Professor Nicola Beaumont
Head of Science - Sea and Society
nijb@pml.ac.uk | +44 (0)1752 633100 (switchboard)Professor Nicola Beaumont leads the Sea and Society team at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and is an internationally established expert in the assessment and valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. She has honorary professorships at the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, and the College of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter. Her research spans scales from local to global, including international development and a variety of environmental challenges, for example: renewable energy, plastics, flood and erosion management, climate change, ocean acidification, and marine planning and policy. She has extensive people and project management experience, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary projects. Nicola has secured and managed >£5 million of research funding as PI, including leading three large (£1million+) multi-institute collaborative projects. Nicola has a sustained publication record and has contributed to a number of high level reports, including acting as the lead economist for marine and coastal margins for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA).
Nicola’s research has recorded impact in the policy sphere, including underpinning the designation of marine conservation zones and shaping government policy such as the Marine Bill and the Natural Environment White Paper, The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature. Nicola is skilled in research communication including working with academics, policy makers, managers and varied research user groups. She embraces outreach and media, including festival related STEM activities, YouTube, and interviews with radio, newspaper and television. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is of paramount importance to Nicola and she is experienced in the development and implementation of EDI strategies. As a senior academic Nicola draws on her people management skills to support and guide numerous teams, colleagues, and students, including formal and informal mentoring.
- UKERC (UK Energy Research Centre) Phase 4 Theme 3: Energy, environment and landscapes Lead PI for the Theme and Co-director of UKERC. 2019 – 2024
- The Economics of Marine Plastic Pollution: What are the Benefits of International Cooperation? ESRC funded. 2019 – 2022 (co-I)
- Reducing the impacts of plastic waste in the Eastern Pacific Ocean GCRF funded 2019 – 2022
- North Atlantic Microplastic Centre (NAMC) Lead of Society and Regulation pillar. Funded by Agenda Vestlandet 2020–23
- Risks and Solutions: Marine Plastics in Southeast Asia (co-I) UKRI funded 2020-23
- DREAMS - Decommissioning - Relative Effects of Alternative Management Strategies
- INSITE Overall Synthesis Project
- PELAgIO - Physics-to-Ecosystem Level Assessment of Impacts of Offshore Windfarms
- MOET- Managing the Environmental Sustainability of the Offshore Energy Transition
Beaumont, N. (editor), 2020 Demystifying Interdisciplinary Working (in Valuing Nature) Valuing Nature Paper VNP25. https://valuing-nature.net/demystifying-interdisciplinary-working
Abate, TG; Börger, T; Aanesen, M; Falk-Andersson, J; Wyles, KJ; Beaumont, NC. 2020. Valuation of marine plastic pollution in the European Arctic: Applying an integrated choice and latent variable model to contingent valuation. Ecological Economics.
Beaumont, NJ; Aanesen, M; Austen, MC; Börger, T; Clark, JR; Cole, M; Hooper, T; Lindeque, PK; Pascoe, C; Wyles, KJ. 2019. Global ecological, social and economic impacts of marine plastic. Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Botterell, ZLR; Beaumont, NC; Dorrington, T; Steinke, M; Thompson, RC; Lindeque, PK. 2019. Bioavailability and effects of microplastics on marine zooplankton: A review. Environmental Pollution, doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.065
Hooper, T; Börger, T; Langmead, O; Marcone, O; Rees, SE; Réndon, O; Beaumont, NC. 2019. Applying the natural capital approach to decision making for the marine environment. Ecosystem Services.
Macreadie, PI; Anton, A; Raven, JA; Beaumont, NC; et al. 2019. The future of Blue Carbon science. Nature Communications.
Rendón, OR; Garbutt, A; Skov, M; Möller, I; Alexander, M; Ballinger, R; Wyles, K; Smith, G; McKinley, E; Griffin, J; Thomas, M; Davidson, K; Pagès, JF; Read, S; Beaumont, NC. 2019. A framework linking ecosystem services and human well‐being: Saltmarsh as a case study. People and Nature.
Tinch, R; Beaumont, NC; et al. 2019. Economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services: a review for decision makers. Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy.
Beaumont, NJ; Austen, MC; Atkins, J; Burdon, D; Degraer, S; Dentinho, TP; Derous, S; Holm, P; Horton, T; van Ierland, E; Marboe, AH; Starkey, DJ; Townsend, M; Zarzycki, T. 2007. Identification, definition and quantification of goods and services provided by marine biodiversity: implications for the ecosystem approach. Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Worm B; Barbier, EB; Beaumont, NJ; Duffy, JE; Folke, C; Halpern, BS; Jackson, JBC; Lotze, HK; Micheli, F; Palumbi, SR; Sala, E; Selkoe, KA; Stachowicz, JJ; Watson R. 2006. Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science.
Recent publications
- Knights, AM; Lemasson, AJ; Firth, LB; Beaumont, NJ; Birchenough, S; Claisse, J; Coolen, JWP; Copping, A; De Dominicis, M; Degraer, S; Elliott, M; Fernandes, PG; Fowler, AM; Frost, MT; Henry, L-A; Hicks, N; Hyder, K; Jagerroos, S; Love, M; Lynam, CP; Macreadie, PI; McLean, D; Marlow, J; Mavraki, N; Montagna, PA; Paterson, DM; Perrow, MR; Porter, J; Bull, AS; Schratzberger, M; Shipley, B; van Elden, S; Vanaverbeke, J; Want, A; Watson, SCL; Wilding, TA; Somerfield, PJ; 2023. To what extent can decommissioning options for marine artificial structures move us toward environmental targets?. Journal of Environmental Management.
- Botterell, ZLR; Lindeque, PK; Thompson, RC; Beaumont, NJ; 2023. An assessment of the ecosystem services of marine zooplankton and the key threats to their provision. Ecosystem Services.
- Rendon, O; Edwards-Jones, A; Kieu, TK; Marcone, O; Broszeit, S; Beaumont, NJ; 2022. Characterisation of the inshore marine sectors of Da Nang, Vietnam. .
- Omeyer, LCM; Duncan, EM; Aiemsomboon, K; Beaumont, NJ; Bureekul, S; Cao, B; Carrasco, LR; Chavanich, S; Clark, JR; Cordova, MR; Couceiro, F; Cragg, SM; Dickson, N; Failler, P; Ferraro, G; Fletcher, S; Fong, J; Ford, AT; Gutierrez, T; Shahul Hamid, F; Hiddink, JG; Hoa, PT; Holland, SI; Jones, L; Jones, NH; Koldewey, HJ; Lauro, FM; Lee, C; Lewis, M; Marks, D; Matallana-Surget, S; Mayorga-Adame, CG; McGeehan, J; Messer, LF; Michie, L; Miller, MA; Mohamad, ZF; Nor, NHM; Müller, M; Neill, SP; Nelms, SE; Onda, DFL; Ong, JJL; Pariatamby, A; Phang, SC; Quilliam, R; Robins, PE; Salta, M; Sartimbul, A; Shakuto, S; Skov, MW; Taboada, EB.; Todd, PA; Toh, TC; Valiyaveettil, S; Viyakarn, V; Wonnapinij, P; Wood, LE; Yong, CLX; Godley, BJ; 2022. Priorities to inform research on marine plastic pollution in Southeast Asia. Science of The Total Environment.
- Watson, SCL; Watson, GJ; Beaumont, NJ; 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.