Knowledge Exchange for Wave and Tidal Energy (KEWTE)

Lead Research Organisation: Scottish Association For Marine Science
Department Name: Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory

Abstract

In the context of global climate change, imminent need for energy security and environmental conservation, renewable energy is now considered an important element of a sustainable energy supply. The UK and Scottish Governments have set ambitious targets for power generation from renewable sources: 50% of electricity is to be generated from renewable sources in Scotland, and 15% of the UK's total energy consumption is to be from renewable sources by 2020.

The UK has one of the richest wave & tidal energy resources in the world and is at the forefront of researching, developing & deploying this technology in challenging & energetic ocean environments. The industry's success depends on the natural environment (waves & tides), but often how wave & tidal energy devices interact with the environment is not well understood. Through decades of research UK scientists have gained substantial knowledge about our seas and a wealth of experience & data that could be translated and applied in support of sustainable wave and tidal energy generation. This project will create a common language between the UK research community and companies developing technology to harness ocean energy, and in doing so will support collaboration and information exchange between these groups, and with the UK government and industry regulators, to help maintain the ongoing growth of the industry.

While the UK is at the forefront of marine renewable energy development, the production of energy from the ocean is by no means limited to the UK. Indeed projects are being developed on almost every continent around the world which could be accessed by UK companies looking to develop overseas. Likewise, many international companies are interested in developing in the UK. Attracted by the UK's leading position in the field and our wealth of natural resources, some international developers have already secured a place at the wave and tidal energy device testing centres at EMEC on Orkney, and at Wave Hub in Cornwall. Many of the greatest challenges facing such developers, whether in the UK or abroad, is in understanding and managing the interaction of the devices with the environment. During this project the fellow will highlight worldwide hotspots for marine renewable energy development and identifying common environmental challenges around the world. A key objective is to identify, translate and apply world leading UK environmental research to help tackle these common challenges. This Fellowship will signpost international business to applicable UK research and help UK researchers form productive industry collaborations to increase the impact and uptake of their work. The project will highlight relevant research outputs in key challenge areas and summarize these in a series of Bulletins. These Bulletins will be made widely available and targeted to businesses and policy makers in order to increase environmental understanding and therefore reduce risk and costs to businesses associated with tackling environmental challenges. It is anticipated that this approach will encourage financial investment from the industry into the UK, and will give confidence to British companies looking to grow and develop overseas.

Academic input into the wave and tidal energy industries can help to reduce the environmental risks associated with many developments in the UK. Subsequently, by reducing the cost of environmental impact assessments and uncertainty around the extreme offshore environments where these projects are situated, confidence in the sustainability of the sector will increase. This will undoubtedly encourage further investment, both from the UK and from abroad, often into the rural or remote coastal locations where the energy resource is greatest. The support and networking provided throughout this project can therefore help to create jobs and spark regeneration in these areas while sustaining an economically strong, world-leading marine renewable energy sector.
 
Description At the outset (in 2015) communication pathways across the marine renewable energy sector were lacking, and stifled innovation and development. Several organisations, each emerging as a response to poor sectoral communication, were working in parallel, with poor connectivity. Differences in the world-views and visions that the actors within the sector had for the marine environment were a barrier to innovation and progress, limiting the flow of information between researchers, developers, regulators, and other groups. By mapping the sector, clear links between groups with influence are beginning to emerge - for example steering committees and groups with the most diverse membership appear to have the greatest influence within the marine renewable energy network (as will be elaborated in a forthcoming publication submitted in 2020). More specifically, both individuals and groups who are influential in the marine renewable energy space are well connected outwith their own sectors. For example, only those academics with links to industry, regulators, consultancies, and test centres were influential - while being linked to other academics confers no influence across the marine renewable energy network. With this in mind, in order for academic research to generate wide impact across an industrial innovation network, it is important that it is made available through many different pathways where it can be accessed not only by other academics, but also by regulators, industry, consultants, etc. This suggests that for research to be taken up beyond the research community, it must be communicated outwith traditional academic means. Overall, reflection on the knowledge exchange process itself is valuable, particularly alongside other case studies, where each revealed the need for a 'space' or a 'translator' between individuals and groups with different perspectives, providing a key role for knowledge exchange fellows (Billing et al. 2017).
Exploitation Route These findings, while not yet fully complete/elaborated/reported, can be taken forward by those working both in the marine renewable energy and environment spheres. For example, over the course of this knowledge exchange fellowship, it was acknowledged that as more structures were deployed for longer durations in the marine environment, marine growth on structures was becoming a greater risk to structural integrity and operation. I enabled device developers and engineers, environmental scientists, regulators, and other industry representatives to come together to begin to discuss marine growth, in itself forming a community around the topic, and enabling signposting for information and further project development. The preliminary findings of the social network analysis of the marine renewable energy sector, also indicate that multidisciplinary collaboration encourages better connectivity among working groups, steering committees, etc, in the sector; and also enables these groups to have greater influence. In order to generate impact from research, it is incredibly important that academics communicate their findings in ways that are accessible outwith academia. Going forward, this is a useful finding, in that when putting together advisory groups, steering committees, or other formalised collaboration structures, the most effective membership will be the more diverse. This could, for example, enable more streamlined environmental policymaking and regulation of the marine renewable energy sector, while reducing conflict.
Sectors Energy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice
 
