NMBAQC COMMITTEE (2023-2024)

• David Johns (Chair), Marine Biological Association
• Tim Mackie Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA-NI)
• Myles O'Reilly (Invertebrates Technical Manager) SEPA
• Graham Phillips (Finance Manager - Benthic, PSA, Macroalgae and Fish component) Environment Agency
• Rafael Salas (Phytoplankton Technical Manager) 
• James Albrecht and Kate Wade (Epibiota Technical Managers) JNCC
• Jim Ellis (Fish Technical Manager) Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
• Claire Mason (PSA Technical Manager) Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
• Gillian Annett (Macroalgae Technical Manager) Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA-NI)
• Matthew Green Natural Resources Wales
• Adele Boyd Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, NI
• Matthew Service Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, NI
• Alex Callaway Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, NI
• Vera Fonseca (eDNA) Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
• Claire Taylor (Technical Secretary) CPR Survey, Marine Biological Association

      External contractors (attending committee meetings)

• David Hall (Scheme Project Manager:  Benthic Invertebrates, Fish and PSA) APEM Ltd
• Ross Griffin (Contractors Representative) Ocean Ecology Ltd
• Lydia McIntyre-Brown (PSA Administrator) APEM Ltd
• Georgina Brackenreed-Johnston (Macroalgae Administrator) APEM Ltd
• Debbie Walsh (Fish Administrator) APEM Ltd

David Johns (Chair) - Director of Research and Facilities, Marine Biological Association

I am the Director of Research Facilities and member of the Senior Management Team at the MBA, where for many years, I analysed marine plankton and conducted research on plankton ecology. I am responsible for the running various departments such as CPR Survey, Ecology and Cell and Molecular, securing funding as well as providing expert advice to both internal and external researchers and groups. In addition to this, I am involved with a number of projects (some as PI), both at a national and international level, and a member of the Healthy and Biologically Diverse Seas Evidence Group.

Tim Mackie - Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA-NI) 

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 a participant in the scheme since its inception and on the committee for nearly 12 years.

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

I am a Senior Marine Ecologist with SEPA leading on marine macrobenthic infaunal invertebrate monitoring of inshore waters of Scotland.  I have been involved with the CSEMP and WFD programmes and more recently have been focusing on aquaculture assessment.  I have been a benthic invertebrate taxonomist since the early 1980s. I have worked with SEPA, since its inception in 1996, and prior to that with marine sections of the Clyde and Forth River Purification Boards.  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. I am a keen natural historian and a member of the Porcupine Marine Natural History Society, as well as the Glasgow Natural History Society.

Graham Phillips (Finance Manager) - Environment Agency (EA)

I am a Technical Specialist within the Environment Agency’s (EA) Estuarine and Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Service (ECMAS), with a focus on marine benthic ecology. I am the UK technical lead for the Water Framework Directive (WFD) benthic invertebrate quality element for transitional and coastal waters and have worked for the EA since 2003. Prior to this, I gained my Bachelors Degree in Marine Biology at Bangor University and my Masters Degree in Estuarine and Coastal Science and Management at the University of Hull, and worked as a laboratory technician at the Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies (IECS) at the University of Hull.

Claire Mason (PSA Technical Manager) - Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas)

I am a marine sedimentologist working at the Cefas laboratory in Lowestoft. My work involves quality assurance of sediment data for monitoring projects, as well as fieldwork, and method development. I am team leader for the Coastal Processes team at Cefas. I have been a member of the committee for the past 10 years, responsible for co-ordinating the development of PSA standardised methodology. I also co-chair the ICES Marine Chemistry working group.

Rafael Salas (Phytoplankton Technical Manager) - Observatorio de algas nocivas, Canary Islands

I am a Phytoplankton taxonomist and marine ecologist with 19 years of experience. I joined the marine Institute, marine Environment and Food Safety Services (MEFS) in Galway, Ireland in 2002. Working in the Biotoxins-Chemistry unit and later in the Phytoplankton unit as Scientific and technical Officer. I then moved to work in the Canary Islands where I organised and coordinated the International Phytoplankton Intercomparison (IPI) proficiency testing scheme in collaboration with IOC UNESCO in Copenhagen and OCHAB in Gran Canaria - my work here ceased during September 2024.

Jim Ellis (Fish Technical Manager) - Cefas

I am a fisheries ecologist working at the Cefas laboratory in Lowestoft. My work involves trawl surveys around the British Isles, the ecology of elasmobranch fish, ichthyology and the biodiversity of marine fish. I am also an active member of several ICES Expert Groups addressing various aspects of fisheries ecology.

James Albrecht (Epibiota Technical Manager) - Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) 

I am a Marine Monitoring Manager at the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) where I have been working to deliver the collection and analysis of seabed imagery data since 2014. I also coordinate the Big Picture Group, a collection of marine imagery users. The group collaborates to improve the methods, guidelines, and standards for the whole life cycle of marine imagery data by addressing tasks in the Benthic Imagery Action Plan.

Gillian Annett (Macroalgae Technical Manager) - Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA-NI) 

I am a Higher Scientific Officer with DAERA-NI, leading on marine macroalgal monitoring within inshore waters of Northern Ireland, driven by WFD & MSFD & Habitats Directive legislation. I have gained 20 years’ taxonomic identification experience within the Marine Monitoring & Assessment Team (MMAT), in our Marine & Fisheries Division.  

My technical skills & experience have been used to train up staff & students within our Intertidal Ecology Team (ITE), mainly in marine macroalgal species identification over the last 15 years.  Within the last 5 years, I have also been training the ITE team to identify Northern Ireland Saltmarsh species & non-native macroalgal & faunal species onshore & at marinas. 

Prior to this job, I gained my BSc(Hons) in Biological Sciences at Queens University Belfast, followed by 2 years research on ‘Zooplankton in the Irish Sea’ to gain my MPhil. Although I am a new member to this NMBAQC team, I have been a participant for the Rocky Shore & Opportunistic Macroalgal & Angiosperm components of this scheme for over 10 years. 

Matthew Green, Natural Resources Wales, Senior Marine Environmental Assessment Officer

I have been involved in marine science, conservation and education since 2007. I have worked at academic, private and government organisations in the UK, Portugal, Malaysia and New Zealand. I currently coordinate the Welsh national government marine protected area grab sample monitoring and analysis programme and am a key member of the national scientific dive team for Natural Resources Wales. I am also involved in survey, analysis and reporting and investigation for the Water Framework Directive and Habitats Directive around Wales. I have a broad interest across the spectrum of marine phyla from variety of habitats. I am based in Swansea and am the local Seasearch Co-ordinator and a tutor for Swansea and Gower peninsula. I have been a member of the NMBAQC Committee since 2013 and I organise NRW’s NMBAQC contracts covering all elements - I am proud of the achievements of the committee.