Our oceans contain a vast community of calcifying algae, known as coccolithophores, that play a critical role in the global carbon cycle through their ability to produce calcium carbonate in huge quantities. Coccolithophores are particularly abundant in the Southern Ocean, an area known as the Great Calcite Belt, but we know little about these communities due to their remote location.
Scientists at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and the University of Exeter have uncovered a key mechanism that helps diatoms – the microscopic algae that underpin marine food webs – survive when one of life’s essential nutrients runs low.
The Marine Biological Association (MBA) proudly marks its 142nd birthday, celebrating more than a century of world‑leading marine research, pioneering discoveries, and a growing international community dedicated to understanding and protecting our ocean.
The Marine Biological Association (MBA) recently hosted a collaborative Scallop Potting Workshop, bringing together fishermen, regulators, researchers, industry representatives, businesses, and environmental NGOs for a full day of focused discussion on the future of this promising low‑impact fishery.
The Marine Biological Association (MBA) recently welcomed a group of students from the University of Essex to Plymouth for a day of immersive fieldwork, lab exploration, and rocky shore discovery in an experience that they variously described as “inspiring”, “eye‑opening”, and “transformative” for their ambitions to pursue a career in marine science.
From the left: Dr Mathilde Lindhart (University of Plymouth), Professor Willie Wilson (MBA) and Dan Jones (PML) Marine life, climate change, and ocean health took centre stage at this year’s Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM26). Held in Glasgow from 22–27 February, the conference brought together thousands of researchers to share new insights and breakthroughs in understanding … Read more
The Marine Biological Association (MBA) welcomes the news that the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement has now become UK law, having received Royal Assent. This marks the completion of the UK legislative process required to ratify and implement the landmark High Seas Treaty.
Scientists at the Marine Biological Association have used a pioneering technological approach in individual diatom cells to uncover how these microscopic ocean organisms rapidly adjust their carbon uptake strategies to cope with changing conditions in the ocean.
Exeter University student and MBA Student Member, Jasmin Orak, joined the Marine Biological Association (MBA) this summer as a Spooner-Parke Summer Studentship awardee, spending 6 weeks immersed in hands-on marine microbiology research.
Until recently, the MBA Archive collections have been housed in two store rooms within the library, but a project to relocate the collections to one main store within the Citadel Hill laboratory is now coming to its conclusion.
The Marine Biological Association
The Laboratory,
Citadel Hill Plymouth,
Devon
PL1 2PB, UK
The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom is a registered charity in England and Wales (1155893), and is a company limited by Royal Charter (RC000865). The Marine Biological Association conducts, promotes and supports scientific research into all aspects of life in the sea.