Dr Steve Simpson

Summary

NB: I am now a Senior Lecturer in Marine Biology and Global Change at the University of Exeter

I am a marine biologist and fish ecologist, with particular interests in the behaviour of coral reef fishes, bioacoustics, effects of climate change on marine ecosystems, conservation and management.

My work combines fieldwork, often through expeditions to remote and challenging environments, with laboratory-based behaviour experiments, data-mining, and computer modelling.

My research focuses on:

• The impact of anthropogenic noise on marine ecosystems
• The effects of climate change on fish and fisheries
• Sensory and orientation behaviour of marine organisms
• Dispersal, connectivity and biogeography
• Management

More details about my research.

Biography

• NERC/Cabot Institute Knowledge Exchange Fellow, University of Bristol, UK (Cabot Fellows Page / Blog)
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Defra-funded Anthropogenic Noise project, University of Bristol, UK
• Postdoctoral Research Assistant, NERC Sustainable Marine Bioresources Initiative, University of Bristol, UK
• NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, University of Edinburgh, UK
• PhD, University of York, UK
• MRes Marine & Coastal Ecology & Environmental Management, University of York, UK
• BSc Marine Biology, University of Liverpool, UK

My first degree was in Marine Biology at the University of Liverpool (BSc Hons, 1998), during which I worked in Mozambique assessing the Quirimba Archipelago for Marine Protected Area status. Inspired by my time in the tropics, I followed this with a Masters degree at the University of York in Marine & Coastal Ecology & Environmental Management (MRes, 1999), where I completed an Internship in the British Virgin Islands designing fisheries management tools for the developing world. I then spent a year working on projects in Australia, an expedition in Belize, and at a UK environmental consultancy, before embarking on my PhD (2000-2004) at the University of York supervised by Dr Calvin Dytham and Dr Mark Meekan (Australian Institute of Marine Science), which focussed on the influence of behaviour of larval coral reef fish on their dispersal and the effects on population connectivity. I continued this line of study, combining field studies, electrophysiology, choice experiments and individual-based modelling, with a NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship which I held at the University of Edinburgh (2004-2007, hosted by Dr Victoria Braithwaite). I then moved to Bristol to work with Dr Martin Genner on the effects of climate change on European fish communities and implications for effective fisheries and conservation management under the NERC Sustainable Marine Bioresources theme. I am currently Co-Investigator on a Defra-funded project with Dr Andy Radford to study the impacts of anthropogenic noise (shipping, pile-driving, drilling, etc.) on UK marine life, and most recently have been awarded a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship to develop strong links with industry and policy on the themes of European Fisheries and Climate Change, and Anthropogenic Noise and Marine Ecosystems.

Activities / Findings

• Bristol marine biologist explains how fish find home (ICRS Expert Panel)
• A test of the senses in search of a shoal mate (Ecology paper)
• Some like it hot – European fish stocks changing with warming seas (Current Biology paper, Guardian article, BBC article)
• Steve Simpson awarded NERC KE Fellowship
• Ocean acidification leaves clownfish deaf to predators (Biology Letters paper, BBC article, CBC Quirks and Quarks Interview, Naked Scientists Interview, Science News article)
• Crustaceans Crave a Little Quiet (news feature in Science)
• Secrets of the Night Reef: Noise that Can Terrify (Coral magazine article)
• Rowdy residents warn crustaceans away from perilous reefs (PLoS ONE paper, NERC Article)
• Latest research featured on NERC Planet Earth Podcast
• Tracking the Ocean's Next Generation (Science News feature article)
• A familiar racket helps fish find a suitable home (Coral Reefs paper)
• Effects of El Niño land South Pacific reef fish in hot water (Global Change Biology paper, NERC Article)
• Adventures in a sea of noise (re:search magazine article)
• Taking the pulse of coral reefs (Journal of Marine Biology and Ecology paper)
• Marine Pied Piper leads Nemo astray (Behavioral Ecology paper)
• Baby corals dance their way home (PLoS ONE paper)

Teaching

I have a diverse range of teaching experience:

• Postgraduate traning modules in Knoweldge Exchange, Science & the Media, Public Engagement in Science, University of Bristol
• Marine Biology lectures for Certificate in Wildlife Biology, University of Bristol
• Supervision / co-supervision of several PhD and Masters students
• Field Zoology - 3rd Year module, University of Edinburgh
• Behavioural Ecology - 3rd Year module, University of Edinburgh
• Undergraduate lectures (Edinburgh & St Andrews), tutoring & demonstrating
• chalk boards on Belizean beaches (marine scientist, Raleigh International)
• eco-restaurants and community centres in the Caribbean (lecturer, Sea & Learn on Saba)
• primary school assemblies (coordinator, Biodiversity Weeks)
• secondary school classrooms (Researcher in Residence, York and Cornwall)
• on stage at the Edinburgh Filmhouse and Bristol Tobacco Factory (Cafe Scientifique) & Edinburgh Traverse Theatre (Underground Talent)
• Supervising/co-supervising: 5 PhD, 10 Masters, 18 Honours + army of volunteers
• Dive instructor (27 trained divers)

