Steve Widdicombe is the Director of Science for Plymouth Marine Laboratory.
Steve is a marine ecologist with over 30 years of experience in using field observations and large manipulative experiments to address issues relating to benthic ecology, biodiversity, and ecosystem function. In particular, he is interested in quantifying the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance on the structure, diversity, and function of marine benthic communities. He has participated in several national and European-funded projects exploring human-induced environmental impacts (e.g. demersal fishing and climate change) on the diversity and function of marine ecosystems. Steve started his research career looking at the impacts of natural disturbance (bioturbation) on marine biodiversity and community structure and has continued this research theme ever since. In addition, much of his recent research has concentrated on the impacts of climate change on benthic organisms and ecosystems. He has been a principal investigator in a number of NERC programs including Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry, Arctic Change, and Marine Ecosystems, and led a large consortium within the NERC UK Ocean Acidification Programme.
He has published 150 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and has an H-index of 50 (WoS). In 2014 he was awarded a visiting Professorship in Marine Ecology by the University of Plymouth, in recognition of his contribution to Climate Change research as well as MSc and Ph.D. student supervision. In 2021 he was appointed the co-chair of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) and co-leads the UN Decade of Ocean Science program ‘Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS).
More information on his profile page.