University of Kent

Kristian Metcalfe PhD Student
E-mail: km375

CV

PhD research entitled "Investigating the biological and socio-economic impacts of potential marine protected area networks in the Eastern English Channel"

Supervisors: Dr Bob Smith, Professor Stuart Harrop and Dr Sandrine Vaz, Ifremer

Many marine ecosystems are under severe anthropogenic pressure. Consequently, governments are responding by developing marine protected area (MPA) networks, with the aim of conserving biodiversity and protecting fish stocks. Since 2004, the European funded (Interreg 3a Programme) Channel Habitat Atlas for Marine Resource Management (CHARM) project has collected a range of biological, economic, legal and social data to help inform management of the Eastern English Channel. This important PhD project will build on the research gathered in the previous project phases (I & II), and will be part of ongoing work to develop a number of innovative approaches to inform MPA conservation planning and designation initiatives, both at a regional (in the Eastern English Channel) and global level. In particular, this research will focus on:

1. Setting numerical targets for conserving important species and habitat types based on biological and legal requirements.
   
   
2. Developing techniques for incorporating biodiversity, policy and social data into a systematic conservation planning assessment for the Eastern English Channel.
   
   
3. Modelling the impacts of different MPA network scenarios on biodiversity, fish stocks and fishing effort.

Publications

Metcalfe, K, Ffrench-Constant, R, and Gordon, I (2010). Sacred sites as hotspots for forest biodiversity, the Three Sisters Cave Complex in Coastal Kenya. Oryx, 44, 118-123.