Description Soon after award of this funding, the marine renewable energy landscape changed drastically. Front-running companies went out of business, and others changed their business strategy. The government's policy changes posed challenges to investors. Numerous new organisations formed to support the industry from various perspectives, including the Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme for Ocean Energy (ORJIP), which addresses environmental impacts. Rather than work in parallel with these organisations, I have taken up a role in joining them together, supporting them by bringing together science and scientists under common initiatives. The main finding of the first year of my KE fellowship was that communication pathways across disciplines and groups were lacking. the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, an industry body, with my help, scoping, and signposting, working in-line with the ORJIP to establish projects with support marine renewable energy. Similarly, I have brought the MASTS Renewable Energy Forum closer to ORJIP, aligning priorities to building on what the NERC-funded MREKE programme has already achieved. In some areas, projects have been taken forwards in response to specific gaps I identified. For example, as a result of the scoping study carried out by myself and Annie Linley (NERC) the ORE Catapult funded two feasibility studies based on environmental science: development of a collision detection device for tidal turbines, and technologies for monitoring and mapping marine growth. The former of these studies was carried out by CENSIS, who consulted widely within the marine science community, while the latter was carried out through a multidisciplinary collaboration across SAMS, PML Applications, and AkzoNobel. The latter study was highlighted by BBC News (Scotland), and in the ORE Catapult's Circuit magazine, and has since had substantial attention from the industry and research communities. Marine renewable energy device developers are becoming aware of how marine growth can affect the performance of their devices and the cost effectiveness of their operational practises, while environmental scientists have a better understanding of the needs of the marine industry. Together with a further NERC KE Fellow (Jennifer Loxton), I hosted a cross-sector workshop on marine growth and renewable energy devices, in order to set an agenda for research in this area which best meets industry needs, enabling and signposting renewable energy developers to appropriate teams for information about marine growth. As a result of the publication I produced with the ORE Catapult on monitoring and mapping marine growth, several organisations have come forward requesting consultancy work on the basis of that study. Unfortunately I have not been able to personally take those up, as my new positions in 2017 and 2018 precluded my participation. However, those opportunities were passed on and pursued successfully via the commercial arm of SAMS, SAMS Research Services Ltd., providing new services to the offshore renewable energy industry based on the NERC Science from my Knowledge Exchange Fellowship. However, the work I piloted on marine growth has now inspired the Portuguese wave energy test centre, WavEC, to develop a biofouling database for marine renewable energy which can be expanded upon with the inclusion of marine growth data worldwide. Now, in a new, renewable-energy related postdoctoral position, I hope to work with WavEC again in 2020 and 2021 to expand upon this database and potentially develop predictive algorithms to be tested in the future. More widely, my overall experiences and understanding of knowledge exchange has been incorporated into the Highlands and Islands Enterprise Science and Innovation Audit, which is aimed at enhancing economic growth in the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland. My contributions help explore how science can contribute to and support development of the offshore renewable energy sector (and other sectors) in the region.
First Year Of Impact 2015
Sector Energy,Environment
Impact Types Economic,Policy & public services
 
Description Welsh wave and tidal energy demonstration zones workshop
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Membership of a guideline committee
Impact I was invited by Natural Resources Wales and the Crown Estate to participate in a two-day workshop to establish the regulatory approach to be taken towards environmental consenting of wave and tidal energy projects within the Welsh Demo Zones. As the only researcher invited to this event, I was responsible for ensuring that the research community perspective was a part of discussions, and that the other attendees maintained realistic expectations of what the research community could achieve. This workshop resulted in a report, to be used by Natural Resources Wales and the Crown Estate as marine renewable energy developers begin to apply for licences within the Welsh demonstration zone sites, with the aim of improving and streamlining the regulatory approach.
 
