By Dr Julia Calderwood
Researcher at The Marine Institute
Dr Julia Calderwood is a researcher within the Ecosystem Based Approach to Fisheries Management Team at the Marine Institute in Galway, Ireland. Her research is focussed on the use of science-industry partnerships and the development of novel approaches to address and resolve problems faced by the fishing industry to improve the sustainability and economic viability of fisheries, while ultimately enhancing marine ecosystem health.
After working as a Marine Data Scientist at the British Oceanographic Data Centre, Julia went on to complete a PhD at Queen’s University Belfast, developing science based management strategies for improving the yield of mussels in benthic cultivation. She started working at the Marine Institute in 2015, initially as a post-doctoral researcher working on the Horizon 2020 funded DiscardLess project, which aimed to develop the knowledge, tools and technologies to achieve the gradual elimination of discarding in European fisheries. In 2020 Julia was awarded a Science Foundation Ireland Starting Investigator Research Grant. This has funded the IFISH project which looks to explore Irish Fisheries Information Sharing Network Development, specifically investigating how mobile phone apps could be used to share real-time information to help skippers avoid unwanted catches and reduce discards.
Much of Julia’s research recognises the importance of fisher’s experiential knowledge and she is increasingly adopting social-science methodologies and developing multi-disciplinary approaches to help tackle ecological research problems from new angles. She is also an active member of the ICES (International Committee for the Exploration of the Seas) community, being a member of the ICES working group on technology integration for fishery dependent data (WGTIFD) and the working group on ecosystem effects of fishing activities (WGECO).