Room: 2nd floor, Marine Centre Wales       Phone: +44 (0) 1248 388603

Email: d.smyth@bangor.ac.uk

Web: www.shellfish.wales          

I graduated in Marine Biology from Queen’s University Belfast in 2002. After which I undertook a PhD in stock enhancement strategies for the native oyster Ostrea edulis at Queen’s Marine Laboratory Portaferry between 2003 and 2006. I remained at Queens in a post-doctoral position for a further three years managing a project which investigated restoration techniques for damaged Modiolus modiolus reefs. I then accepted a two post in 2010 as the Field Diving Officer with the British Antarctic Survey based at Rothera Research Station. After Antarctica I returned to Queen’s University and undertook a post-doc investigating the impact of marine renewable arrays on benthic community structure. I then moved to Qatar University as an Assistant Professor of Research managing a hawksbill turtle conservation programme and researching the impact of static fishing gear on pearl oyster beds from 2014-2017. I then returned once again to Queens where I investigated the rate of epibiotic successional recovery after sub-sea construction and associated kite energy harvesting activity.

I am a marine environmental ecologist with a keen interest in habitat restoration and enhancement through the use of bio-engineering bivalves primarily the European native oyster Ostrea edulis. Particular areas of interest in this field include the population dynamics of a recovering O. edulis stock and its associated flora and fauna. Identifying a restoration blueprint which will transform a functionally extinct O. edulis region into a self-sustaining recognised biotope is one of my major research components. I am also focused on developing an approach to O. edulis fishery management which will meet the environmental demands associated with an OSPAR and UK Biodiversity Action Plan species while accommodating the needs of the fishing community. I employ an empirical approach to my research using long-term in-situ monitoring, hatchery experimentation and field surveys.

• PhD: Stock enhancement strategies for the native oyster Ostrea edulis in a semi-enclosed sea Lough
  Queen's University, Belfast, 2007
• BSc: Marine Biology
  Queen's University, Belfast, 2002

I am willing to supervise a PhD

2024

• PublishedHistorical dataset details the distribution, extent and form of lost Ostrea edulis reef ecosystems
  Thurstan, R. H., McCormick, H., Preston, J., Ashton, E. C., Bennema, F. P., Bratoš Cetinić, A., Brown, J. H., Cameron, T. C., da Costa, F., Donnan, D. W., Ewers, C., Fortibuoni, T., Galimany, E., Giovanardi, O., Grancher, R., Grech, D., Hayden-Hughes, M., Helmer, L., Jensen, K. T., Juanes, J. A., Latchford, J., Moore, A. B. M., Moutopoulos, D. K., Nielsen, P., von Nordheim, H., Ondiviela, B., Peter, C., Pogoda, B., Poulsen, B., Pouvreau, S., Scherer, C., Smaal, A. C., Smyth, D., Strand, Å., Theodorou, J. A. & zu Ermgassen, P. S. E., 5 Nov 2024, In: Scientific data. 11, 1
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2023

• PublishedThe European native oyster, Ostrea edulis, in Wales, a historical account of a forgotten fishery
  Hayden-Hughes, M., Bayford, P., King, J. & Smyth, D., 21 Feb 2023. 13 p.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

2021

• PublishedClimate change accelerates range expansion of the invasive non-native species, the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas.
  King, N., Wilmes, S.-B., Smyth, D., Tinker, J., Robins, P., Thorpe, J., Jones, L. & Malham, S., Feb 2021, In: ICES Journal of Marine Science. 78, 1, p. 70-81 70-81.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedFaunal mediated carbon export from mangroves in an arid area
  Walton, M., Al Maslamani, I., Chatting, M., Smyth, D., Castillo, A., Skov, M. & Le Vay, L., 10 Feb 2021, In: Science of the Total Environment. 755, 1, 13 p., 142677.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedImproving quantification of bivalve larvae in mixed plankton samples using qPCR: A case study on Mytilus edulis
  Alexander, J., Malham, S., Smyth, D., Webb, J., Fidler, D., Bayford, P., McDonald, J. & Le Vay, L., 15 Feb 2021, In: Aquaculture. 532, 736003.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Published“Good news everyone”, the natives have returned: Assemblages of European flat oysters make a reappearance in Belfast Lough after a century of absence.
  Smyth, D., Hayden-Hughes, M., Alexander, J., Bayford, P. & Kregting, L., 31 Jan 2021, In: Regional Studies in Marine Science. 41, p. 101585 1 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• PublishedThe benthic sea-silk-thread displacement of a sessile bivalve, Pinctada imbricata radiata (Leach, 1819) in the Arabian-Persian Gulf
  Giraldes, B. W., Leitao, A. & Smyth, D., 1 May 2019, In: PLoS ONE. 14, 5, e0215865.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe fishing behaviour of Metopograpsus messor (Decapoda: Grapsidae) and the use of pneumatophore-borne vibrations for prey-localizing in an arid mangrove setting
  Giraldes, B. W., Chatting, M. & Smyth, D., Sept 2019, In: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 99, 6, p. 1353-1361
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe importance of population density and inter-individual distance in conserving the European oyster Ostrea edulis
  Guy, C., Smyth, D. & Roberts, D., May 2019, In: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 99, 3, p. 587-593
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

