Marine Scotland Science: directory

Dr Bill Turrell

Environment Monitoring and Assessment Programme
Programme Manager

E-mail: Bill.Turrell@gov.scot

Marine Scotland Science, Marine Laboratory, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, UK

Pronouns: he/him/his

Details of specialism

I am currently focussed on ensuring Marine Scotland Science’s environmental monitoring, modelling and ecosystem health assessment serves current and future needs, especially in relation to supporting sustainable marine industries, monitoring the impact of climate change and assessing the health of Scottish seas. 

Over my career as a marine scientist in Scotland I have studied many aspects of the oceanography of Scottish waters, including sea lochs on the west coast, the circulation of the North Sea, and the hydrography of the deep waters north of Scotland. I have applied my knowledge to understanding and managing the environmental impact of the aquaculture and offshore oil and gas industries, as well as working extensively with the fishing industry in Scotland. I have been interested in how science interacts with policy, and in shaping the direction of Scottish and UK marine science. More recently I have been undertaking research into marine litter and plastics, its sources and fate, research into the future requirements of an offshore Scottish carbon capture and storage industry, and aspects of Scottish blue carbon. I also currently lead the scientific response to marine accidents in Scottish waters.

Main policy links

• blue economy action plan
• national marine plan
• national performance framework
• scottish environmental strategy
• scottish climate change plan
• scottish climate change adaptation programme
• UK Marine Strategy
• marine climate change impact partnership

External committees and responsibilities

• Scottish/UK Government adviser on marine environmental impact
• member of the Marine Scotland Science Board
• vice chair of the Scottish Blue Carbon Forum
• member of the Healthy, Biologically Diverse Scientific Evidence Group
• member of the MCCIP Steering Group
• member of the OSPAR Beach Litter Expert Group
• invited reviewer for scientific journals
• board sponsor of MSS Athena SWAN’s supporting trans people sub group

Papers of relevance

Smeaton C, Hunt CA, Turrell WR, Austin WEN (2021) Marine sedimentary carbon stocks of the United Kingdom’s Exclusive Economic Zone.  Frontiers in Earth Science 9, 593324.

Turrell WR (2020) Estimating a regional budget of marine plastic litter in order to advise on marine management measures. Marine Pollution Bulletin 150, 110725.

Turrell WR (2020) Marine science within a net-zero emission statutory framework. ICES Journal of Marine Science 76 (7), 1983-1993.

Østerhus S, Woodgate R, Valdimarsson H, Turrell WR, de Steur L, Quadfasel D, Olsen SM, Moritz M, Lee CM, Larsen KMH, Jónsson S, Johnson C, Jochumsen K, Hansen B, Curry B, Cunningham S and Berx B (2019) Arctic Mediterranean exchanges: a consistent volume budget and trends in transports from two decades of observations. Ocean Science 15, 379–399. 

Turrell WR (2018) Improving the implementation of marine monitoring in the northeast Atlantic. Marine Pollution Bulletin 128, 527-538.

Details of linked research pages

Bill Turrell’s ResearchGate and Google Scholar profiles