Andrew J Davies » General ecology

Bangor University

Andy — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:04:07 +0000

As of May 2009, I have moved to a lectureship position at Bangor University. Based in Menai Bridge, Anglesey, I will be continuing the same research strands that I have followed for several years, including projects into the ecology of deep sea, subtidal and intertidal habitats.

My email address has changed to:
andrew.j.davies (at) bangor.ac.uk.

Mailing address:
Andrew J Davies
School of Ocean Sciences
Bangor University
Menai Bridge
LL59 5AB

Thanks,
Andy

Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship ’08

Andy — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:58:25 +0000

21st September 2008 – 3rd November 2008

I am just starting my Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship (WCMT) to the USA. My project for 2008 is entitled “Preserving the UK’s deep-sea heritage“. Within the confines of the fellowship, I’m travelling the US, meeting scientists and hopefully forging future collaborations. A highlight of the fellowship is a 2 week research cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. I’ll be joining a team of US researchers on the R/V Nancy Foster, we’ve access to an ROV and we’ll be deploying landers with some of my equipment on it for almost a year. These opportunities do not come often!

So far, I’ve made it to the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The trip from the UK took a combined total of over 20 hours. By hour 24, I’d firmly planted my head on the bed of the motel where I’m staying for the next 9 days until I fly to Pascagoula to meet the ship. I’ll be there for 4 days prepping the lander equipment before we set sail on the 5th October. We return on the 16th, and after a few days I fly to Seattle to the Marine Conservation Biology Institute. That rounds up the trip!

Today, 24th September, I’m in Wilmington NC. I’ve been meeting up with Dr Steve Ross. Steve is the chief scientist of the cruise and we’re just formulating ideas and discussing the science that we’ll do in the Gulf of Mexico.

Trip map, click to view a full sized image.

Infra-red video of fish on Hatton Bank

Andy — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:15:42 +0000

During June/July 2008, I was once again privilaged to join my Dutch colleagues on the RV Pelagia, a magnificent research ship from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. The cruise yielded a huge area of multibeam bathymetry, physical oceanography and insights into the biodiversity of the area.

One particularly notable attempt was to quantify and identify the fish community in the area, the water depth is nearly 1000 m. We used a timed bait release system mounted on the ALBEX lander and attached a new SAMS infra-red camera.

The results were pretty good. You can see a sneak preview below:

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