Dr Stephen Watson

Senior Ecosystems Services Scientist

stw@pml.ac.uk | +44 (0)1752 633100 (switchboard)

Dr Stephen Watson is a senior ecosystem services scientist based at Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

Stephen leads the Marine Ecology and Society group offshore energy portfolio with a vision: to understand how the UK (and other countries) can sustainably deploy marine renewable energy technologies, decarbonise its energy supply and meet its climate targets in harmony with nature.

He is deputy co-director of the UKERC – Energy Environment and Landscapes theme and leads ecosystem service related work across a range of other marine energy related projects including DREAMS – Decommissioning – Relative Effects of Alternative Management Strategies (Co I), MOET – Managing the Environmental Sustainability of the Offshore Energy Transition (Co I), INSITE Overall Synthesis Project (Co-I), ECOWind PELAgIO Physics-to-Ecosystem Level Assessment of Impacts of Offshore Windfarms (Co I) and Econex (PI). His research utilises: systematic reviews, ecological indicators, GIS, ecosystem models (e.g., Ecopath, InVEST) and methods of monetary and non-monetary evaluation to better understand the effects offshore energy structures have on marine ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide.

He also specialises in applying the Natural Capital approach to coastal, marine and terrestrial systems. Stephen is currently engaged in two collaborative research projects the NERC/ESRC-funded Sea the Value project and the PML Marine Social and Natural Capital Laboratory

Stephen conducted his PhD on the “impact of multiple stressors on coastal biodiversity and associated ecosystem services” at PML and the University of St Andrews from 2013-2017. Prior to his return to PML in 2020, he was a Senior Research Associate on the Solent Natural Capital Project at the University of Portsmouth. Other projects he has contributed to include the Valuing Nature (VNP) and Biodiversity & Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) research programmes.

Key Projects

Selected Publications

Watson, S.C.L, Beaumont, N.J. Nutrient Recycling and Waste Remediation as a Service from Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, Second Edition (2023 In Press)
Watson, S.C.L, Watson, G.J., Beaumont, N.J. and Preston, J., (2022). Inclusion of condition in natural capital assessments is critical to the implementation of marine nature-based solutions. Science of the Total Environment, 838, p.156026.
Lemasson, A.J., Somerfield, P.J., Schratzberger, M., McNeill, C.L., Nunes, J., Pascoe, C., Watson, S.C.L, Thompson, M.S., Couce, E. and Knights, A.M., (2022). Evidence for the effects of decommissioning man-made structures on marine ecosystems globally: a systematic map. Environmental Evidence, 11(1), pp.1-29.
Watson, S. C.L, Preston, J., Beaumont, N. J., & Watson, G. J. (2020). Assessing the natural capital value of water quality and climate regulation in temperate marine systems using a EUNIS biotope classification approach. Science of the total Environment, 744, pp.140688.
Watson, S.C.L., Grandfield, F.G.C., Herbert, R.J.H. and Newton, A.C., 2018. Detecting ecological thresholds and tipping points in the natural capital assets of a protected coastal ecosystem. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 215, 112-123.
Watson, S.C.L., Paterson, D.M., Queirós, A.M., Rees, A.P., Stephens, N., Widdicombe, S. and Beaumont, N.J., 2016. A conceptual framework for assessing the ecosystem service of waste remediation: In the marine environment. Ecosystem Services, 20, 69-81.

Notable Achievements

Sea and Society offshore energy lead and contact point.
In the last two years, Stephen has led and contributed to six successful research awards in excess of £1.7M.
Over 10 years of experience of working with ecosystem services and natural capital approaches. Invited speaker: Parliamentary and Scientific Committee UK Natural Capital 2021.
Lead developer of the ORIES (Offshore Renewable Impacts on Ecosystem Services) decision support tool. PML has been awarded a grant to fund a decision-making support tool to facilitate the expansion of marine UK wind energy in an environmentally-friendly way with support for the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Active member of the PML Marine Social and Natural Capital Laboratory. A testbed for transformative marine science integrating ecological, psychological, social & economic research, coupled with cutting-edge digital technologies Launched July 2023:

Committees & Memberships

Defra Marine Natural Capital and ecosystem assessment advisory committee (mNCEA)
PRIMARE (Partnership for Research in Marine Renewable Energy) committee.
PML Environmental Management Committee.
Member of the UKRI Early Career Researchers Forum.
Pool of Experts for the 2023 UN World Ocean Assessment (WOA).

Other Activities

CDT SuMMeR Supervisor 2023 -2027 CDTS219: ‘Can trait-based approaches inform habitat mapping of ecosystem function, process and services in benthic communities?’, hosted by Bangor University, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, in collaboration with The Crown Estate.

Dr Stephen Watson

Senior Ecosystems Services Scientist

Key Projects

Selected Publications

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