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Credits

Future Oceans LAB

About

We Carry Out Multi-displinary Research on Marine Ecosystems

We are a Creative Research Group based at the Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba (Japan) that seeks to understand how changes in environmental conditions (focussing on ocean acidification, ocean warming, and marine heatwaves) will change our oceans. We achieve this with a multidisciplinary approach by using a combination of field, experimental, and desk-based approaches.

Experimental Work

Trophic Interactions
Competition
Ecophysiology and Energy Budgets
Population Genetics
Community Meta-barcoding

Fieldwork

Subtidal Surveys and Experiments
Intertidal Surveys and Experiments
Long-term environmental monitoring
Remotely Operated Vehicles (Drone, ROV)

Desk-based Work

Meta-analysis
Statistical Modelling (in R)
Environmental Modelling (in R)
Theoretical Ecology

Team

Who We Are

Our success depends on the strength of our team and collaborators.

We work with colleagues at the Shimoda Marine Research Center, as well as internationally with a number of different researchers worldwide.

Ben Harvey

Assistant Professor. Marine Ecology, Ecophysiology, Genetics, Meta-analysis, and Ecological Modelling.

Ben Harvey
Principal Investigator

Callum Hudson

PhD Student. Marine Ecology.

Callum Hudson
PhD Student, jointly supervised between OIST &
University of Tsukuba

Maaya Grove

4th-year Undergraduate Researcher. Marine Ecology.

Maaya Grove
4th-year Undergraduate Researcher, University of Tsukuba

Rhian Evans

Post-doctoral Researcher. Modelling marine heatwaves.

Rhian Evans
Post-doctoral Researcher, joint project between University of Hong Kong & University of Tsukuba

Davide Spatafora

Post-doctoral Researcher. Marine Ecology and Behaviour.

Davide Spatafora
Post-doctoral Researcher, joint project between University of Tsukuba & ICONA

Collaborators

Sylvain Agostini

Assistant Professor. Coral Ecophysiology and Ecology.

Sylvain Agostini
Collaborator
University of Tsukuba

Shigeki Wada

Assistant Professor. Marine Biogeochemistry, Ecosystem Functioning, and Carbon Sequestration.

Shigeki Wada
Collaborator
University of Tsukuba

Bayden Russell

Associate Professor. Marine Community Ecology, Ecophysiology, and Genetics.

Bayden Russell
Collaborator
University of Hong Kong

Jason Hall-Spencer

Professor. Marine Ecology, Natural History and Taxonomy.

Jason Hall-Spencer
Collaborator & Mentor
University of Plymouth
University of Tsukuba

Sean Connell

Professor. Community Ecology, Ecosystem Function, and Climate Change Processes.

Sean Connell
Collaborator & Mentor
University of Adelaide

Together we want to understand
how our oceans will be shaped by future conditions

Research

Current and Ongoing Research

We are broadly interested in how our oceans respond to change. Our current research includes work on:

  • The state of marine ecosystems, where we seek to understand the underlying processes controlling and maintaining these systems.
  • How marine ecosystems have changed in the past and how global climate and environmental change will influence them into the future.
  • The impact of changes in the dominant key habitat-forming species.
  • The implications of an altered marine ecosystem, in terms of ecosystem functioning and goods and services derived from these systems will be impacted.
  • How the stability of marine ecosystems will be altered by global climate and environmental change, and how this will influence ecosystem management

Acidification
&Warming

Experimental
Fieldwork
Desk-based

Our ocean acidification and warming research is performed using:

Field and manipulative experiments in Natural CO2 seeps in Japan, Italy and New Zealand, and latitiudal gradients in temperature

Experimentally with CO2- and temperature controlled aquarium mesocosms

Synthesis of literature using meta-analytical and other statistical techniques

Marine
heatwaves

Experimental

Desk-based

Our marine heatwaves research is performed using:

Modelling to assess trends and patterns in marine heatwaves

Experimentally with aquarium mesocosms.

Stability
&Management

Experimental
Fieldwork
Desk-based

Our ecosystem stability and ecosystem management research is performed using:

Field and manipulative experiments in Natural CO2 seeps in Japan

Assessments of ecosystem responses to both anthropogenic (ocean acidification) and natural (typhoons) disturbances, including their resistance, resilience and associated feedback mechanisms


Click on the thumbnails for more detailed information on our research

Our Publications

Click on the thumbnails for more detailed information on each publication

Prospective Students

How to join the lab

We are always looking for students interested in marine biology and ecology (PhD, Honours & MSc students). All projects are possible.

Contact

Get In Touch

Dr. Ben Harvey
Shimoda Marine Research Center
University of Tsukuba
Shimoda, Shizuoka
415-0025, Japan

ben.harvey@shimoda.tsukuba.ac.jp
www.shimoda.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/