Debbie is a quantitative marine ecologist with a particular interest in the interactions between marine predators and their natural versus anthropogenic environment. She is based at SMRU where the focus of her research can be split into two inter-linked components (1) Conduct, manage and communicate research that is required to inform sustainable management of UK seal populations, and to fulfil national and international conservation legislation (see SCOS) (2) Gain critical insight into emerging conservation and management issues through external funding for projects which provide understanding of the drivers of marine predator behaviour, distribution and population dynamics.  

Key research areas (see Group for more)

• Estimation of seal abundance and trends on land, and drivers therein
• Estimation of seal distribution at-sea, and drivers therein
• Using a mixture of Bayesian and frequentist methods to analyse harbour and grey seal telemetry data to answer both pure and applied research questions.
• Investigation of the impact of anthropogenic structures, their construction, operation and decommisioning, on marine predators. EcoSTAR project

Current Group

• Research Fellows
  • Matt Carter (2018-), various projects including EcoSTAR
  • Izzy Langley (2024-), Seal population dynamics - insights from diet
• PhD students
  
  • Maria Iruzuns Martins, Examining the human-predator interface of the North Sea
  • Mia Goldman, Developing Novel Methods for Estimating the Abundance of Grey Seals
  • James Harris, Linking predator and prey dynamics: spatio-temporal trends in seals, seabirds and fish around Shetland
• Research Technician
  • Chris Morris, lead SMRU aerial survey technician
  • Holly Armstrong, Seal population dynamics - insights from diet and health

Alumni

• Research Fellows
  • Janneke Ransijn,  EcoSTAR project
  • Claire Lacey, EcoSTAR project 
  • Conor Gilmour, EcoSTAR project 
  • James Grecian, Man-made structures and Apex Predators: Spatial interactions and overlap
• PhD students
  • Jacqui Glencross (2025), The effects of fishing on prey acquisition in the African penguin. 
  • Izzy Langley (2024), Inter-specific Interactions: investigating the role of grey seals in the harbour seal decline.
  • Hannah Wyles (2024), Climate Change and the seal community of the United Kingdom
  • Lauren Arkoosh (2024), Seals as sentinels of antimicrobial resistance: mapping antimicrobial resistance genes in UK waters
  • Katherine Whyte (2021),  Behavioural responses by seals to offshore energy activities
  • J Chris McKnight (2018). Counting the Cost of Tagging: Quantifying and Reducing the Behavioural and Energetic Impacts of Tags in a Large Marine Vertebrate.
  • Matt Carter (2018). From pup to predator: Ontogeny of foraging behaviour in grey seal pups
• Research Technicians
  • Hollie Soppitt
  • Laura Oller Lopez
• Masters project students
  • Brad England, Identifying key biomarkers for assessing health and survival in harbour seals
  • Ines Khazar, Spatial bias in the diet of grey seals in the North Sea
  • Philippa Harkness, Redefining Central Placed Foraging - analysis of extended surface periods during foraging trips on haul out behaviour of grey seals.
  • Meg Withers, The Environmental Conditions Associated with Grey Seal Pup Production Variation in the UK
  • Hannah Wyles, A novel method for classifying habitat use by grey seals using seabed geomorphology.
  • Lauren Himmelreich, What can rehabilitation seals tell us about wild populations?
  • Sara Young, Potential Effects of Captivity on Dive Behaviour and Movement Patterns of Juvenile Grey Seals
  • Raquel Soley Calvet, Living among giants: Habitat modelling of Harbour porpoise in the Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence
  • J Chris McKnight, Short-term effects of capture and tag attachment in common seals.