Prof Katherine Yates
| Biography | My academic career started at the University of East Anglia, where I studied Environmental Science and where I first began to really grasp the multi-disciplinarity of environmental management problems. I then spent several years working for conservation NGOs, including Coral Cay Conservation and ARCAS. I returned to University to undertake my MSc at the University of York with Callum Roberts and got interested in marine protected areas and fisheries management. As part of my MSc I won a grant to work in Bermuda and develop spatial conservation plans for their nearshore reefs. I then worked as a Field Instructor for Ecology Project International, where I had the opportunity to take groups of students to remote field stations for up to two weeks. I delivered a range of classes in tropical ecology and conservation, ran team building exercises and supported the students in conducting independent research projects. Having found my ideal PhD, I returned to the UK to study at Ulster University with Dr David Schoeman and undertake a project looking at Northern Ireland’s network of marine protected areas. From my PhD I published five papers and provided data that feed directly into the local marine spatial planning process. Whilst at Ulster University I also worked as a tutor on an MSc Coastal Management course and I have published with a number of my students. During my PhD I won a scholarship to spend six months at the University of Queensland in Australia, in the prestigious Centre for Excellence in Environmental Decisions (CEED) with Hugh Possingham. I stayed in Australia after that and worked as a Postdoctoral Research for the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). There I was developing distribution models for various aspects of fish biodiversity and testing the transferability of those models in space. Since joining Salford in 2016 I have I continued with research on spatial conservation planning, both from ecological and socio-economic perspectives. I have secured four NERC grants, including Knowledge Exchange Fellow working with the UK Marine Management Organisation, exploring barriers and incentives to science-policy collaborations and facilitating the incorporation of cutting-edge science into policy and management. In 2023 I was part of European multinational consortium that secured a 1.5 million Euro Biodiversa bid looking at integrated conservation planning across realms. I am the Deputy Chair of the Marine Social Sciences Network. The international network established to facilitate knowledge exchange between diverse stakeholders and establish an active community of interdisciplinary researchers. I am also a member of the international ICES expert working group for marine planning and coastal zone management, an inter- and transdisciplinary group that focuses on assessing the key issues in the development of marine plans and making recommendations to address these. I am an Editor of the ICES journal of Marine Science. In 2021 I took up the role of Director of the Doctoral School, providing strategic leadership for all matters of postgraduate research across the University of Salford. In this exciting and demanding role, I get to support both our postgraduate researchers and their supervisors and I have introduce new training and development programs, new governance policies and new scholarships schemes. My focus is on creating an inclusive and supportive postgraduate research community. |
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| Research Interests | Biodiversity Conservation Planning, Marine Spatial Management, Stakeholders, Policy, Marine Protected Areas, Fisheries Management |
| PhD Supervision Availability | Yes |
| PhD Topics | Spatial Conservation Planning Marine Spatial Planning Stakeholder engagement in conservation/planning |