Get to know the TRANSECTS team
A dedicated team of experts delivering the TRANSECTS research.
Dr Karen Alexander
Heriot-Watt University
Dr Karen Alexander is Principal Investigator for the TRANSECTS project. She is a marine socio-ecologist with wide-ranging interests, centring on environmental stewardship and ocean and coastal conflict.
Karen specialises in issues around the transition to a green (blue) economy, how such developments impact coastal communities, and more recently her research has focused on specific marine sectors such as offshore renewable energy and aquaculture.
She is also interested in marine governance, particularly ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning. Karen sits on the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland’s (MASTS) Energy Transitions Forum steering group and is secretary of the Marine Social Science Network.
Links
researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/persons/karen-alexander
scholar.google.com
Prof David Atkinson
University of Hull
David Atkinson is a Cultural and Historical Geographer who researchers how societies interpret, represent, understand and often transform space and landscapes. He’s especially interested in how politics and shared cultures shape social spaces in the past and the present.
These interests encompass case-studies as diverse as the geographies of totalitarianism in the 'Dark' 20th Century, and especially the roles of geographers and geographical sciences in the production of Fascist Italy and Italian colonial territory. He also explores the controversial responses to World War II aerial bombing and its social and political impacts. More recently he has worked on the politics of public spectacle and memory within city-based mega-events.
Finally, David has worked in Hull for 26 years and he writes about the shifting identities of this distinctive maritime city, and Hull’s various energy transitions over the last two centuries will occupy much of his time on this project.
Anne Bevan
UHI Orkney
I am a visual artist and educator working across sculpture, photography, moving image and socially engaged art practice. I often collaborate with people in other disciplines, including specialists in archaeology, social anthropology, geology, marine sciences, creative writing, film and music. Based in Orkney, I am currently a Lecturer and researcher with the UHI Archaeology Institute.
A central interest throughout my career has been a creative engagement with the marine environment; flow, wave forms and tides informing my interest in cultural connectivity and environmental change.
Recent research projects include: 'Creative Landscape Futures: making decisions with the arts and humanities' and 'Orkney Beside the Ocean of Time'. Related exhibitions and publications include Ocean Imaginaries (RMIT Melbourne, Australia); Sea Change (Aberdeen Maritime Museum); Pipelines (with Janice Galloway; Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh); Walking the Sound (Pier Arts Centre, Orkney).
Links
UHI Research Database (PURE): Anne Bevan — University of the Highlands and Islands (uhi.ac.uk)
www.annebevan.co.uk
Dr Daryl Burdon
Contractor
Daryl has over 22 years of experience in marine research, teaching and consultancy. Initially specialising in estuarine and marine biology, Daryl has broadened his expertise to include ecological economics, natural capital, ecosystem services, environmental sustainability, ocean literacy and marine conservation and management.
Daryl has a wealth of experience in managing and undertaking interdisciplinary projects and has developed an international reputation for publishing and presenting his research (32 published papers, 6 published book chapters, 110+ research reports, 60+ presentations. Nationally, Daryl is a JNCC Business Associate, a member of the Seafish Expert Panel (ecosystem services) and locally is the Chair of the Humber Nature Forum.
Since 2019, Daryl has been the Director of Daryl Burdon Ltd., Marine Research, Teaching and Consultancy (www.darylburdon.co.uk). Daryl’s current research includes the UKRI-funded Sea the Value (Sea The Value) and TRANSECTS project and the Horizon Europe MARBEFES project (www.marbefes.eu).
Links
Daryl Burdon Ltd: www.darylburdon.co.uk
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0825-0664
Dr Kate Gormley
Interdiciplinary fellow, University of Aberdeen
Kate is an interdisciplinary researcher specialising in coastal and marine environmental management. Her extensive work encompasses a wide range of areas including offshore renewables, oil and gas, decommissioning, marine and coastal conservation, marine spatial planning, and participatory planning with stakeholders.
Kate has worked with the marine energy industry, with a focus on environmental impacts through various industry roles, industry working groups, placements and academic positions, and is highly skilled in industry/academic knowledge exchange and understanding of research impact.
Kate’s current research focusses on the development of tools for marine energy decision making and spatial and impact analysis for shipping (North Sea and Arctic).
Dr Jennifer Harland
UHI Orkney
Jen is a zooarchaeologist, specialising in marine animal remains recovered from archaeological sites. Jen’s research focusses on the North Atlantic region, and she works on material of every date from the Mesolithic to the Modern, using historical methods to augment the archaeological story where appropriate.
Following a BSc and MSc at York, Jen completed her AHRB-funded PhD on Viking/medieval zooarchaeology, excavating at Quoygrew, Westray. Two post-docs followed (York, Cambridge), investigating biomolecular methods of identifying and tracking fish remains.
She joined the UHI in 2014. She is a Co-I on the LIFTE project (AHRC-DFG, investigating trade connections between Scotland and the Continent in the Early Modern period), and co-director of the Skaill excavations. She is a Co-I Viking to Christian Landscapes and Biodiversity project, starting 2025. She recently completed working on the ERC SeaChange project, using archaeological and biomolecular methods investigating changes in marine animal populations over the past 1000 years.
Links
www.uhi.ac.uk/en/archaeology-institute/staff/dr-jennifer-harland
archaeologyorkney.com/lifte
archaeologyorkney.com/category/skaill-farmstead
seachange-erc.eu
Prof Sandy Kerr
Heriot-Watt University
Professor Kerr is Director of the International Centre for Island Technology (ICIT) at Heriot-Watt University’s Orkney Campus. The multidisciplinary team at ICIT focusses on the sustainable management of marine resources and the challenge of meeting Net Zero targets in island settings.
