I have a BSc in Marine Biology and am currently studying for an MSc in Marine Environmental Protection at Bangor University in North Wales. Ben graduated from Ocean Sciences and has undertaken a PhD at the University of Ulster.
Why did you choose to work in Marine Biology?
I grew up in London; the back garden of my parents’ house was a wildlife haven where my brother and I spend many happy years. The highlight of this garden was a pond that we build ourselves, within a few months there were frogs, newts and a myriad of freshwater insects. I spend many hours with my head buried in books about the sea. I kept fish and I did work experience in an aquarium. A teacher suggested that Marine Biology might be the career for me, since setting off down this adventurous route I have never looked back.
What is your research about?
Currently I am studying the effects of trampling and sediment smothering upon the intertidal biogenic reefs Sabellaria alveolata found on the north and west Welsh coast.