• PublishedDecline in oyster populations in traditional fishing grounds; is habitat damage by static fishing gear a contributory factor in ecosystem degradation?
  Al-Maslamani, I., David, S., Giraldes, B., Chatting , M., Al-Mohannadi , M. & Le Vay, L., Oct 2018, In: Journal of Sea Research. 140, p. 40-51 12 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedNesting ecology of hawksbill turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, in an extreme environmental setting
  Mark, C., Smyth, D., Al-Maslamani, I., Obbard, J., Al-Ansi, M., Hamza, S., Al-Mohanady, S. F., Al-Kuwari, A. J. & Marshall, C. D., 7 Sept 2018, In: PLoS ONE. 13, 9, e0203257.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedSettlement of Ostrea edulis is determined by the availability of hard substrata rather than its nature: implications for stock recovery and restoration of the European oyster
  Smyth, D., Mahon, A. M., Roberts, D. & Kregting, L., Jun 2018, In: Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 28, 3, p. 662-671
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe world is their oyster: Differences in epibiota on sympatric populations of native Ostrea edulis and non-native Crassostrea gigas ( Magallana gigas ) oysters
  Guy, C., Blight, A., Smyth, D. & Roberts, D., 1 Oct 2018, In: Journal of Sea Research. 140, p. 52-58
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2017

• PublishedA new species of Leucosiid crab (Decapoda: Brachyura: Leucosiidae) from the Arabian Gulf
  Giraldes, B. W., Al-Maslamani, I. & Smyth, D., 6 Apr 2017, In: Zootaxa. 4250, 4, p. 389-395
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe nocturnal zonation of decapods in the subtidal zone within the reef seascape—abiotic factors defining habitats
  Giraldes, B. W., Filho, P. A. C., Smyth, D. M. & Coelho, P. A., Sept 2017, In: ICES Journal of Marine Science. 74, 8, p. 2180-2190
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

• PublishedAnthropogenic related variations in the epibiotic biodiversity and age structure of the “Pearl Oyster” Pinctada radiata within the eulittoral zone of Qatar
  Smyth, D., Al-Maslamani, I., Giraldes, B. W., Chatting, M. & Le Vay, L., May 2016, In: Regional Studies in Marine Science. 5, p. 87-96 10 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedBasic assessment of Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) – A baseline for stock management in the Western Arabian Gulf
  Giraldes, B. W., Al-Maslamani, I., Al-Ashwel, A., Chatting, M. & Smyth, D., Mar 2016, In: The Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research. 42, 1, p. 111-119
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedBenthic surveys of the historic pearl oyster beds of Qatar reveal a dramatic ecological change
  Smyth, D., Al-Maslamani, I., Chatting, M. & Giraldes, B., 15 Dec 2016, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 113, p. 147-155
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedDo Changes in Current Flow as a Result of Arrays of Tidal Turbines Have an Effect on Benthic Communities?
  Kregting, L., Elsaesser, B., Kennedy, R., Smyth, D., O'Carroll, J. & Savidge, G., 25 Aug 2016, In: PLoS ONE. 11, 8, e0161279.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedModern problems in marine biodiversity records – illustrated by the case of the Caribbean Pelia mutica (Gibbes, 1850) confirmed in Brazil
  Giraldes, B. W., Smyth, D. & Chatting, M., 13 Jul 2016, In: Marine Biodiversity Records. 9, 54.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedRecognizing Panulirus meripurpuratus sp. nov. (Decapoda: Palinuridae) in Brazil—Systematic and biogeographic overview of Panulirus species in the Atlantic Ocean
  Giraldes, B. W. & Smyth, D., 3 May 2016, In: Zootaxa. 4107, 3
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedUsing particle dispersal models to assist in the conservation and recovery of the overexploited native oyster (Ostrea edulis) in an enclosed sea lough
  Smyth, D., Kregting, L., Elsäßerb, B., Kennedy, R. & Roberts, D., Feb 2016, In: Journal of Sea Research. 108, p. 50-59
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2015

• PublishedArtisanal fishing of spiny lobsters with gillnets — A significant anthropic impact on tropical reef ecosystem
  Giraldes, B., Zaracon Silva, A., Correa, F. M. & Smyth, D., 1 Jul 2015, In: Global Ecology and Conservation. 4, July, p. 572-580
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedDecapod assemblages in subtidal and intertidal zones—Importance of scuba diving as a survey technique in tropical reefs, Brazil
  Giraldes, B. W., Filho, P. A. C. & Smyth, D. M., Jan 2015, In: Global Ecology and Conservation. 3, p. 163-175
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2013

• PublishedCommunity convergence and recruitment of keystone species as performance indicators of artificial reefs
  Farinas-Franco, J., Allcock, L., Smyth, D. & Roberts, D., 1 Apr 2013, In: Journal of Sea Research. 78, p. 59-74
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2010

• PublishedThe European oyster (Ostrea edulis) and its epibiotic succession
  Smyth, D. & Roberts, D., Nov 2010, In: Hydrobiologia. 655, p. 25-36
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2009

• PublishedImpacts of unregulated harvesting on a recovering stock of native oysters (Ostrea edulis)
  Smyth, D., Roberts, D. & Brown, L., 1 Jun 2009, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 58, 6, p. 916-922
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review