Scottish Association for Marine Science

Scottish Association for Marine Science
SAMS
Type Research institute
University
Established 1884
Administrative staff
 ca 150
Students 160
Undergraduates 100
Postgraduates 30
30
Location Oban, Argyll, Scotland
Coordinates: 56°27′04″N 5°26′27″W / 56.45115°N 5.440741°W / 56.45115; -5.440741
Campus Dunbeg
Director Prof N Owens
Affiliations UHI
UNU
NERC
MASTS
Website www.sams.ac.uk
Aerial view of Scottish Association for Marine Science showing its location on the shores of Loch Linnhe, Scotland
Scottish Association for Marine Science. The institute is sited on the Scottish west coast, close to a wide range of marine habitats.

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is one of Europe's leading marine science research organisations, one of the oldest oceanographic organisations in the world and is Scotland’s largest and oldest independent marine science organisation.

Sited on the Dunstaffnage peninsula, beside Dunstaffnage Castle and near Oban, Argyll on the Scottish west coast, SAMS marine research and teaching portfolio is diverse in topic and discipline, global in outlook and relevance, and delivered in partnership with academic, business, government, regulatory, voluntary and civic society colleagues.

Advanced research is carried out in the marine environment, including polar research in the Arctic[1] and Antarctic.

SAMS delivers marine science for a productive and sustainably managed marine environment through innovative research, education and engagement with society.

History

The Association was founded following the landmark Challenger expedition during the 1870s. The Scottish Marine Station, as it was known back then, was the first of such "marine stations" set up in Scotland. It grew quickly and just three years later, Millport Marine Station (now University Marine Biological Station Millport) was founded to further the research.[2]

The site that SAMS now occupies was first developed by the Scottish Marine Biological Association in the late 1960s as a replacement for their outdated laboratory facilities in Millport, Isle of Cumbrae.

The research laboratories at Dunstaffnage were rebuilt and re-equipped in 2004 and new teaching facilities were provided in 2010.[3]

The Ocean Explorer Centre[4], at Dunbeg, allows visitors to learn about the marine environment and the academic research going on at SAMS.[5]

Research

SAMS science focuses on three major and urgent challenges which humankind and our natural world must face:

  • to discover the physical, chemical, geological and biological processes that drive the marine system so that we have the knowledge needed
  • to describe and quantify how our coastal environment, where more than half the human population resides, responds to ever-increasing man-made pressures such as climate change, habitat destruction, pollution and resource overexploitation and to work with society on developing and testing mitigation and adaptation measures and finally
  • to develop a sustainable blue economy so that we can use the marine environment for the benefit of people without degrading its health and productivity
  • to address these major challenges SAMS science is multi-disciplinary, drawing on the expertise from physicists, mathematicians, biologists, geologists, chemists, social scientists, computer scientists, technologists, engineers and communicators.

In addition to marine research, in the fields of marine processes and climate change, renewable energy, the Arctic, marine prosperity and sustainability, and mining impacts, the institute has a commercial branch[6] and an education department.[7]

Business

SAMS Research Services Ltd (SRSL) is the wholly owned trading subsidiary of SAMS and is also based at the Scottish Marine Institute, Dunstaffange. SRSL has been a part of the SAMS Group since 2002. The subsidiary delivers specialist marine consultancy and survey services, underpinned by the scientific research taking place at the research institute. SRSL aims to mitigate the risks involved in industry interaction with the marine environment, while promoting sustainable and productive oceans. SRSL provides environmental services to multiple industries, including aquaculture, renewable energy, marine mining, oil & gas (decommissioning), seafood security and marine biotechnology. The company also manufactures devices for autonomous snow and ice measurement used in polar environments.

Facilities

Robotics facility

Using a multitude of flying and diving robots, the experienced and skilled staff and students at SAMS' Scottish Marine Robotics Facility develop, adapt, deploy and operate latest smart technologies to answer pressing environmental science questions. These new technologies drive marine science forward and the new knowledge enables people to plan how we interact with the marine realm more sustainably. The facility has an exceptional range of capabilities that support academic, regulatory and commercial projects. From aerial mapping to surface fluxes and the properties of deep water, the Scottish Marine Robotics Facility has technologies that span the atmosphere, ocean and ice.

SAMS hosts the National Facility for Scientific Diving,[8] the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa[9] and the Scottish Marine Robotics Facility .

It is an independent collaborative centre of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)[10] and an academic partner to the University of the Highlands and Islands.

SAMS is also a member of the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS), and leads Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES).

Education

SAMS offers students a complete educational pathway from Undergraduate through to PhD studies.

Undergraduate

Undergraduate studies at SAMS offer three Bachelor's degree options to incoming students¬

  • Marine Science BSc (Hons)
  • Marine Science with Arctic Studies BSc
  • Marine Science with Oceanography & Marine Robotics BSc

Postgraduate

Postgraduate studies at SAMS offer three master-s degree options for incoming students:

  • Ecosystem-Based Management of Marine Systems MSc
  • Aquaculture, Environment and Society (ACES) Joint Masters
  • Algal Biotechnology MSc Marine Science

PHD

SAMS offer differing PhD studentships over the course of the year when projects or funding becomes available. There is also the opportunity for students who want to self-fund a PhD project.

References

  1. ↑ "On patrol in the Arctic". BBC News. 3 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "About us: A short history of marine science and the Association". Scottish Association of Marine Science. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory". Association of European Marine Laboratories. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Ocean Explorer Centre
  5. ↑ Campbell, Rita (16 June 2014). "New Ocean Explorer Centre offers "edutainment"". Press and Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  6. ↑ SAMS Research Services Limited
  7. ↑ SAMS Education
  8. ↑ National Facility for Scientific Diving
  9. ↑ Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa
  10. ↑ NERC - Scottish Association for Marine Science
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