Description Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Biofouling Mapping and Monitoring
Amount £13,536 (GBP)
Organisation Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2015 
End 01/2016
 
Description Pro-Tide Project Environmental Investigator
Amount £14,000 (GBP)
Organisation Isle of Wight Council 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 10/2014 
End 09/2015
 
Description Biofouling partnership 
Organisation AkzoNobel
Country Netherlands 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution This collaboration was focussed around mapping and monitoring marine growth (biofouling) on offshore renewable energy devices. While my team carried out an industry consultation on key issues around marine fouling, I was responsible for reviewing the problem of marine growth from a biological perspective, and provided an industry report on the issue, and potential solutions. I also provided a set of next-steps for addressing the problem. These outputs will be published on the ORE Catapult website. I also organised a workshop as part of a side event at the International Conference on Ocean Energy to disseminate our findings, and to bring industry and regulators together with scientists to begin to prioritise issues in this area, to identify knowledge gaps, and to highlight 'quick-wins' in addressing biofouling.
Collaborator Contribution Our partners the ORE Catapult project managed this project and provided funding. PML Applications worked together with us on the industry consultation, and also identified options for development of a biofouling sensor. As a coatings manufacturer, AkzoNobel provided input, advice, and guidance across all stages of the project.
Impact Industry technical report: Marine Growth Monitoring and Mapping BBC Scotland - piece on 10:00pm news (TV), piece on radio (news briefiings and on Farming Today) Article in the Offshore Renewable Energy Circuit Magazine, Issue 7, spring 2016
Start Year 2014
 
Description Biofouling partnership 
Organisation Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution This collaboration was focussed around mapping and monitoring marine growth (biofouling) on offshore renewable energy devices. While my team carried out an industry consultation on key issues around marine fouling, I was responsible for reviewing the problem of marine growth from a biological perspective, and provided an industry report on the issue, and potential solutions. I also provided a set of next-steps for addressing the problem. These outputs will be published on the ORE Catapult website. I also organised a workshop as part of a side event at the International Conference on Ocean Energy to disseminate our findings, and to bring industry and regulators together with scientists to begin to prioritise issues in this area, to identify knowledge gaps, and to highlight 'quick-wins' in addressing biofouling.
Collaborator Contribution Our partners the ORE Catapult project managed this project and provided funding. PML Applications worked together with us on the industry consultation, and also identified options for development of a biofouling sensor. As a coatings manufacturer, AkzoNobel provided input, advice, and guidance across all stages of the project.
Impact Industry technical report: Marine Growth Monitoring and Mapping BBC Scotland - piece on 10:00pm news (TV), piece on radio (news briefiings and on Farming Today) Article in the Offshore Renewable Energy Circuit Magazine, Issue 7, spring 2016
Start Year 2014
 
Description Biofouling partnership 
Organisation Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution This collaboration was focussed around mapping and monitoring marine growth (biofouling) on offshore renewable energy devices. While my team carried out an industry consultation on key issues around marine fouling, I was responsible for reviewing the problem of marine growth from a biological perspective, and provided an industry report on the issue, and potential solutions. I also provided a set of next-steps for addressing the problem. These outputs will be published on the ORE Catapult website. I also organised a workshop as part of a side event at the International Conference on Ocean Energy to disseminate our findings, and to bring industry and regulators together with scientists to begin to prioritise issues in this area, to identify knowledge gaps, and to highlight 'quick-wins' in addressing biofouling.
Collaborator Contribution Our partners the ORE Catapult project managed this project and provided funding. PML Applications worked together with us on the industry consultation, and also identified options for development of a biofouling sensor. As a coatings manufacturer, AkzoNobel provided input, advice, and guidance across all stages of the project.
Impact Industry technical report: Marine Growth Monitoring and Mapping BBC Scotland - piece on 10:00pm news (TV), piece on radio (news briefiings and on Farming Today) Article in the Offshore Renewable Energy Circuit Magazine, Issue 7, spring 2016
Start Year 2014
 
