Ocean Sciences @ Bangor University

As Welcome Week, in great weather (the sun always shines in north Wales!), is drawing to a close we thank the SOS peer guides for their efforts. They are the friendly faces behind Welcome Week and put a lot of work in to make the freshers (aka The Peerlings) feel at home.

A picture of sandy beach flanked by rocky outcrops on both sides. The sun is shining, the sky is blue with a few clouds, and the sea is calm.

A great day for the annual SOS beach trip with the new undergraduate students @bangoruniversity.bsky.social. Sandcastles were built, beach pictionary played, and much fun had by students new and old, and staff.

More top findings:
Gravel Champs: Working with Red on Sports to reduce single-use pollution output during events. Gathering support for the 'Don't be a gel end petition'.

Their top findings from events so far include:
EDSC: Cleaning every path up Yr Wyddfa, removing 2353 items!
BMC: Hiked up the PYG trail on Yr Wyddfa and removing litter from the upper Glaslyn bowl. 4,282 items of trash were removed.

They are both developing fundamental employability skills including: organisation, project management, collaboration, statistical analyses, and scientific writing/communication.

Jasmine is looking at how different levels of experience of volunteers leads to variation in litter data records, and what methodological factors influence this. This helps improve the accuracy of the TFT citizen science data, used to drive policy change such as the Deposit Return Scheme for the UK.

Chloe is researching different methodologies of environmental organisations, and how this may lead to variation in litter data. This matters for standardisation across environmental organisations, will promote efficiency, and help persuade authoritative bodies to implement policies.

Trashfree trails staff standing at the edge of a wooded area with a sign explaing what TFT is about: reconnect people with nature through the simple yet meaningful act of removing single use pollution from wild places.

Happy TFT staff member Jasmine in their gazebo promoting the work of the foundation.

A TFT staff member holding used energy gel packs above a sign saying "Don't be a gel end!"

Chloe Macleavy and Jasmine Scott-Dickins are both studying Marine Biology at SOS and are currently doing their placement year as research officers with Trashfree Trails (TFT). At the moment they are planning a litter research fieldwork day which will take place in Newborough Nature reserve.

People wearing life jackets are sitting in an open boat looking at samples taken from the sea. The sea is calm and teh sky is blue behind them.

SOS 3rd year marine biology students enjoyed their fieldwork at the Virginia Institute for Marine Science earlier this month. The weather was almost as good as in North Wales at the time...

She was joined by Becca, who is starting her Masters in Marine Environmental Protection next week at Ocean sciences.

A woman in water proofs is looking out over the ocean using a camera with a very large telescope lens.

Two people are standing behind a table with exhibition material from Sea Trust Wales.

Ruth is standing at the top of cliff looking out over the ocean and helping release tagged sea birds.

A crab is looking angrily into the camera.

Ruth Clarke, a third year Marine Biology and Oceanography student at SOS, is currently doing a placement year with @seatrustwales.bsky.social in Pembrokeshire to gain wider skills in conservation related topics.

Great talk on using historical sources to map herring spawning grounds by @georginahunt.bsky.social for @projectfishistory.bsky.social.

And she was shorted-listed for the best presentation award! @sosbangor.bsky.social

A group of people standing on a rocky beach in front of a cliff face with clear sedimentary laminations.

At the end of @tidalites.bsky.social 2025 in Liverpool, a group of attendees went on a road trip to Pembrokeshire to visit the tidalite at Wiseman's Bridge. Much fun, lots of discussions, and several project ideas came out of the trip. See you all in Korea in 4 year's time :)

A group of people with geophysical equipment on a sandy beach

A group of people with geophysical equipment on a sandy beach wiht the ocean and a cloudy sky in the background.

A person standing on a sandy beach with the ocean and a cloudy sky in the background.

Students from @bangoruniversity.bsky.social School of Ocean Sciences using geophysical techniques to trace out fresh groundwater flow on Ro Mawr beach near Llanddwyn during their third year Coastal sediment field study.

Open Country - The Menai Strait - BBC Sounds Martha Kearney visits the stretch of water which separates Anglesey from mainland Wales.