Initially trained in land economics his PhD examined the development process on small islands and their sustainability. Over a 30 year period Sandy has worked on projects across the EU as well as Ecuador, Colombia and Indonesia. Sandy’s research interests centre on the growing economic demands being placed on our seas and the challenge this creates for coastal communities.
A second strand of interest is optimising community benefits from renewable energy. Sandy is part of the management group for the Island Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ). Sandy teaches Economics of Renewable Energy, he is an Associate Editor of Marine Policy, and a board member of the Orkney Renewable Energy Forum (OREF).
Links
https://www.icnz.org
https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/persons/sandy-kerr
s.kerr@hw.ac.uk
Dan Lee
UHI Orkney
Dan Lee is Research and Innovation Associate for the TRANSECTS project (0.5 FTE) Lifelong Learning and Outreach Archaeologist (0.5 FTE) at the UHI Archaeology Institute, UHI Orkney, where he develops, manages and delivers a range of community archaeology, knowledge exchange and research projects across the Highlands and Islands.
His research interests are archaeologies of energy, mapping and creative practice in archaeology. Current projects include Orkney Energy Landscapes, which developed a citizen science approach to recording and exploring energy heritage; the Orkney Energy Heritage Strategy working with industry and stakeholders to audit, prioritise and manage energy heritage; developing a climate change responsive method for archaeology in the Cateran Ecomuseum; and Peat Spade to Tangle Trade which is exploring Industrial Heritage in Orkney’s north isles with islanders.
He is co-director for the Landscapes of Change: Archaeologies of the Rousay Clearances and the Westness Estate project that is currently excavating a multiperiod settlement mound in Rousay. Dan is module leader for UG Excavations Skills / PG Excavation modules and he teaches on core modules for the MA in Contemporary Art and Archaeology.
Links
UHI Research Database (PURE): Daniel Lee — University of the Highlands and Islands (uhi.ac.uk)
Dr Scott J. McGrane
University of Strathclyde
Dr Scott J. McGrane is a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at the Strathclyde Business School (University of Strathclyde), and a visiting lecturer in the Applied Physics department at Stanford University.
His research specialises on interconnections between the environment, economies and societies – particularly through the lens of hydrology and water resources.
He is an interdisciplinary researcher with particular interests in natural hazards (especially droughts and floods), water-energy-food nexus research, links between environmental change and policy, and the development and deployment of novel environmental monitoring systems.
Dr Lauren McWhinnie
Heriot-Watt University
Lauren McWhinnie is a marine biologist and geographer. Her research focuses on how we can mitigate and better manage the impacts of marine users on ocean and coastal environments.
This work focuses on developing spatial planning tools and management strategies that aim to reduce severity of impacts, and risks associated with anthropogenic activities, more specifically on marine mammals.
She sits on the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland’s (MASTS) Marine Planning and Governance Forum steering group and represents Heriot-Watt University on the ScANs (Scottish Arctic Network) steering group and member of the ICES Working Group for the Joint Cetacean Data Programme (WGJCDP).
Links
researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/persons/lauren-helen-mcwhinnie
www.researchgate.net/profile/Lauren-Mcwhinnie
scholar.google.com/citations
www.wave-arcticwhales.com
Prof Tavis Potts
Heriot-Watt University
Professor Tavis Potts is Dean for Sustainability, Chair in Environmental Governance and Sustainable Development and co-coordinator of the Just Transition Lab at the University of Aberdeen. Professor Potts is interested in the political economy of sustainability and how societies and institutions implement more sustainable outcomes.
As an interdisciplinary social scientist, Professor Potts is interested in concepts of social values, behaviours and innovation, environmental and energy justice and environmental policy and governance.
His research over the past two decades explores topics such as coastal and marine resources and communities; natural capital and just transitions in energy cities and communities. Having worked extensively in Scotland and the UK, North-East Europe, the Polar regions; East Asia and Australia (his home country and originally from NSW) he is actively involved in moving between science, policy and civil society and developing participatory initiatives around Net Zero and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Links
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/people/tavis.potts
https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=iQEOBKAAAAAJ&hl=en
Dr Daria Shapovalova
University of Aberdeen
Daria is a senior lecturer in energy law at the University of Aberdeen. She is the director of the Centre for Energy Law and coordinator of the Just Transitions Lab. With research interests in energy and environmental law, Daria is working on interdisciplinary approaches to climate, energy, and just transition regulation.
She leads and collaborates on a number of funded projects including ‘A Just Transition for Workers and Communities in the North East of Scotland’ (Uplift, 2022-2024) and ‘Just Transition Communities Project’ (Scottish Government Just Transition Fund (2022-2025).
Critical approaches to the role of law in facilitating sustainability transformations, stakeholder and community engagement, as well as the use of mixed methods for legal research are at the core of Daria’s work as she is currently preparing a manuscript on fossil fuels phase-out and just transition.
Dr Antonia Thomas
UHI Orkney
My focus is on the relationship between Art and Archaeology. My professional background is in heritage and archaeology, with experience spanning community development and regeneration, museum curation, commercial archaeological fieldwork, and higher education teaching. My broader research includes various aspects of visual and material culture, and I currently lead the MA Contemporary Art and Archaeology at the UHI.
This programme is unique in the UK in both its interdisciplinary approach and its use of novel digital pedagogies allowing it to be delivered entirely online. It currently attracts both local students, and those from across the UK, Europe and the USA. Creative engagement in archaeology remains at the core of my research and practice, and I run several accessible summer schools linking art practice with archaeology, and have been involved in a number of cross-disciplinary art / archaeology projects and residencies, in the UK and abroad.
Links
UHI Research Database (PURE): Antonia Thomas — University of the Highlands and Islands (uhi.ac.uk)
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