Description ICES Marine Renwable Energy & ICES Marine Benthal & Renewable Energy Development 
Organisation International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Department Working Group on Marine Benthal and Renewable Energy Developments
Country Global 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Through this partnership, I am undertaking a global survey of connectivity across the marine renewable energy community. We are working towards carrying out a social network analysis of researchers and their partners worldwide, to establish pathways to influence across the industry. We have now finished analysis of our data and a publication will be submitted in 2019.
Collaborator Contribution As part of this partnership I developed and tested a survey to be used and distributed across marine renewable energy networks worldwide. I distributed the survey, and have encouraged its spread. I also developed the coding to undertake the analysis of the survey results. More than 300 individuals from 24 countries responded to our survey, the results of which are now being written up. A manuscript will be submitted for publication in 2019.
Impact More than 300 individuals in 24 countries from across the academic, industry, policy, and NGO sectors responded to a the survey I developed, and their responses are now being developed into a publication examining the pathways through which science and academic research has the greatest impact in the marine renewable energy industry and policymaking sectors. This will be submitted in 2019, and on publication will be accompanied by a non-technical summary document. The results were also presented at the MASTS conference in autumn 2018.
Start Year 2016
 
Description ICES Marine Renwable Energy & ICES Marine Benthal & Renewable Energy Development 
Organisation International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Country Denmark 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Through this partnership, I am undertaking a global survey of connectivity across the marine renewable energy community. We are working towards carrying out a social network analysis of researchers and their partners worldwide, to establish pathways to influence across the industry. We have now finished analysis of our data and a publication will be submitted in 2019.
Collaborator Contribution As part of this partnership I developed and tested a survey to be used and distributed across marine renewable energy networks worldwide. I distributed the survey, and have encouraged its spread. I also developed the coding to undertake the analysis of the survey results. More than 300 individuals from 24 countries responded to our survey, the results of which are now being written up. A manuscript will be submitted for publication in 2019.
Impact More than 300 individuals in 24 countries from across the academic, industry, policy, and NGO sectors responded to a the survey I developed, and their responses are now being developed into a publication examining the pathways through which science and academic research has the greatest impact in the marine renewable energy industry and policymaking sectors. This will be submitted in 2019, and on publication will be accompanied by a non-technical summary document. The results were also presented at the MASTS conference in autumn 2018.
Start Year 2016
 
Description MASTS Marine Renewable Energy Forum 
Organisation Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution I have become a member of the MASTS Marine Renewable Energy Forum directly as a result of my NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship. As part of this forum I have organised an academic writing retreat for scientists working in this field, and developed a grant funding scheme for public outreach around marine renewable energy. I also planned and organised a workshop at the MASTS Annual Science Meeting aimed at bringing engineers and ecologists together to address multidisciplinary problems in the marine renewable energy field.
Collaborator Contribution The MASTS Marine Renewable Energy Forum has provided me with the links needed to achieve the aims of my KE fellowship, allowing me to foster communication between industry, academic, and government-based stakeholders. As a result, I have also been invited to join the ICES Working Group on Marine Renewable Energy, in order to increase links between MASTS and ICES, as well as with policy.
Impact £3000 awarded in funding for marine renewable energy outreach (to Dr. Jen Loxton at the Environmental Research Institute) A writing retreat for 12 marine renewable energy scientists - £3000 award from the forum Closer engagement between the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and the academic community, via this forum. As of 2017 the ORE Catapult now sit on the forum. Two workshops at the MASTS Annual Science Meeting - 2015 and 2016.
Start Year 2014
 
Description Ocean Energy Systems Annex IV 
Organisation Ocean Energy Systems (OES)
Country Portugal 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Between 2015 and 2017 I contributed to the Ocean Energy Systems Annex IV Group as a Country Lead for the UK, alongside Ian Hutchinson from the consultancy Aquatera. This position had initially been held by Annie Linley, previously the NERC Marine Renewable Energy Knowledge Exchange Programme Lead.
Collaborator Contribution My partners contributed to this collaboration informally, in terms of advice and steering, but also formally, in terms of providing resources to host a webinar and a workshop at an international conference.
Impact I participated in two steering group workshops, and presented an online webinar (details provided in the appropriate section of Researchfish). Through this collaboration I was also able to co-organise the Environmental Interactions on Marine Renewable Technologies (EIMR) and Annex IV workshop series at the International Conference on Ocean Energy in Edinburgh in 2016. This collaboration is both international and multidisciplinary. It involves marine scientists interested in marine renewable energy but from a variety of fields, including benthic ecology, oceanography, geology and geophysics, ornithology, fish ecology, and acoustics and marine mammal ecology.
Start Year 2015
 
