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PODCAST

SAMS Ocean Explorer

Scottish Association for Marine Science

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban, Scotland is an ocean research charity and investigates various elements of our marine environment, from algae to oceanography. In this podcast, we meet staff and students from SAMS to learn more about our vast and mysterious ocean.Please consider supporting this important work https://www.sams.ac.uk/support-sams/

science earth sciences

All Episodes

34:09

The biodiversity crisis: How do we halt the losses?

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2026/08/10

We're sadly all too familiar with the terms 'pollution' and 'climate crisis' when it comes to talking about the natural world. But what about the 'biodiversity crisis'? All around the world, we humans are making our mark in an often harmful way, placing a strain on other species. From deforestation to extinctions and the introduction of non-native invasive species, there's a lot to consider. So, why has the current situation been labelled a 'crisis' and what can be done about it? In thi...

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32:07

Prof. Mike Burrows: A career in climate change

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2026/05/25

He is one of the world's most cited climate scientists and is part of the research collaboration that defined the term 'marine heatwave', but after 35 years at SAMS Prof. Mike Burrows is sailing into retirement. In this special episode, host Euan Paterson sits down with Prof. Burrows to find out how his research has been guided by the theme of climate change and why ocean temperature is changing the distribution of marine species. We also hear a confession of how he almost lost a new company...

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33:41

The Ellett Line: Decades of ocean discovery and...

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2026/04/14

You might not have heard of The Ellett Line, but it's one of the most important and influential projects in ocean science today. A series of data points in the Atlantic between Scotland and Iceland, The Ellett Line is visited by a research ship every two years to collect data from equipment at each of these points. More than 50 years since it was established, The Ellett Line has given scientists a foundation of knowledge and a unique insight into how large scale ocean currents are affec...

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42:01

The state of ocean science: politics, pressure, and...

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2026/03/06

In a very special episode of the SAMS Ocean Explorer podcast, recorded at the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2026 in Glasgow, we discuss the current state of ocean research as it navigates reductions in funding while facing an urgent demand for new knowledge. We explore the impact of U.S. federal government cuts to environmental science and ask: Can scientists be political? What actions are needed to address the challenges of climate change? What might the future hold for ocean science? And, is Scotl...

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33:27

Ocean carbon storage: how much is too much?

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2026/02/17

Like a giant carbon sponge, the ocean has been absorbing much of the excess carbon dioxide humans have produced - but for how long can that last? While we see the effects of climate change more clearly on land, the impact on our ocean is less obvious. In this episode, guests Dr Robyn Tuerena and Dr Clare Johnson of SAMS discuss how their latest research project, C-STREAMS, is measuring changes in the ocean carbon cycle and what this might mean for our climate. The Ocean Explorer podcast...

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35:27

The robots helping us to protect nature

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2025/09/24

The term 'robotics' is fairly wide reaching. From amateur enthusiasts to teams of developers working on the next ingenious idea, there are many applications too. Environmental scientists are excited about a new-found capability in environmental monitoring. Surveying an area of land or sea that would previously have taken days - even many weeks - can now be done in minutes, thanks to autonomous vehicles and their hi-tech payloads of cameras and sensors. In this episode, Dr Niall Burnside...

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34:59

Marine restoration: why it's everyone's business

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2025/08/25

Marine restoration is the helping hand that nature needs in the battle against biodiversity loss and also a way to offset human impacts in the ocean. But the benefits can be more than ecological. In this episode, we welcome Peter Watson of SSEN Transmission, the company responsible for laying new power cables on our seabed as part of the de-carbonising of our energy grid. There's much more it wants to do, beyond rebuilding the energy infrastructure, with a little help from science. Pete...

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36:10

Ten years of ACES: Training aquaculture's future leaders

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2025/08/05

With a global human population in excess of eight billion, governments and planners are looking to aquaculture to provide food security in a sustainable way. But this is a diverse global industry that comes in many forms, with various societal and ecological challenges. In this episode, two of the academics behind a highly-rated aquaculture Masters Degree, ACES, reflect on 10 years of the programme, designed to train the industry and academic leaders of the future. Profs. E...

