 33: 635-642. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2008.12.013
- Shields, M.A. (2008) Identification of suitable alternative samples for the marine species of the statuary environmental monitoring programme to ensure compliance with the Radioactive Substances Act (RSA) authorisactions. Report prepared for Dounreay Site Restoration Limited.
- Shields, M.A., Ford, A.T., Woolf, D.K. (2008) Ecological consideration for tidal energy developments within Scotland. Conference proceedings for the World Renewable Energy Congress X. Elsevier, Berlin. pp. 1010-1015
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