Dr Sebastian Hennige
Dr Sebastian Hennige is a coral and algal eco-physiologist at
Heriot Watt University. He has 6 years of experience in conducting
field observations and manipulative experiments in the laboratory,
to assess the acclimation and adaptation strategies that corals and
algae utilise to ensure survival across a range of different
environments, both present and future.
He is currently conducting research to examine the synergistic
effects of ocean acidification and warming on biomineralisation in
cold-water corals (Lophelia pertusa) and coralline algae
(maerl). This will assess whether any changes in the growth,
physiology and structural integrity of these species due to future
high CO2 conditions will impede the ecosystem
engineering function that cold-water corals and maerl perform. This
work is conducted at the Centre for Marine Biodiversity and
Biotechnology at Heriot-Watt University and the Department of
Geographical and Earth Sciences at Glasgow University in
conjunction with Dr Roberts, Dr Kamenos and Prof. Taylor.
Apart from ocean acidification interests,
Sebastian is also interested in harmful algal photophysiology, the
mechanisms underlying bleaching in tropical coral species, and the
use of host tissue cultures as a tool to assess coral physiology
under controlled conditions.