Description SciBAR Installations Network 
Organisation Nottingham Trent University
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The SciBAR Installations Network was established in 2017 and is a multidisciplinary collaboration of lawyers, social scientists, engineers, environmental scientists, and policymakers working on the implications of installing new energy structures in the Arctic - both oil and gas and marine renewable energy. I was invited to this workshop after the end of my Knowledge Exchange Fellowship in order to share my combined knowledge and experience of marine renewable energy, as well as my new project field of knowledge exchange for Arctic climate science. Over a series of two workshops, we developed ideas for new projects and publications, and were successful in proposing a special section in the Arctic Yearbook publication on oil and gas in the Arctic. Together with one of the network leaders, Prof. Elizabeth Kirk, I published a paper which was published in this issue of Arctic Yearbook.
Collaborator Contribution Nottingham Trent and Aberdeen Universities provided the funding to bring the group together, including room space/venues, as well as publication costs for our publication.
Impact One multidisciplinary publication: Kirk, E.A., and R.G. Miller (2018). Oil and gas installations in the Arctic: responding to uncertainty through science and law. Arctic Yearbook 2018 (258-274). This publication was the result of a collaboration between an environmental scientist (myself), and a lawyer (Prof. Elizabeth Kirk).
Start Year 2017
 
Description SciBAR Installations Network 
Organisation University of Aberdeen
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The SciBAR Installations Network was established in 2017 and is a multidisciplinary collaboration of lawyers, social scientists, engineers, environmental scientists, and policymakers working on the implications of installing new energy structures in the Arctic - both oil and gas and marine renewable energy. I was invited to this workshop after the end of my Knowledge Exchange Fellowship in order to share my combined knowledge and experience of marine renewable energy, as well as my new project field of knowledge exchange for Arctic climate science. Over a series of two workshops, we developed ideas for new projects and publications, and were successful in proposing a special section in the Arctic Yearbook publication on oil and gas in the Arctic. Together with one of the network leaders, Prof. Elizabeth Kirk, I published a paper which was published in this issue of Arctic Yearbook.
Collaborator Contribution Nottingham Trent and Aberdeen Universities provided the funding to bring the group together, including room space/venues, as well as publication costs for our publication.
Impact One multidisciplinary publication: Kirk, E.A., and R.G. Miller (2018). Oil and gas installations in the Arctic: responding to uncertainty through science and law. Arctic Yearbook 2018 (258-274). This publication was the result of a collaboration between an environmental scientist (myself), and a lawyer (Prof. Elizabeth Kirk).
Start Year 2017
 
Description 10 days embedding in WavEC (Wave Energy Centre, Portugal) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact I spent 10 days embedded as part of the staff at WavEC to better understand the wave energy industry from an international perspective. I worked with their engineering staff, as well as their environmental and social science groups. We started to develop a collaboration around putting together a tool to help wave energy developers predict environmental risks at potential installation sites with a local business, but have since faltered at finding appropriate funding which would support such an international project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Annex IV International Webinar on Marine Renewable Energy 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Was invited to present an 'Expert Webinar' on marine renewable energy developments, the status of current UK research, and a minor focus on biofouling. The webinar reached approximately 50 attendees, from industry, regulatory, NGO, and academic backgrounds, and sparked further interest in the subject.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL https://tethys.pnnl.gov/events/role-biofouling-marine-renewable-energy-development-webinar
 
Description BBC Scotland News 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact We produced a press release for this project, which was picked up by BBC Scotland. Pieces were developed & published for the online BBC news website, for BBC Reporting Scotland, and for BBC radio. This has sparked a great deal of attention around what environmental scientists and biologists can do for marine industries interested in better understanding biofouling - potentially saving them money and or time and effort. After the pieces went live, I received numerous communications about potential collaborations from both within the UK and internationally. As a result, we have now developed a new collaboration with the University of Chester, Menatech Ltd, and others which has resulted in an Innovate UK bid. We are also developing new collaborations to bring in further funding via the european OCEAN ERA-NET and Horizon 2020 calls. This has sparked real interest in developing a european network on biofouling, with new contacts from Sweden, Norway, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the UK.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-35459890
 
Description Developing the Blue Economy in the Highlands and Islands 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact A series of meetings to engage Highlands and Islands Enterprise (our local enterprise partnership) and other members across the Highlands and Islands region to promote the development of a 'Blue Economy' in the region, based on science and evidence. This series of meetings resulted in a proposal to the government to carry out a 'Science and Innovation Audit' for the region. This could lead to further funding input to the region to support the Blue Economy.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/science-and-innovation-audits-submit-an-expression-of-int...
 
