Cargo ships on water in docks

Research projects

Find out what research our community is working on and search past projects.
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Research project

Maritime Heritage Science Facility

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Research project

HEIF 2025/2026 Seagrass Watch and Resilience Development at Brownsea Island

Staff

Lead researchers

Dr Hachem Kassem PhD, MSc, FHEA

Lecturer
Research interests
  • Nearshore hydrodynamics and coastal sediment dynamics
  • Coastal and ocean engineering and flow-structure-seabed-biota interactions
  • Adaptive, nature-inclusive solutions to climate-mediated geohazards, including flooding, eros…
Connect with Hachem

Email: Hachem.Kassem@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Dr Christopher Tomsett

Enterprise Fellow
Research interests
  • Autonomous surveying techniques (UAVs, USVs)
  • Eco-geomorphology
  • Geospatial modelling
Connect with Christopher

Email: C.G.Tomsett@soton.ac.uk

Professor Julian Leyland

Professor
Research interests
  • Fluvial and Intertidal Geomorphology
  • Remote Environmental Sensing
  • UAVs, USVs and Autonomy in Geoscience
Connect with Julian

Email: J.Leyland@soton.ac.uk

Professor Blair Thornton

Professor of Marine Autonomy
Research interests
  • seafloor 3D visual reconstruction: development of deep-sea imaging hardware and processing pi…
  • automated interpretation of data: development of AI methods for rapid scalable interpretation…
  • robotics: development of low-cost, long endurance seafloor imaging floats and highly intellig…
Connect with Blair

Email: B.Thornton@soton.ac.uk

Ken Collins

Connect with Ken

Email: kjc@soton.ac.uk

Dr Emma Curtis

Research Fellow
Connect with Emma

Email: E.J.Curtis@soton.ac.uk

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Research project

'Unpath'd Waters': Marine and Maritime Collections in the UK

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Research project

Demand, supply and storage of low carbon hydrogen for the Solent region – Case study City of Southampton

Staff

Other researchers

Dr Sheida Afshan PhD, FICE, MIStructE, CEng, FHEA

Associate Professor
Research interests
  • High performance metallic materials and structures for applications in infrastructure and ene…
  • Experimental and numerical investigation of structural materials and components
  • Metallic materials for liquid hydrogen (LH2) fuel storage and transportation
Connect with Sheida

Email: S.Afshan@soton.ac.uk

Professor Ajit Nayak

Professor of Strategic Management
Research interests
  • Strategic Management
  • Innovation and Dynamic Capabilities
  • Responsible Leadership and Sustainability Transitions
Connect with Ajit

Email: A.Nayak@soton.ac.uk

Professor AbuBakr Bahaj

Professor of Sustainable Energy
Research interests
  • Renewable energy,  (Solar photovoltaics, Marine energy, Wind energy)
  • Energy access/energy for development,
  • Energy, cities and infrastructure,
Connect with AbuBakr

Email: A.S.Bahaj@soton.ac.uk

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Research project

Exploring the value of postcards for placemaking and storytelling

Staff

Other researchers

Mr Chris Emberson

Senior Enterprise Fellow
Connect with Chris

Email: cre@geodata.soton.ac.uk

Professor Craig Lambert

Professor
Research interests
  • Late medieval naval operations and logistics
  • Medieval and Tudor maritime communities
  • Late medieval and Tudor merchant shipping
Connect with Craig

Email: C.Lambert@soton.ac.uk

Dr John Mcaleer

Associate Professor
Research interests
  • The British Empire in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
  • The East India Company and its worlds.
  • Islands and empires.
Connect with John

Email: J.Mcaleer@soton.ac.uk

Professor Stephanie Jones

Professor of Literature and Law
Research interests
  • Literature and Law
  • Postcolonial and decolonial studies
  • Marine and maritime literatures
Connect with Stephanie

Email: S.J.Jones@soton.ac.uk

Dr Matt Kerr

Associate Professor
Research interests
  • Nineteenth-century literature and culture
  • Oceanic humanities
  • Waste and rubbish
Connect with Matt

Email: M.P.Kerr@soton.ac.uk

Professor Marianne O'Doherty FEA

Professor
Research interests
  • Medieval travel and pilgrimage literature
  • Medieval maps, geographical writing, place and space, literary geographies
  • Book history and reception studies methodologies for medieval texts
Connect with Marianne

Email: M.ODoherty@soton.ac.uk

Professor Chris Hill

Professor
Connect with Chris

Email: cth@geodata.soton.ac.uk

Professor Jason Sadler

Professor
Research interests
  • Spatial data infrastructure (SDI)
  • Web science
  • Environmental web applications and semantics
Connect with Jason

Email: jds@geodata.soton.ac.uk

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Research project

Offshore Decommissioning; baseline data

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Research project

Harbouring Voices: Oral Histories of Whitby’s Fishing Community

Staff

Lead researchers

Miss Freya Ivy Palmer

Research interests
  • Systems thinking and system dynamics 
  • Sustainable marine fisheries
  • Resource resilience
Connect with Freya Ivy

Email: F.I.Palmer@soton.ac.uk

Professor Paul Kemp

Professor of Ecological Engineering
Connect with Paul

Email: P.Kemp@soton.ac.uk

Dr Bindi Shah PhD, FHEA

Associate Professor
Research interests
  • A key question that Bindi is interested in asking is: What shapes citizenship and a sense of …
  • Bindi is also interested in exploring the role of social capital for developing interdiscipli…
Connect with Bindi

Email: B.Shah@soton.ac.uk

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Research project

HEIF 2021/22 Knowledge exchange of subsea laser visual mapping hardware and data processing methods and application to environmental monitoring

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Blair Thornton

Professor of Marine Autonomy
Research interests
  • seafloor 3D visual reconstruction: development of deep-sea imaging hardware and processing pi…
  • automated interpretation of data: development of AI methods for rapid scalable interpretation…
  • robotics: development of low-cost, long endurance seafloor imaging floats and highly intellig…
Connect with Blair

Email: B.Thornton@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Mr Adrian Bodenmann

Senior Research Fellow
Research interests
  • High-resolution visual seafloor mapping for benthic habitat mapping and subsea infrastructure…
  • Remote awareness for autonomous offshore mapping operations
  • Uncertainty characterisation in digital 3D reconstructions
Connect with Adrian

Email: adrian.bodenmann@soton.ac.uk

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Research project

HEIF 2021/22 Maximising Data Driven Condition Monitoring of Marine HV Cables

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Justin Dix

Professor of Marine Geology & Geophysics
Connect with Justin

Email: J.K.Dix@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Professor Jonathon Hare BEng (Hons), PhD, FHEA, SMIEEE

Professor
Research interests
  • My main research interests lie in the area of representation learning;
  • The long-term goal of my research is to innovate techniques that can allow machines to learn …
Connect with Jonathon

Email: jsh2@soton.ac.uk

Dr George Callender

Associate Professor
Research interests
  • HV Cable Systems
  • FEA Simulations
  • Partial Discharge
Connect with George

Email: G.M.Callender@soton.ac.uk

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Research project

HEIF 2021/22 Outcome monitoring protocol and post-implementation review in support of the new Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels