The marineLIVE programme was a webinar series that linked marine biologists with non-academic audiences – including citizen scientists, amateur naturalists, conservation practitioners and scuba divers. Each 1-hour webinar was delivered over Zoom, with an interactive presentation of around 40 minutes followed by a live Q&A where the participants could put their questions to the guest speaker. The presentations were recorded and published as marineLIVE YouTube videos, as well as written up as marineLIVE blogs.
The marineLIVE webinar programme was made possible through an Outreach Grant from the British Ecological Society.
What did marineLIVE achieve?
marineLIVE followed in the footsteps of our highly successful entoLIVE series, applying the same model that has proved successful with making entomology research accessible to a new scientific field: marine biology! Specifically, marineLIVE aimed to raise awareness of research outputs, such as scientific papers, technical reports and biodiversity datasets. We believe that by breaking down the barriers, such as cost and language, for non-academic audiences to access these scientific outputs, it will lead to research being used more widely and enable more biodiversity sector volunteers and professionals to undertake evidence-based actions.
We believe the marineLIVE programme was a great success, something hopefully demonstrated with the engagement stats and feedback below:
Across the 11 webinars delivered, the marineLIVE attracted 1,671 live webinar attendees, 4,131 views for the recorded presentations on YouTube, and 1,885 views of marineLIVE blogs on our website.
In March 2026, following the completion of the final marineLIVE webinar, a feedback survey was sent out to all participants who had booked onto at least one marineLIVE webinar. The feedback survey asked respondents about their engagement with the webinar series as well as how enjoyable and useful they found the content. The survey was completed by 138 respondents. Some highlights are shown below.
When asked to rate their overall enjoyment of the marineLIVE programme, all respondents indicated they found marineLIVE content ‘very enjoyable’ (73.2%) or ‘enjoyable’ (26.8%). Similarly, when asked to rate the overall usefulness of the marineLIVE series, nearly all respondents indicated they found the programme ‘very useful’ (70.3%) or ‘moderately useful’ (24.6%).
A selection of more in-depth written responses from survey respondents about what they liked about the marineLIVE is also copied below.
In addition to being an enjoyable and informative series of talks for participants, we also wanted to ensure marineLIVE was a valuable platform for the scientists presenting, allowing them to share their research with wider audiences than they would typically reach through scientific journals. It therefore makes us proud to see how valuable the speakers found the opportunity, as demonstrated in the testimonials they gave us. A few of these testimonials are shared below.
What subjects did marineLIVE cover?
We’ve covered a wide range of marine research topics. You can watch the presentations, read the speaker Q&As and access the further info links via the blog articles listed below.
Seahorses of the UK: Conservation and Research
Delve into the mysterious realm of the seahorse with Beccy MacDonald-Lofts to hear about seahorse research and conservation in the UK.
Microplastic Pollution and Solutions
Twenty years after the term “microplastics” was first used, what do we know about their presence in the environment? Dr Winnie Courtene-Jones (Bangor University) presents the latest research.
Thriving on the Edge: Grey Seal Abundance and Survival on the Calf of Man
Dr Lara Howe (Manx Wildlife Trust) explains how work to monitor the breeding population of Grey seals on the Calf of Man is helping us understand this population and making the most of new technologies.
Mobulid Rays in the Chagos Archipelago: Fisheries & Conservation Management
Dr Joanna Harris (Manta Trust) presents research looking at the impact of fisheries and conservation management techniques on manta and devil rays in the Chagos Islands.
Community Voice Method: Engaging Local Communities in Turtle Conservation
Amdeep Sanghera (Marine Conservation Society) explains how Caribbean island fishing communities are being engaged in the development of turtle conservation policy.
Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems: Reefs From the Twilight Zone
Dr Clara Diaz (University of Plymouth) takes us on a journey into the mysterious world of mesophotic coral ecosystems and the work going on to study them in the Indian Ocean.
Seagrass Conservation: Growing #GenerationRestoration in Europe
Dr Richard Lilley discusses how seagrass conservationists are fostering community collaborations, innovation and knowledge exchange.
From Strandline to Science: The Journey of a Shark Eggcase
Cat Gordon (The Shark Trust) teaches us about mermaid’s purses and how we can all get involved with monitoring sharks and rays.
Plastic Pollution and Reef Manta Rays: Sources and Exposure
Dr Jessica Savage (Zoological Society of London) discusses how plastic pollution is impacting Reef Manta Rays in the Chagos Archipelago.
Big Rock Pool Challenge: The Power of UK Marine Citizen Science
Ben Holt (The Rockpool Project) introduces the Big Rock Pool Challenge, a UK-wide initiative engaging people with marine citizen science, one rock pool at a time!
Exploring Underwater Scilly: Managing MPAs Using Cutting Edge Underwater Cameras
Dr Owen Exeter (University of Exeter) shares mesmerising footage and exciting results from a project using remote video to monitor marine life in the Isles of Scilly.
marineLIVE Project Evaluation Report
You can read the full marineLIVE Project Evaluation Report below: