The Research Team
Professor Douglas NeilDouglas Neil is the Team Co-ordinator. He has worked in the field of crustacean biology and fisheries for more than two decades, and has particular interests in muscle physiology and in the effects of stress on product quality |
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Professor Jim AtkinsonJim Atkinson is a world expert on the population biology of langoustines, and is in charge of the research vessel programme at the Universities Marine Biological Station Millport (UMBSM) |
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Dr Amaya AlbalatAmaya Albalat is the Laboratory Leader. She has a background in fish nutrition and metabolism. For langoustines she has developed a range of assays for metabolites and enzymes, and is performing contract work concerned with improving their quality and shelf life, with suppressing melanosis and also with novel ways to utilise crustacean waste. |
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Ms Rosanna MilliganRosanna Milligan is a postgraduate student who is studying catch and bycatch composition in langoustine trawls, and is evaluating new selective net designs, and procedures for logging the discarded catch. |
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Mr Nick BeeversNick Beevers is a postgraduate student studying the diseases in langoustines, particularly those caused by the dinoflagellate parasite Hematodinium (which causes the meat to taste bland) and chitinolytic bacteria (which cause shell disease). He uses a combination of histolopatholgy, molecular diagnostics and in vitro culture techniques to study the transmission of these diseases. |
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Mr Andrew WattsAndrew Watts is a postgraduate student studying trophic and nutritional dynamics of langoustines, assessing the effect of ground type and season on important nutritional indicators using techniques such as stable isotope analysis, lipid and free fatty acid analysis along with traditional ecological techniques. |
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Ms Hasnita HarunHasnita Harun is a postgraduate student studying genetic differences in Langoustines. She is utilizing molecular techniques such as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) sequencing as well as microsatellites which will indicate variations in different populations. Alongside this she also works on Macrobrachium rosenbergii for mapping Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) for disease resistance and size using microsatellite analysis. |
Ms Chonchanok TheethakaewMod Chonchanok Theethakaew (Mod) is a postgraduate student from Thailand who for her M.Sc. degree studied the bacterial spoilage of langoustine tail meat under different holding and packing conditions. Her current Ph.D. research is focused on the analysis of molecular evolutionary relationships of seafood-borne pathogenic bacteria (eg. Vibrio parahaemolyticus) from different sources using molecular typing methods such as multilocus sequence typing (MLST). She is also investigating the selective forces that lead to an emergence of virulent strains of these bacteria in seafood. |
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Dr Sebastian GornikSebastian Gornik recently completed his Ph.D. on post-mortem changes in langoustine tail muscle. He has used a wide range of techniques, including molecular methods, proteomics and enzyme assays to study the factors that affect quality. |
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Mr Simon SinclairSimon Sinclair was until recently a postgraduate research assistant working closely with processors at Scotprime Seafood Ltd to improve the survival and recovery of trawl-caught langoustines destined for the live trade. He has evaluated the use of holding facilities such as on-board seawater tanks, and the application of novel refrigeration methods such as flow ice. |
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