Marine Scotland Science: directory

Dr Lynda Webster 

Environment Monitoring and Assessment Programme
Marine Environment Assessment Group
Group Leader

E-mail: Lynda.Webster@gov.scot

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

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Details of specialism

As the Marine Environment Assessment Group Leader my areas of responsibility include contaminants and their effects, chlorophyll and other phytoplankton pigments, ocean acidification (carbonate chemistry) and marine litter, including microplastics. I have contributed to regional assessments of contaminants at Scottish, UK (Marine Strategy Framework Directive descriptor 8) and OSPAR level. I am responsible for reporting and assessing the status and trends of contaminants in Scottish marine waters and oversee the submission of MSS’s contaminants, effects and nutrient data to the UK Marine Environment Monitoring and Assessment National database (MERMAN). I am the MSS Technical Manager.

Main policy links

• clean seas
• environment monitoring

External committees and responsibilities

• member of the Clean Safe Seas Evidence Group (CSSEG)
• chair of the Scottish Clean and Safe Seas Coordination Group
• member of the ICES Marine Chemistry Working Group (MCWG)
• UK head of delegation for  the OSPAR Working Group on Monitoring and on Trends and Effects of Substances in the Marine Environment (MIME)

Papers of relevance

Madgett AS, Yates K, Webster L, McKenzie C and Moffat C F (2019) Understanding marine food web dynamics using fatty acid signatures and stable isotope ratios: Improving contaminant impacts assessments across trophic levels. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 227, 106327.

Leon P, Bednaršek N, Walsham P, Cook K, Hartman SE, Wall-Palmer D, Hindson J, Mackenzie K, Webster L and Bresnan E (2019) Relationship between shell integrity of pelagic gastropods and carbonate chemistry parameters at a Scottish Coastal Observatory monitoring site. ICES Journal of Marine Science 77, 436-450.

Webster L, Russell M, Shepherd N, Packer G, Dalgarno EJ and Neat F (2018) Monitoring of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Scottish Deepwater environments. Marine Pollution Bulletin 128, 456-459.

Bresnan E, Cook KB, Hughes SL, Hay SJ, Smith K, Walsham P and Webster L (2015) Seasonality of the plankton community at an east and west coast monitoring site in Scottish waters. Journal of Sea Research 105, 16-29.

Webster L, Russell M, Walsham P, Hussy I, Lacaze J-P, Phillips L, Dalgarno E J, Packer G, Neat F and Moffat CF (2014) Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants in Relation to Trophic Level in Deep Sea Fish, Marine Pollution Bulletin 88, 14-27.