NMBAQC

Committee

NMBAQC COMMITTEE (Yr18)

• Tim Mackie (Chair) NIEA
• Myles O'Reilly (Invertebrates and Particle Size Contract Manager) SEPA
• Amanda Prior (Financial Manager) EA
• Steve Coates (Fish Contract Manager) EA
• Clare Scanlan (Macroalgae Contract Manager) SEPA
• Joe Silke (Phytoplankton Contract Manager) MI (ROI)
• Carol Milner (Contractors Representative) APEM Ltd
• James Strong (Epibiota Contract Manager) AFBINI
• Keith Cooper CEFAS
• Lucie Skates CCW/EA
• Milly Hatton-Brown Technical Secretary

      External contractors (attending committee meetings)

• David Hall (Invertebrates Scheme Administrator) Thomson Unicomarine 

Tim Mackie (Chair) - Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)

I am a Senior Scientific Officer with NIEA leading our marine macrobenthic infaunal invertebrate, sediment and marine plant monitoring teams in the inshore waters of Northern Ireland driven by the CSEMP and WFD programmes as well as covering other operational monitoring to cover marine fish farms, marine pollution and regulation under FEPA and supporting our Natural Heritage colleagues.  I have over 15 years experience as a benthic invertebrate taxonomist with NIEA and its progenitor organisations.  Prior to that a 5 year dalliance with freshwater invertebrates limited my exposure to salt, but I seem to have been making up for that ever since.  I have been participant in the scheme since its inception and on the committee for nearly 10 years.

Myles O'Reilly (Invertebrates Contract Manager) - Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

I am a Senior Marine Ecologist with SEPA (SW Area) leading on marine macrobenthic infaunal invertebrate monitoring of inshore waters of Scotland with responsibility for CSEMP and WFD programmes.  I have over 25 years experience as a benthic invertebrate taxonomist - with SEPA, since its inception in 1996, and prior to that with marine sections of the Clyde and Forth River Purification Boards.  Prior to this I undertook a couple of year's research at Heriot-Watt University on taxonomy of Harpacticoid copepods and since then have developed a research interest in parasitic and commensal copepods associated with marine invertebrates. 

Amanda Prior (Finance Manager) - Environment Agency (EA)

I am a Technical Advisor within the EA's National Marine Monitoring Team.  I am responsible for assessments for the Water Framework Directive in transitional and coastal waters for each of the biological elements as well as aspects of physical and chemical assessments. The biological elements assessed are benthic invertebrates, phytoplankton, fish, macroalgae, angiosperms (including saltmarshes).  Previous to this post I assisted in the development of the field monitoring methods for the WFD intertidal plant elements.  I have worked for the EA for 7 years, prior to this I gained my Masters at the University of Hull on its Estuarine and Coastal Science and Management course and my Bachelor of Applied Marine Biology at Heriot-Watt University. 

Carol Milner  (Contractors Representative) - APEM Ltd.

I am a benthic invertebrate taxonomist who works for private consultancy APEM Ltd and am based in Dorset with their marine team.  I currently work mostly in the lab on benthic analysis of samples from all over the UK and northern Europe.  I moved from SEPA in November 2008 and in that role, I was responsible for designing, undertaking, analysing and reporting on survey boat work involving grab sampling for WFD, fish farm auditing, UWWT, distilleries and other types of regulation.  I also evaluated and made recommendations and provided advice for self-monitoring submitted to SEPA as part of fish farm consents for the fish farm industry.  At SEPA I also carried out Reduced Species List macroalgal surveys for the WFD. Prior to this I worked as a benthic invertebrate taxonomist at Unicomarine.  I have over 13 years experience as a benthic invertebrate taxonomist with consultancies and SEPA.   I have been participant in the scheme since joining SEPA in 2000 and have been on the committee as SEPA's representative and now the Industry representative for nearly 4 years.

Clare Scanlan (Macroalgae Contract Manager)  - Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

I am a macroalgal taxonomist who works for the SEPA.  I have worked for SEPA and predecessor bodies for 20 years on marine and estuarine matters, with particular expertise in macroalgae and imposex.  I am also a member of the WFD Marine Plants Task Team, who develop monitoring tools for Opportunistic Macroalgae, Inter-tidal Rocky Shore Macroalgae, Fucoid Extent Macroalgae, Seagrass and Saltmarsh.

James Strong (Epibiota Contract Manager) - Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute - Northern Ireland (AFBI)

Keith Cooper - Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)

I am a benthic ecologist working at the Cefas laboratory in Lowestoft. My work is principally concerned with the monitoring, assessment and management of human and environmental effects on marine ecology and function. In addition, I am responsible for the management of the benthic ecology laboratory. I have been a member of the committee for the past 10 years.

Steve Coates (Fish Contract Manager) - Environment Agency (EA)

I am a Technical Advisor for Transitional Waters Fisheries at the EA.  In this role, I deliver components of the Transitional Waters Classification Scheme, including a summary R&D reports, scientific papers and Taxonomic Fish ID Guide.  I also provide general policy and monitoring guidance for Transitional and Coastal Waters fish.  Prior to this I worked on marine & freshwater fisheries management for the NRA/EA Thames Region.

Lucie Skates - Countryside Commission for Wales/Environment Agency (CCW/EA)

I am a marine ecologist at the CCW and EA.  In this role I am integrating the monitoring of benthic invertebrate, marine angiosperms and macroalgae for the Habitats, Species and Water Framework Directives (where overlap occurs).  Prior to this I conducted my PhD on 'Mussel assemblages as biomonitors of anthropogenic disturbance in estuarine environments'. 

Joe Silke (Phytoplankton Contract Manager and Administrator) - Marine Institute, Republic of Ireland (MI (ROI))

I am a specialist in the area of Marine Biotoxins and  Harmful Algal Blooms for past 17 years with the Irish Marine Institute. In this role I am responsible for the National Monitoring programmes for shellfish toxicity and harmful phytoplankton. I have further experience within the areas of  quality control, climate change impacts and Water Framework tool development within the UK/Ireland Marine Plants Task team. Earlier experience in the field of shellfish aquaculture and marine environmental  surveys. I have served as national representative on several national and international working groups on Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) and their management including EU Food and Veterinary Office inspections of third countries as shellfish toxin expert, CODEX working group, Marine Institute lead PI on Biological Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms project and currently am serving a second term as chair of ICES Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dynamics. My research interests include applied aspects of HAB bio-physical coupling, operational forecasting of HABs and culturing/lifecycles of dinoflagellates.

Milly Hatton-Brown (Technical Secretary) - Sir Alister Hardy Foundation of Ocean Science (SAHFOS)

I have worked as a plankton analyst at SAHFOS for two and a half years, I analyse phyto and zooplankton on continuous plankton recorder samples from the North Sea. Alongside my analysis I worked as a project officer for GLOBEC - organizing international conferences and other smaller meetings - until the project's completion in 2010.