The Global Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Lucy's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
About Lucy
I am a Lecturer in Marine Biology here at the University of Plymouth and divide my time between teaching and research. In my research I specialise in using comparative ecophysiological and biochemical approaches within interdisciplinary (natural-social science) frameworks to understand the impact of ongoing global change on the marine environment, and to contribute towards sustainable solutions for this. I work across trophic levels and taxonomic groupings and I often use large-scale integrative approaches to my thinking and research. I integrate biochemistry with molecular biology, whole organism physiology and also more recently with cutting edge ‘omics’ techniques to understand how organisms respond to environmental change, and how this may ultimately influence the functionality of the ecosystem. When these types of data are combined with social science approaches this gives us a very powerful toolkit to respond to the wider effects of climate change on real life scenarios.
At Plymouth I teach accross our three Marine Biology degrees delivering lectures, seminars and field trips. I hold a PhD in Land crab ecophysiology (University of Bristol, 2010). Prior to this I completed a BSc (University of Wales, Swansea, 2003) and MRes in Marine Biology (molecular and cellular pathway) (University of Plymouth, 2005).
Supervised Research Degrees
Current ResM students
Joe Vaisey (started October 2024) Investigating the pseudo-emersion response of Palaemon elegans in response to progressive hypoxia and heatwave events (Second supervisor)
Phillip Langlois (started April 2023) Sustainable whelk fishing: A model for Jersey (DoS)
Ella Whitaker (started January 2024) Geosesarma as a model for assessing the effects of climate change in tropical freshwater species (DoS)
Current PhD students
Ari Drummond (started October 2022) Beyond vision: Crustacean sensation and multimodal appendages (Third supervisor)
Previous postdoctoral staff
Dr Rodrigo Lorenzo (2020-2022) A Pack Atmosphere Support System for Live Crabs/Shellfish Species During Road Transported and Air-freighted Distribution
Dr Christopher Thorpe (2018-2022) Is the freshwater crab Barytelphusa cunicularis suitable for use as a sustainable livelihood resource in India?
PhD completions
Dr Elina Apine (2022) An interdisciplinary assessment of the mud crab Scylla serrataas a sustainable livelihood resource in southwest India (DoS)
ResM completions
Sancha Conway Holroyd (2024) Temperature acclimation and thermal performance in cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) (Second supervisor)
George Mason (2021) The role of environmental temperature in immunocompetence and disease susceptibility in bivalves (Second supervisor)
Teaching
I currently teach on the following modules:
MBIO120 Introduction to Marine Biology
MBIO123 Marine Biology Field Course
MBIO221 Marine Molecular Biology
MBIO222 Ecophysiology of Marine Animals
MBIO223 Methods in Marine Biology
MBIO226 Experimental Marine Biology Field Course
MBIO364 Conservation Physiology
I am also the module leader for 'Conservation Physiology'.
I also have an interest in sustainability education and have published on this in collaboration with Dr Rebecca Turner:
Turner, L.M., Hegde, S., Karunasagar, I, Turner, R. (2022) How university students are taught about sustainability, and how they want to be taught, the importance of the hidden curriculum. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 23, 1560-1579.
Contact Lucy
Room 404, Davy Building, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
+44 1752 584488
lucy.m.turner@plymouth.ac.uk
