Prof Rodney Forster

Biography	Rodney is the lead of Hull Marine Laboratory, and is responsible for teaching at level 5 (second year) for B Sc Marine Biology students. He leads the Coastal Seas and Oceanography modules and he also supervises several final-year project students. His teaching is very closely aligned with his scientific research on coastal seas. Projects that are running at present include: The Great Yorkshire Kelp Project – using SCUBA diving, underwater video and satellite remote sensing to calculate the extent of the underwater kelp forest along the east coast. REWRITE – with many partners in the EU, we are looking at the possibilities to restore coastal ecosystems, in particular tidal flats and seagrass meadows (rewrite.eu) The effects of offshore windfarms on the marine environment have been a large part of Rodney’s research at Hull. Present projects include eSWEETS with UK partners, looking at the effects of the new, floating windfarms on patterns of water movement and phytoplankton production. Cruises in the North Sea are planned in 2025-2026. Humber Gateway post-construction assessments with industry partner RWE, scientific surveys have been done on the closest windfarm to the Humber, looking at seabirds, fish populations and commercial shellfish. Have you heard about the recent problems on the North-East coast of England, with crabs and lobsters dying and washed up on beaches? The universities of Hull, Durham, Newcastle and York are working hard to try and solve this mystery. Media cuttings are here:
Research Interests	primary production, algae, optics, coastal systems, human impacts, offshore wind farms.
Teaching and Learning	I teach primarily on the B Sc. Marine Biology degree programme, and contribute to other undergraduate and postgraduate courses. I am module lead of Oceanography (500695) and Coastal Seas (500696).
Scopus Author ID	57207347431
PhD Supervision Availability	Yes
PhD Topics	My current PhD students are: Rick McCumskay (2020-2024) Enora Lecordier (2022-2025) Ben Whitcombe (2024-2027) PhD thesis completed at Hull are: Dr. Lucas Mander (2018-2021) Dr. Tobenna Uzuegbunam (2018-2021)