The Scottish Association for Marine Science

26/08/2026

SAMS
Senior Environmental Consultant - Marine Restoration
https://www.sams.ac.uk/vacancies/senior-environmental-consultant---marine-restoration-/

This role is to provide environmental consultancy leadership within the SAMS Enterprise delivery team, with a focus on marine biodiversity, nature enhancement and habitat restoration, within commercial sectors such as, but not limited to, offshore renewables, oil and gas and aquaculture.

If you have queries on the job and would like to talk these through before applying, please email these through, in the first instance, to [email protected]

21/08/2026

Today we welcomed the Scottish Parliament’s presiding officer Kenneth Gibson MSP to SAMS.

Mr Gibson is passionate about marine issues and has taken a great interest in our research.

The visit was an opportunity to show our facilities and, specifically, our work on ocean restoration, marine robotics and technology, and algae.

We are grateful to the presiding officer for his support of SAMS and his continued interest in our work.

20/08/2026

🎉🌈Come visit us at Oban Pride! It's gonna be mega. 🔥💯
🤩💛🩷🤍🩵🤎🖤❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🤩


uhi UHI Argyll Scottish Association for Marine Science

19/08/2026

How's this for a marathon journey?!

Thanks to our Skatespotter app - developed alongside NatureScot - a flapper skate has been recorded in the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area and, five months later, 220km away in Luce Bay, southwest Scotland.

Photographs take by catch-and-release fishermen and tagging data collected in the Skatespotter app have found skate are typically recaptured around the same place.

Flapper skates are the largest skates in UK waters, up to 285 cm in length. These remarkable creatures of the deep, which like sharks have a skeleton formed of cartilage not bone, were once common in British waters, but are now critically endangered. They occur in significant numbers on the west coast of Scotland and in Orkney and Shetland, where the species has recently begun to show signs of recovery.

17/08/2026

When your MP leads the UK Parliament's All Party Parliamentary Group on Greenland, it's definitely a good idea to keep them updated about the work you're doing there!

During a recent visit to SAMS, organised by Prof. Elizabeth Cottier-Cook, Brendan O’Hara MP learned how SAMS scientists are using marine robotics and remote sensing to assess changes in Greenland glaciers, as part of the GIANT project, funded by the UK’s Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA).

He also discovered how the retreating glaciers were allowing marine robots to map the seabed beneath Greenland’s glaciers for the first time, while a combination of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) footage and artificial intelligence was assessing the marine growth on the glacier wall below the ocean surface.

Dr Neil Fraser introduced the SCOTIA array, a series of oceanographic observations between Scotland and Canada, which is giving scientists the most comprehensive view yet of how large-scale north Atlantic currents that dictate our climate may be changing.

Mr O’Hara then heard about the opportunities for SAMS UHI students to study in the Arctic and about the work of SAMS’ writer-in-residence Mandy Haggith, who is currently penning her novel ‘A possible polar bear’, set on a boat in the pack ice in the Greenland Sea.

“It was a genuine pleasure for me to spend time with the scientists at SAMS, talking all things Arctic, with a particular focus on their work in Greenland,” said Mr O’Hara.

“Quite rightly, SAMS is regarded as one of the jewels in the crown of Scottish academia, and having travelled extensively across the Arctic in the past decade, I have seen the high regard in which SAMS is held within the international scientific community as well.

“For an amateur enthusiast such as me to have had the opportunity to meet with and hear at first hand, exactly what SAMS’ scientists are doing in terms of polar research was a real privilege, and I’m extremely grateful for them giving up so much of their time.”

15/08/2026

15/08/2026

Marine science has been at the Halifax Fashion Week in Nova Scotia!

Following a visit from the organisers to SAMS during the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, they had a wee fashion shoot in our Ocean Explorer Centre with our Ocean tartan.

And now some seriously cool and beautiful young people have been modelling the tartan on the catwalk!

SAMS’ Ocean tartan celebrates the beauty of the global Ocean and the long history of ground breaking marine research in Scotland.

Finally marine science is becoming fashionable!

PS: That very kilt will hopefully next feature at our UHI graduation. It’s our Director’s! Probably worn without the shades…

14/08/2026

We are very proud to share that our talented colleague Professor Bhavani Narayanaswamy has today been announced as the new Director of the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS). She is taking over the reins from Professor David Paterson, who is stepping down after 15 successful years in the role. MASTS is a consortium of 17 organisations engaged in marine science and represents the majority of Scotland's marine research capacity.

Bhavani is a deep-sea ecologist with substantial research interest in the global scourge of plastic pollution. She has recently been recognised by her students for her dedication and commitment to supporting and nurturing early career researchers, qualities she will now bring to MASTS. We believe Bhavani's appointment is great news for the marine science community in Scotland! And we are very glad to say that she will carry out this role while remaining at SAMS and continuing many of her teaching and research roles.

11/08/2026

🌊 Support the future of our Ocean

SAMS is inviting local businesses and organisations to become sponsors of our upcoming graduation ceremony and collectively celebrate the next generation of marine scientists.

Our sponsorship opportunities allow businesses of all sizes to get involved while supporting students who are preparing to make a real difference to our understanding and protection of the marine environment.

If you'd like to be part of this special celebration, take a look at our sponsorship opportunities herehttps://www.sams.ac.uk/t4-media/sams/pdf/SAMS-Graduation-Sponsorship-Packages.pdf

Together, we can celebrate the people who have the future of our Ocean in their hands.