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The University of Southampton
Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton

First year PhD marine biology researcher wins praise in a national contest

Published: 5 April 2017
Luke Holman

Postgraduate marine biology researcher Luke Holman, who is in the first year of his PhD examining how environmental DNA can help detect invasive species, has won an award from the P1 Marine Foundation.

Luke has received a joint runner up prize of £250 for the environmental merit, originality, practicality and ground-breaking content of his project, which is jointly supervised by the Universities of Southampton and Bangor.

“I am looking at how we can track DNA from invasive species from discarded cells suspended in sea water to learn more about their movement around the UK coast and further afield. One problem they can cause is the fouling of boat hulls,” he says.

His lead supervisor is Dr Marc Rius from Ocean and Earth Science at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton. He adds: “We hope to be able to predict where invasive species are likely to move to in future. Luke has embarked on his PhD with enthusiasm and I am confident he will achieve a great deal in his research.”

The P1 Marine Foundation awards celebrate and reward students who are working to address major threats to the marine and coastal environment was presented at the Royal Institute of Great Britain. They are supported by The Crown Estate, the Marine Conservation Society and the Institute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology (IMarEST).

http://www.p1marinefoundation.com

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