Professor Rodney Forster
Rodney Forster is a marine ecologist and Professor of Marine Science at the University of Hull, where he serves as Director of the Hull Marine Laboratory. His research has focused on marine primary production, microphytobenthos ecology, remote sensing, coastal restoration, offshore wind farm impacts, and ecosystem health. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and has published extensively in marine science, with more than 5,000 citations, making him an internationally recognised expert in coastal and marine ecosystem research.
Faculty of Science and EngineeringSchool of Environmental and Life SciencesMarine ScienceAbout Professor Rodney Forster
Rodney Forster is a marine ecologist and Professor of Marine Science at the University of Hull, where he serves as Director of the Hull Marine Laboratory. He obtained a BSc in Marine Biology from the University of Liverpool before completing a PhD on the ecophysiology of marine algae at Queen's University Belfast. His career has spanned leading research institutions across Europe, including postdoctoral research at the University of Rostock in Germany and a marine scientist position at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. He joined Cefas in Lowestoft in 2006 as a Senior Marine Ecologist and later became Team Leader for Pelagic Science, contributing significantly to marine ecosystem monitoring, phytoplankton ecology, and assessing environmental impacts from offshore renewable energy developments. In 2014, he moved to the University of Hull, where he advanced from Reader in Applied Estuarine and Marine Sciences to Professor in 2023. His research has focused on marine primary production, microphytobenthos ecology, remote sensing, coastal restoration, offshore wind farm impacts, and ecosystem health. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and has published extensively in marine science, with more than 5,000 citations, making him an internationally recognised expert in coastal and marine ecosystem research.
Rodney is responsible for teaching at level 5 (second year) for B Sc Marine Biology students. He leads the Coastal Seas and Oceanography modules and he also supervises several final-year project students.
Research projects that are running at present include:
The Great Yorkshire Kelp Project – using SCUBA diving, underwater video and satellite remote sensing to calculate the extent of the underwater kelp forest along the east coast.
REWRITE – with many partners in the EU, we are looking at the possibilities to restore coastal ecosystems, in particular tidal flats and seagrass meadows (rewrite.eu)
eSWEETS with UK partners, looking at the effects of the new, floating windfarms on patterns of water movement and phytoplankton production.
