EAST Marine Ecosystems (EASTME) conference
Reporting Annual Change at a Regional Scale & Building Social Capital
Dwarf minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) underwater in the Great Barrier Reef
13 May 2025, Lincoln
10:00 – 16:00
Last chance to buy your ticket!
Final programme is below
The upcoming EAST Marine Ecosystems (EASTME) conference is delighted to announce the final pro gramme with a range of brilliant speakers. The event will feature 10 short talks reflecting on local observations, research outputs and findings from 2024. The talks will cover a comprehensive range of natural systems including oceanography and plankton, the seabed and seashore, marine and coastal birds, marine mammals, seals and cetaceans. A number of themes relating to the management of the environment will include marine planning, marine protected areas, fisheries, water quality, plastic pollution and energy.
This one-day conference is an opportunity to develop networks, open communication and build relationships among people in the marine and coastal community across the English East Marine Plan area*.
The event is being hosted at the University of Lincoln and is open to citizen scientists, academics, managers, policy makers, industry, dedicated volunteers and the public, to enable regional scale reporting on the state of marine natural capital. With a £35 registration fee, the event aims to be accessible to all those interested.
Programme
09:15 Doors open, refreshments and registration
10:10 Welcome to the conference – Mark Schuerch, University of Lincoln
10:15 Introduction & Interactive session – Silvana Birchenough, ERM
Session 1
Chair: Kelly-Ann Willson, The Wash & North Norfolk Marine Partnership
10:40 Oceanography, Plankton and Productivity – Rodney Forster, University of Hull
10:55 Seabed and Seashore – Ian Wilson, Benthic Solutions
11:10 Coastal and Estuarine Habitats – Milo Sumner, RSPB
11:25 Q&A
11:40 First break: sandwiches and refreshments
Session 2
Chair: Tammy Smalley, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
12:40 Marine and Coastal birds – Dave O’Hara, RSPB
12:55 Marine Mammals: Seals – Izzy Langley, Sea Mammal Research Unit
13:10 Marine Mammals: Cetaceans – Simone Evans, Sea Watch Foundation
13:25 Marine Planning – Mark Maguire, The Marine Management Organisation
13:40 Q&A
14:00 Second break: cakes and refreshments
Session 3
Chair: Mark Schuerch, University of Lincoln
14:40 Marine Protected Areas – Jennifer Love, Natural England
14:55 Plastic Pollution and Marine Debris – Alisdair Naulls, The Rivers Trust
15:10 Energy in the Marine Environment – Jon Rees, CEFAS
15:25 Q&A
15:40 Closing – Mike Elliot, University of Hull
The EASTME project forms part of the Natural Capital approaches at the land-sea interface (LSI) project, which is being led by the Environment Agency under Defra’s Marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme. The proposed work will deliver the LSI project’s work package on ‘Mobilising marine social capital’.
If you would like to hear more about EASTME directly or to be involved in one or more of the 11 Communities of Practice, please sign up to its dedicated mailing list here.
* The EASTME region runs includes inshore and waters in the UK’s Exclusive economic zone, running from Flamborough Head in the North to the southern Suffolk border, including the Humber and Wash.