Sebastian Hennige, FHEA

Dr. Hennige’s research has centred around the impact of climate change and pollutants on marine organisms and ecosystems, with particular focus on tropical and cold-water coral reefs.

Hennige has spoken at COP 26 and 27 on the impacts of ocean acidification to vulnerable marine ecosystems, highlighting the role of ‘coralporosis’ in future deep-sea coral reef loss (highlighted here). 

Hennige has been a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), a contributing author to the 2nd World Ocean Assessment (UNESCO), and lead editor of a United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) report on the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biodiversity. He is on the Science Advisory Panel for MASTS, and his recent work has led to Nature of Scotland awards in Innovation and Conservation. He is also a member of the Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability working group (a UN Endorsed Ocean Decade Programme), and is a member of the Pool of Experts of the UN Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment.

I studied Marine and Environmental Biology at the University of St. Andrews before taking a PhD at the University of Essex examining acclimation and adaptations of corals across environmental gradients. Following this, I went to the University of Delaware (USA) to research harmful algal bloom photophysiology in a variety of environments, and mechanisms underlying tropical coral bleaching. From the States, I moved to Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh to conduct the first long-term experiments on cold-water corals in a changing ocean. I was then awarded a NERC Fellowship to examine the impact of climate change to tropical and cold-water corals. In 2016 I moved to the University of Edinburgh, where I co-direct the Marine Systems and Policies MSc. Programme and lead research on investigating the impacts of climate change and pollution to marine ecosystems. My fieldwork throughout my career has included expeditions in the UK and Norway for cold-water corals, to destinations such as Indonesia and the Maldives to study coral bleaching.

Selected highlights include:

• Podcast for Natural History Museum 'Our Broken Planet'
• Economist video on coralporosis
• Reuters News "Tough corals go mobile to save reefs"
• BBC Radio 4 "Costing the Earth"
• Forbes Magazine
• Herald Scotland
• BBC news about "Sea Beasties" Citizen Science project (1230, 06032017)
• CBD Report covered by over 500 websites and publications in over 30 countries including; New Scientist, Le Monde, ABC Australia, Discovery Channel news, BBC news, UN News
• Scientists discover the Lewis and Clark of corals
• Narration of the citizen science project "She sees sea beasties on the seashore"
• Interview at a MASTS conference