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38:36

A new wave of ocean exploration

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2025/07/04

Oceanographers spend a lot of time exploring the deep sea, but what is it really like taking measurements in the middle of the ocean and how is it done? In this episode real-life Octonauts, Drs Neil Fraser and Lewis Drysdale, explain to Euan how detailed ocean observations give us an insight into the changing climate. They also describe how the latest technology has become a game changer in the quest for more data, more quickly as we seek more accurate climate forecasts. The Ocean Explo...

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35:57

Drowning in plastic pollution

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2025/04/22

Images of a seahorse clutching a cotton bud, or a marine mammal choking on a plastic bag provoke shocking and saddening reactions - but how much change is made as a result? As they discover a new plastic threat to mangrove habitats on the Ghanaian coast, SAMS scientists Prof. Bhavani Narayanaswamy and Dr Geslaine Lemos Concalves explain the extent of plastic pollution in our ocean and what we can do to mitigate some of the worst impacts. Find out how plastic has reached every corner of the oc...

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42:38

Dark Oxygen: a deep sea discovery

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2025/02/21

A discovery in the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean has been challenging the scientific consensus of how oxygen is produced and has even called into question how life on Earth began. Photosynthetic organisms like plants and algae use energy from sunlight to create the planet’s oxygen. But new evidence published by Prof. Andrew Sweetman and collaborators, including his former PhD student Dr Danielle de Jonge, has shown how oxygen is also produced in complete darkness at the seafloor 4,000 metr...

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36:21

Plankton: Earth's hidden hero

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2024/11/27

From creating the atmosphere that led to life on Earth, to providing food for the entire ocean food web, plankton have been pivotal to the world we know today. Indeed, by absorbing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, they have been protecting us from the worst effects of global warming.But do plankton get the credit they deserve..?Find out from guests Prof Paul Tett and Dr Callum Whyte why plankton are the planet's hidden heroes and why we don't know enough about them. What is the ocean really...

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35:13

Flapper skate: the little known giant of the sea

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2024/10/14

They are giants of the sea in northern Europe, yet not many people have heard of them, let alone seen any...The flapper skate, considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, is faring relatively well within a Marine Protected Area off the west coast of Scotland, but the future for the wider population looks more bleak.In this episode, we speak to experts Dr Steven Benjamins of SAMS and Dr Jane Dodd of NatureScot to find out more about this secretive skate. Hear a...

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33:42

Poetic sampling: when art and science collide

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2024/08/26

Send us a Text Message.We've all heard creepy noises in the forest, but you probably haven't heard one like this...In this episode, we hear an artist's take on what a kelp forest looks like below the water surface and listen to a 'creepy' sound from beneath waves as host Euan Paterson meets SAMS artist-in-residence Helena Hunter and marine ecologist Alasdair O'Dell.We discuss how science helps art, and vice-versa, and find that although they have very different methods of collecting 'data', a...

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37:12

The Nick Owens interview (part two): Antarctica and...

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2024/06/13

Send us a Text Message.In part two of our season-opening episode, SAMS Director Prof. Nick Owens talks to host Euan Paterson and guest co-host Ross Lupton about his time as Director of the prestigious British Antarctic Survey.He also shares his thoughts on the future of the ocean and how a change at boardroom level could make the environmental outlook a little better. We also get answers to the big questions of the day, like: which sea creature would he ride into battle?!The Ocean Explorer po...

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30:44

The Nick Owens interview (part one): generational...

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2024/06/08

Send us a Text Message.To kick off season two of the Ocean Explorer podcast, host Euan Paterson and guest co-host Ross Lupton, an undergraduate student at SAMS, quiz SAMS Director Prof. Nick Owens on how marine science has changed over the decades.In this part one of our interview, we ask Prof. Owens: how does his student experience compare, how has academia changed and did his generation of scientists not see climate change coming?!We also discuss the effect of climate change on young scient...

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39:08

CSI Cetaceans: Investigating whale strandings

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2024/03/04

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32:35

Weighing up the wonders of seaweed farming

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2024/02/08

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44:44

Whales of the west coast

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2023/12/20

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29:50

SIMBA: Using technology to predict ice melt,...

SAMS Ocean Explorer ·

2023/09/29

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23 results

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