SOS staff member @yuengdl.bsky.social talked to the BBC about the Menai Strait: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... . A great take on the body of water next to Ocean Sciences @bangoruniversity.bsky.social

🦞 Come and join the fisheries team as a 'Research Project Support Officer in Fisheries Science' @sosbangor.bsky.social. The post is based in the Isle of Man at the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA). 🦐

jobs.bangor.ac.uk/details.php....

PhD opportunity @sosbangor.bsky.social on managing scallop fisheries to find the balance between conservation and fisheries yield. Get in touch if you're interested and I will email you the project description.

We’re witnessing last-ditch talks to secure a global plastic pollution treaty Negotiators in Geneva face a critical moment to agree a Global Plastics Treaty before talks end, with the planet’s future at stake.

The final @unep.org #INC52 session to develop a Global #PlasticsTreaty is underway

🕣 With less than 48 hours to go, the window for action is closing. Negotiators must now show courage if the world is to get a treaty capable of protecting people and the planet.

tinyurl.com/25rkm5xs

Out today! ‘Quantifying coral reef–ocean interactions is critical for predicting reef futures under climate change’ in @natecoevo.nature.com
#EcologicalOceanography #InterdisciplinaryResearch #CoralReefs #OceanicSubsidies

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

@sosbangor.bsky.social

Greek gods, Gama Festival and the battle of Cannae - ABC listen Who were Apollo and Artemis and why Greek mythology so inspires space exploration.

I spoke with ABC radio Australia about the #PlasticsTreaty

📻 Catch up: drag the slider to ~3.02 in www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

@sosbangor.bsky.social @bangoruniversity.bsky.social

Winnie Courtene-Jones stands on a lawn in from of the UN building in Geneva behind her. She is flanked by flagpoles flying the flags of the UN Nations.

Dr Winnie Courtene-Jones @winniecj.bsky.social from the School of Ocean Science @bangoruniversity.bsky.social has arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, to join the final round of negotiations linked to the Global Plastics Treaty.

Greek gods, Gama Festival and the battle of Cannae - ABC listen Who were Apollo and Artemis and why Greek mythology so inspires space exploration.

Off the back of the Treaty @winniecj.bsky.social also did a live 15-min interview with ABC Australia - it starts at 3hrs 02mins into to the show www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

🌎 The final UN negotiating session to develop a Global Plastics Treaty starts today!

👩‍🔬 I'm delighted to be attending this monumental event & continue contributing scientific evidence to the process to end #plasticpollution

@bangoruniversity.bsky.social

Connectivity and Adaptation Patterns of the Deep-Sea Ground-Forming Sponge Geodia hentscheli Across Its Entire Distribution Abstract. Geodia hentscheli, a species forming sponge grounds in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, is a common deep-sea organism, that plays a fundamen

New research led by Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales and involving School of Ocean Sciences @bangoruniversity.bsky.social found genetic connectivity in a deep sea species over 1000s of km, but genetic isolation over depth. Read all about it here:
academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Winnie will be observing the discussions as they unfold over the next two weeks (3rd – 15th August), and contributing scientific evidence, as well as meeting with other scientists and delegates from all over the world.

Here, delegates from 175 UN member states will be convening to develop and agree upon a legally binding treaty that addresses the full plastics lifecycle (from extraction of resources, through to disposal).

The Global Plastics Treaty is an ambitious global effort to end plastic pollution. This meeting in Switzerland, the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), marks the final round of negotiations.

Winnie Courtene-Jones stands on a lawn in from of the UN building in Geneva behind her. She is flanked by flagpoles flying the flags of the UN Nations.

Dr Winnie Courtene-Jones @winniecj.bsky.social from the School of Ocean Science @bangoruniversity.bsky.social has arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, to join the final round of negotiations linked to the Global Plastics Treaty.

A person standing in front of poster showing the wildlife and geology around Anglesey, Wales.

A person standing in front of poster showing the wildlife and geology around Anglesey, Wales.

Busy day in the @bangoruniversity.bsky.social marquee at the Eisteddfod yesterday as Drs Mollie Duggan-Edwards and Dei Huws launched our new poster highlighting the unique wildlife and geological structures found around the Anglesey coastline.