About Us

The Blue Carbon Research Centre is directed by Professor Bill Austin (School of Geography and Sustainable Development) with a multidisciplinary team from across the University of St Andrews.

We have world-leading research facilities and researchers and would be pleased to discuss potential collaboration and partnership working.

Bill Austin

Professor in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, Director of the Blue Carbon Academy at St Andrews University, Chair of the Scottish Government’s Blue Carbon Forum and the UN Global Ocean Decade Programme for Blue Carbon (GO-BC).

Research interests include the science and policy aspects of blue carbon environments.

Find out more about Bill Austin’s work and expertise.

Sharon Ashbrook

Professor of Physical Chemistry and Head of the School of Chemistry.

Research interests include the development and application of solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for the study of inorganic and organic materials.

Find out more about Sharon Ashbrook’s work and expertise.

David Paterson

Professor of Coastal Ecology in the School of Biology and Executive Director of the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS).

Research interests include coastal ecology.

Find out more about David Paterson’s work and expertise.

Julie Hope

Lecturer in the School of Biology and marine biologist at the Scottish Oceans Institute.

Research interests include how microalgae and microbial biofilms in coastal and intertidal sediments influence ecosystem stability and function.

Find out more about Julie Hope’s work and expertise.

Daniel Dawson

NMR Spectroscopist in the School of Chemistry.

Research interests bridge Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) crystallography, density functional theory, and materials synthesis to unravel atomic-level disorder in ceramics, metal–organic frameworks, and framework solids.

Find out more about Daniel Dawson’s work and expertise.

Eva Stueeken

Reader in the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences.

Research interests include ancient nitrogen cycling, hydrothermal nutrient fluxes and redox change in deep time.

Find out more about Eva Stueeken’s work and expertise.

Craig Smeaton

Lecturer in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development.

Research interests include the underlying processes that govern the burial and storage of organic carbon in coastal and marine sedimentary environments.

Find out more about Craig Smeaton’s work and expertise.

George Biddulph

Part-time Associate Lecturer in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development and Secretariat for the UN Global Ocean Decade Programme for Blue Carbon (GO-BC).

Research interests include how terrestrial and marine ecosystems have responded to climate and anthropogenic pressures in the past.

Find out more about George Biddulph’s work and expertise.