My name is Pip Gallagher, and I have been very fortunate to receive La Société’s Science and Nature Grant for 2025, which will support my final year studying Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth.
In September I will begin research for my dissertation focused on the study of a non-native Mediterranean species of kelp, Laminaria ochroleuca, which is common in the Channel since expanding its range northwards.
In light of the recent Oceans documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough, the extent to which kelp absorbs carbon from our atmosphere is, surprisingly, only starting to be understood – the documentary reports kelp to be a more efficient carbon sequestrator than rainforests or seagrass beds.
My research in September will be focused on the transport of carbon locked in the kelp itself, or biomass, and the rate at which broken fragments of kelp decay. I will be assessing the impacts of fouling by bryozoan animals, as well as factors such as light and heatwave-simulated temperatures. Understanding how this carbon-rich biomass is locked away in the ocean will be key to more reliably quantifying how much kelp forests contribute to Blue Carbon stores. Whilst my research will be based in Plymouth, the findings will be very relevant to Guernsey.
I hope that my findings, to be presented next summer, may spark more interest in Guernsey’s kelp forests, raise awareness of their services to us, and potentially promote research and mapping of them around the Bailiwick. I am very grateful to accept this bursary, and I hope to continue marine research at Master’s level.
Pip Gallagher
University of Plymouth
