Becoming an Expert: Ewan Minter

Ewan, from Wickwar, graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2010 with a 1^st class honours degree in Zoology. He is currently in the third year of his PhD studies in the Institute of Integrative Biology under the supervision of Professor Michael Brockhurst and Dr. Phil Watts. The world's oceans are becoming more acidic as a result of climate change. If mankind does not become less dependent on burning fossil fuels the rate of increase in acidity could reach the highest seen in 400,000 years. PhD student, Ewan Minter, is trying to find out how the oceans' inhabitants will react as their habitats change. Ocean acidity Ewan is looking at how ocean acidity levels will affect the evolution and migration of communities of marine organisms. He is using a microorganism found in many locations around the world, called Oxyrrhis marina , as a model organism.