Keywords

• fish and fisheries
• marine ecosystems
• animal behaviour
• bioacoustics
• dispersal and population connectivity
• climate change
• anthropogenic noise
• knowledge exchange

Methodologies

• field-based behavioural studies
• field recordings and acoustic modelling
• lab-based playback experiments
• physiology and sensory electrophysiology
• population genetics
• long-term dataset analysis
• climate-forced ecological modelling

Memberships

Organisations

School of Biological Sciences

Groups

• Behaviour, Sensory and Neurobiology

Labs

• Bioacoustics and Behavioural Ecology
• Fish Ecology and Evolution
• Coral Reef Research @ Bristol

Recent publications

• Huijbers, C, Nagelkerken, I, Lössbroek, P, Schulten, I, Siegenthaler, A, Holderied, M & Simpson, S 2012, ‘A test of the senses: fish select novel habitats by responding to multiple cues’. Ecology, vol 93., pp. 46 - 55
• Spencer, M, Mieszkowska, N, Robinson, L, Simpson, S, Burrows, M, Birchenough, S, Capasso, E, Cleall-Harding, P, Crummy, J, Duck, C, Eloire, D, Frost, M, Hall, A, Hawkins, S, Johns, D, Sims, D, Smyth, T & Frid, C 2012, ‘Region-wide changes in marine ecosystem dynamics: state-space models to distinguish trends from step changes’. Global Change Biology, vol 18., pp. 1270 - 1281
• Greenstreet, S, Fraser, H, Rogers, S, Trenkel, V, Simpson, S & Pinnegar, J 2012, ‘Redundancy in metrics describing the composition, structure and functioning of the North Sea demersal fish community’. ICES Journal of Marine Science, vol 69., pp. 8 - 22
• Piercy, J & Simpson, S 2012, ‘Can noisy reefs attract more fish and crustaceans?’.
• Simpson, S, Jennings, S, Johnson, M, Blanchard, J, Schön, P, Sims, D & Genner, M 2011, ‘Continental shelf-wide response of a fish assemblage to rapid warming of the sea’. Current Biology, vol 21., pp. 1565 - 1570
• Simpson, S, Radford, A, Tickle, E, Meekan, M & Jeffs, A 2011, ‘Adaptive avoidance of reef noise’. PLoS ONE, vol 6., pp. e16625
• Harbourne, A, Mumby, P & Simpson, S 2011, ‘Novel ecosystems: altering fish assemblages in warming waters’. Current Biology, vol 21., pp. R822 - R824
• Spencer, M, Birchenough, S, Mieszkowska, N, Robinson, L, Simpson, S, Burrows, M, Capasso, E, Cleall-Harding, P, Crummy, J, Duck, C, Eloire, D, Frost, M, Hall, A, Hawkins, S, Johns, D, Sims, D, Smyth, T & Frid, C 2011, ‘Temporal change in UK marine communities: trends or regime shifts?’. Marine Ecology, vol 32(S1)., pp. 1 - 15
• Simpson, S, Munday, P, Wittenrich, M, Manassa, R, Dixon, D, Gagliano, M & Yan, H 2011, ‘Seawater carbonate chemistry and auditory behavior of Orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula) during experiments’.
• M, [E, Simpson, S & Biology, 2a2CsroafatrwotsC 2011, ‘Biodiversity and ecosystems: change at the community level’. Nature Climate Change, vol 1., pp. 398 - 399

View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system

Networks & contacts

• Dr Andy Radford (UoB)
• Dr Martin Genner (UoB)
• Dr Marc Holderied (UoB)
• Prof Daniel Robert (UoB)
• Prof Andy Ridgwell (UoB)
• Dr Erica Hendy (UoB)
• Dr Simon Jennings (Cefas / University of East Anglia UK)
• Prof Mark Johnson (National University of Ireland Galway)
• Prof David Sims (Marine Biological Association UK)
• Dr Julia Blanchard (University of Sheffield UK)
• Dr Mark Meekan (Australian Institute of Marine Science)
• Prof Phil Munday (James Cook University (Australia)
• Dr Monica Gagliano (University of Western Australia)
• Dr Hong Yan (Academia Sinica Taiwan)
• Matt Wittenrich (Florida Institute of Technology)
• Dr Serge Planes (Université de Perpignan France)
• Dr Claire Paris (Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Florida)
• Dr Jen McIlwain & Dr Andrew Halford (University of Guam)
• Dr Michel Claereboudt (Sultan Qaboos University Oman)
• Dr Ivan Nagelkerken & Chantal Huijbers (Radboud University Nijmegen)
• Dr Mark Vermeij (Carmabi Foundation Curacao)
• Dr Andrew Jeffs & Dr Craig Radford (University of Auckland New Zealand)
• Dr Edd Codling & Dr David Smith (University of Essex UK)
• Dr Calvin Dytham (University of York UK)
• Dr David Lecchini & Prof Rene Galzin (CRIOBE Moorea French Polynesia)