Professor Nicola Beaumont

Dr Nicola Beaumont has more than 20 years’ experience working at the interface between natural sciences and socio-economics, including extensive project and people management experience. Nicola specialises in the quantification and valuation of marine and coastal ecosystem services, and translating complex natural science into terms which are meaningful in a social and economic context.

She has experience across a variety of scales from local county councils to European and Global levels, and to a variety of marine management issues, including: renewable energy, ocean acidification, and marine planning and policy.

Nicola has an extensive publication record, including peer reviewed literature, policy reports, book chapters and popular science articles. She was co-author on the most highly cited marine ecosystem services paper (Worm et al. 2006 Science 314:787-90) and was the lead economist for marine and coastal margins for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment.

Nicola is currently lead PI on the Valuing Nature Partnership funded study CoastWEB which aims to value the contribution which Coastal habitats make to human health and WEllBeing, in addition to acting as PI on MARP3 (MARine Plastic Pollution in the Arctic: origin, status, costs and incentives for prevention) and ADVENT (ADdressing Valuation of Energy and Nature Together).

Other recent projects as PI include the EU funded ValMer project (Valuing ecosystem Services in the Western Channel), and the EU funded PERSEUS project (Policy-oriented marine Environmental Research in the Southern EUropean Seas). She sits on several international and national committees, including leading the Marine Biome Expert Group for the International Ecosystem Services Partnership, and acting as a member of the UK Productive Seas Evidence Group (PSEG) which reports directly to UK government.