The Marine Biological Association (MBA) is proud to celebrate the outstanding success of its postgraduate students, who secured an impressive seven awards at the Annual PlyMSEF2025 Postgraduate Student Conference held at Plymouth Marine Laboratory.
The conference, organised by the Plymouth Marine Science and Education Foundation (PlyMSEF), brought together early-career researchers from five leading marine institutions across the city. It provided a vibrant platform for the next generation of marine scientists to showcase pioneering research, share insights, and network across disciplines.
Among the MBA’s achievements, two postgraduate researchers received coveted Student Choice Awards, a testament to the high regard in which their peers hold their work.
Award-winning MBA students include:
- Amy Jeffries – Best Poster (Student Choice)
Physiological Limits & Behavioural Trade-Offs: How blue sharks navigate oxygen-depleted waters. - Courtney Swink – Best Talk (Judges’ and Student Choice)
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the sea: Mechanisms behind a facultative algicidal bacterium. - Caitlin Dye – Poster Winner
Complex relationships: Exploring the role of the diatom microbiome in host-parasite interaction. - Frieda Schlegel – Poster Runner-Up
Calcium channel inhibition: Effects on coccolithophore calcification and growth.
The MBA’s PlyMSEF Award winners, L to R: Amy Jeffries, Dr Yasmin Meeda, Courtney Swink, Caitlin Dye, Frieda Schlegel.
The MBA was also delighted to see Dr Yasmin Meeda, an alumna of its PhD programme, return to PlyMSEF as keynote speaker and judge. Now at Cranfield University, Dr Meeda is already making her mark in both research and science communication.
PlyMSEF is a charitable collaboration between five marine-themed institutions in Plymouth: DDRC Healthcare, the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the Ocean Conservation Trust, and the University of Plymouth Marine Institute. Its annual postgraduate conference is a cornerstone event celebrating the breadth and depth of marine research conducted in the region.
Amy Jeffries, winner of the Student Choice award for Best Poster, said: “Thank you very much to the students who voted for me, it means a lot. This is my first conference since starting my PhD, and I’m really looking forward to next year!”
“This is a phenomenal achievement for our students,” said Willie Wilson, Chief Executive Officer at the Marine Biological Association. “It reflects not only the exceptional quality of their research but also their ability to communicate it effectively to scientific and general audiences alike. We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and inspired by their contributions to marine science.
“I would also like to congratulate Aikatarina Konstantinou, from the University of Plymouth, for receiving the Talk Runner Up prize for her presentation on ‘Gravel beach dynamics from space.”