Description EIMR/ICOE Expert Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact I was asked by the organisers of the Environmental Interactions of Marine Renewables (EIMR) conference to help organise a side event at the International Conference on Ocean Energy (Edinburgh, February 22-26). We developed three parallel workshops around key issues in marine renewable energy: collision risk, fisheries interactions, and biofouling. I was personally responsible for organising the expert workshop on biofouling. We invited a wide range of participants, and on the day had 18 delegates, with an even spread of academic, industry, regulatory, and consulting backgrounds. The workshop aimed to address a series of linked ecologically and industrially relevant questions around marine growth on marine renewable energy devices.

At the time of this submission, it is too soon to evaluate impacts, but certainly new collaborations will have developed, with anticipated outcomes around new investment. The group unanimously agreed on working towards establishing a network around the topic, as the key finding of the day was that new and effective pathways are needed to communicate knowledge between marine ecologists and renewable energy developers, such that they can make efficiency and operational gains, with economic impact.

The outcomes of this workshop were shared as part of the main ICOE conference programme, to a wider industry audience (see URL below).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.renewableuk.com/en/events/conferences-and-exhibitions/icoe-2016/side-events/environmental...
 
Description Engaging Statoil and their Hywind project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Presented on the current status of research in marine renewable energy to the Hywind project, a floating offshore wind energy project being developed by Norwegian company, Statoil. The presentation, as one of many, resulted in an ongoing collaboration with Statoil and Hywind to help them develop their project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description ICES Working Group on Marine Renewable Energy Annual Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact I participated in the 2017 ICES Working Group meeting on Marine Renewable Energy Development in Lisbon, Portugal, where regulators, policymakers, academics, and industry bodies met to share expertise and experience in the marine renewable energy field. We exchanged information on successful initiatives within the industry and explored how to improve and streamline policy and practise, as well as applied research needs for the industry. Countries represented included: Norway, UK, Ireland, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Expert%20Group%20Report/SSGEPI/2017/01%20WGMRE%20-%20...
 
Description ICES Working Group on Marine Renewable Energy annual meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact 10-15 international experts on offshore renewable energy from across Europe and beyond came together for three days in Cork, Ireland, to discuss international progress on environmental impacts work on marine renewable energy. Attendees included government organisations, policymakers and government regulators, as well as a handful of academics. This sparked much discussion, particularly around how 'risk' is communicated to regulators and policymakers. This discussion contributed to an ongoing piece of work about characterizing statistical significance and risk in the context of both science and industry. Furthermore, it also catalysed a piece of work undertaking a social network analysis of the global offshore renewable energy industry, in collaboration with a further ICES group (Marine benthal and renewable energy development)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description MASTS Annual Science Meeting associated workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Scoping workshop investigating issues around getting environment-related projects off the ground within the offshore renewable energy industry. There is a large gap between environmental impacts research and the ability of the industry and regulatory bodies to integrate that research into their decision-making processes. This workshop carried out a gap-analysis with industry and regulatory representatives to understand how best to move forward so that research is taken up more effectively. This workshop led to a further 'expert' workshop, carried out in 2017 in partnership with the NERC-funded VertIBase KE project, and a revised status-report updating the NERC briefing documents produced by the NERC MREKE programme.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015,2016
 
Description MASTS Marine Renewable Energy Forum joint-workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact A focussed follow-on workshop from the MASTS Annual Science Meeting workshops, specifically held to design future knowledge exchange and innovation projects in partnership with industry, regulator, and academic groups. Workshop was held in conjunction with the NERC VertIBase KE Project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description POST Conference on Brexit and science (Westminster) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Attended the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology conference on Brexit as part of the NERC delegation. Discussed my KE work and NERC science in general on offshore renewable energy with parliamentary staff and parliamentary researchers. Participated in a breakout group on Energy and Climate Change.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2016/september/brexit-conference-2016/
 
Description Presentation at Scottish Space Symposium 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact I was invited to give a talk at the Scottish Space Symposium on opportunities for the use of satellite products and technologies in the marine renewable energy sector. This sparked several discussions, and has been followed up by both the Scottish Centre for Excellence in Satellite Applications, the Satellite Applications Catapult, and by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (who are looking for potential applications to the European Space Agency combining satellite data and renewable energy technologies).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015