Clare Bradshaw
About me
I am a marine ecologist and ecotoxicologist with an interest in how human disturbance affects marine ecosystems and the importance of ecological processes in determining the overall effects of disturbance.
I started my research career studying coral bleaching in the Indian Ocean and the ecosystem effects of bottom trawling in the Irish Sea. For the last ten or so years my focus has been on marine pollution and ecotoxicology, in particular radioactive contaminants. My most recent project is looking at the effects of bottom trawling on seabed processes and sediment and contaminant suspension in the Baltic Sea and Kattegat.
*INTERESTED IN A MASTERS PROJECT? I'm currently (Sept 2023) looking for a Masters student interested in Baltic benthic macrofauna and factors affecting their distribution*
Teaching
I am course organiser for the Marine Biology summer course at SU and regularly contribute to other courses.
Research
My research interests are aquatic ecosystems and the effects of disturbance.
My current main interest is the effects of bottom trawling. My first postdoc position looked at this issue in the Irish Sea, with a focus on benthic community structure and I have also had a project quantifiying contaminant release by bottom trawling in a Norwegian fjord. My most recent projects investigates the importance of bottom trawling for sediment suspension and nutrient and contaminant release from Baltic Sea sediments, as well as impacts on benthic fauna, biogeochemical cycling, carbon storage and ecosystem function in Baltic and Kattegat settings.
I also have an interest in environmental contamination, particularly on how ecological processes are affected, and affect, the fate of contaminants and their effects. I am interested in interactions between contaminants and environmental factors, combinations of contaminants, and sublethal and indirect effects in ecosystems. A large part of my research has centred on aquatic radioecology, the branch of ecotoxicology that studies the transport and effects of radionuclides in the aquatic environment. However, I've also worked with a range of other contaminants; for example I had a 3y project studying the effects of flame retardants on coastal Baltic ecosystems using micro- and mesocosms.
My publication list can be found in DIVA, on my Researchgate page or ORCID page.
