We have a PhD studentship (UK only) available: Investigating comprehensive sustainability indicators for global aquaculture. Based at the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling. It will be co-supervised by Dr Richard Newton (University of Stirling), Prof. Baukje de Roos (University of Aberdeen), Dr Patrik Henriksson (Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics & Stockholm Resilience Centre) and Dr David Willer (University of Cambridge).

Background to the research

Food production accounts for 1/3 of global GHG emissions, the majority of freshwater consumption and most land use change. There are many trade-offs between environmental, socio-economic, animal welfare and governance issues which must be balanced against the nutrition profile of different food commodities. Aquaculture has grown rapidly in the last 40 years and with that have come sustainability challenges, through environmental impact as well as social consequences. However, it also provides livelihoods for millions of people and much needed food security in developing countries. There are many different frameworks for assessing sustainability across the different aspects and there are many nutritional indicators and indices. There are challenges in combining the different aspects into a single assessment due to the compatibility and foci of the different approaches. The most commonly applied methodology for assessing global impacts through supply chains is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and is used for formulating policy on food production. However, it is difficult to combine with specific aquaculture impact indicators (e.g. benthic enrichment) or with socio-economic, welfare and governance impacts. There have been several attempts at producing aquaculture sustainability indices that use a range of indicators, yet they are not well adopted. Other challenges remain around what indicators are relevant to different species produced in diverse systems around the world. In addition, data availability and access are challenges. In any case, most approaches fail to consider the nutritional content of food and how it may be addressing food security in its many contexts.

Research objectives and methods

This PhD will investigate current methods of assessing and communicating the sustainability of aquaculture products to stakeholders and policy makers. It will critique various academic and commercial indices and indicators used across (but not limited to) food systems over the range of sustainability and welfare criteria. Building on those indicators and using LCA as a framework, the candidate will build and validate a nutrition sensitive sustainability index drawn from industry data using a mix of primary and secondary data along with nutritional analysis of aquaculture products. The PhD will also consider how the index data is used and communicated to various stakeholders and consumers.

How to apply

This research is being funded under the East of Scotland Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership (eastBIO) with support from UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Eligibility criteria and funding details can be found on the eastBIO website. Further details on FindAPhD. You can also get in touch with Dr Newton to discuss the opportunity in more detail.