Simeon Hill

• Please introduce yourself.  

I am Simeon Hill, a marine and fisheries ecologist at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). 

• Tell us about your professional and academic career before becoming part of the BIOPOLE Community. 

I studied the foraging behaviour of juvenile plaice for my PhD and then spent five years providing scientific advice to fishery managers in an overseas territory. Much of my work in BAS is focused on managing the impacts of fishing on Antarctic marine ecosystems. This leads to a whole range of research questions about the ecological role of fished species, especially Antarctic krill, and how ecosystems respond to change. These questions extend to the role of krill in nutrient cycles, and the role of ecosystems in supporting fisheries. I have consistently used modelling as a tool for describing and understanding ecosystems and I also spend part of my time in scientific working groups aiming to progress Antarctic marine conservation.

• What do you do within BIOPOLE?  

My work in BIOPOLE WP3 aims to assess the importance of polar nutrient export for supporting marine ecosystems and fisheries at the global scale. This export provides some of the raw materials necessary to support primary production in all of the world’s oceans which, in turn, sustains the animal biomass that supports fisheries. BIOPOLE will provide a better understanding of the connections between polar nutrient exports and global marine primary production. I work in collaboration with the FishMIP community of marine ecosystem modellers to assess how this primary production translates into fishable biomass. In particular we are exploring how future change is likely to affect the stability and predictability of fishable biomass.

• What have you enjoyed about BIOPOLE so far? 

BIOPOLE has provided opportunities to collaborate across disciplines within my own institute, with other UK institutes, and internationally. I have really enjoyed developing these collaborations and benefited from the perspectives of colleagues working in other disciplines and on other geographical areas.

• Tell us about a skill or trait unique to you that you would like to share? 

My scientific thinking is the product of my influences but one thing I try to pass on is to appreciate the value of uncertainty. Understanding the difference between ‘right’ and ‘useful’ allows us to make progress with the information available. Understanding why we’re uncertain tells us what information we need next.