Sustainable Futures: Biodiversity Seminar
| Dates: | 24 April 2025 |
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| Times: | 13:00 - 14:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Sustainable Futures |
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| Who is it for: | University staff |
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| Speaker: | Dr Hannah Dickinson , Dr Emma Shuttleworth |
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Date: 24 Apr 2025
Time: 13:00- 14:00
Location: Nancy Rothwell building, 3A.012
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Indicative Agenda:
13:00 - 14:05 - Introductions and Welcome.
13:05 - 13:25 -Dr Emma Shuttleworth, title tbc
13:25 - 13:30 - Q&A
13:30 - 13:50 - Dr Hannah Dickinson, Promising blue futures: marine biotechnologies and the uptake of ocean life
13:50 - 13:55 - Q&A
13:55 - 14:00 - Closing thoughts from our seminar Chair.
Talk Description:
Promising blue futures: marine biotechnologies and the uptake of ocean life
Oceans and ocean biodiversity are becoming increasingly central to policy and public imaginaries concerned with securing sustainable planetary futures. Contrary to common understanding that oceans and marine life are on the brink of ecological collapse, recent policy discourses have instead positioned seas and oceanic species as the latest frontier for technological innovation and sustainable economic growth. Oceans are being reimagined as a utopian space, promising endless opportunities for achieving healthy socio-ecological futures. Central to the development of these discourses is the growing marine biotechnology sector. With an estimated sector value of $6.5 billion, the marine biotechnology industry is constantly identifying novel -- commercially valuable -- compounds and biomaterials from ocean biodiversity.
These biomaterials are being developed into biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and myriad other applications that promise to transform ecosystems and ailing human bodies. Focusing on examples from my research in Europe and the USA this talk explores the promises and pitfalls of blue biotechnology. I consider whether our collective reimagining of the ocean and uptake of marine biodiversity can locate solutions to planetary precarity; or whether these technologically mediated dreams of sustainable blue futures are merely an illusion built on the back of ocean organisms.
Speakers
Dr Hannah Dickinson
Role: Research Fellow
Organisation: Geography Department, SEED, UoM
Dr Emma Shuttleworth
Role: Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography
Organisation: SEED, UoM
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
3A.012
Nancy Rothwell Building
Booth St East
