In this edition of the ECOP Wednesdays event series, hosted by the EMB Young Ambassadors and the EMB Secretariat for the EMB ECOP network, Sari Ponnet will speak about "Seagrass restoration in practice: methods, challenges and lessons from the field".
Sari Ponnet is a Belgian marine scientist and PhD student at the Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), University of Algarve, Portugal, supported by a “la Caixa” Foundation INPhINIT Incoming Doctoral Fellowship. Her research focuses on developing scalable approaches to seagrass conservation and restoration. As part of her PhD and the LIFE RESTORESEAGRASS project, she works on developing scalable approaches to seagrass conservation and restoration in southern Portugal. Her research combines seagrass mapping and spatial approaches, scientific diving, field-based restoration and monitoring to better understand seagrass ecosystems and support their recovery. She is also interested in how public engagement and citizen science can contribute to long-term seagrass conservation.
This webinar will explore seagrass restoration in practice, from the broader context of why seagrass meadows need restoration to the methods used to restore and monitor them in the field. Sari will introduce some of the scientific diving methodologies involved in seagrass research and restoration and discuss the practical considerations and challenges of working underwater. Drawing on ongoing work in southern Portugal, she will share experiences and lessons from field-based seagrass restoration, including different transplantation approaches and some of the challenges encountered along the way. The webinar will highlight the opportunities and practical considerations involved in developing more scalable and low-impact approaches to seagrass restoration.
Sari Ponnet is supported by the “La Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434) through the INPhINIT Incoming Doctoral Fellowship (LCF/BQ/DFI25/13000097). Additional support is provided by the RESTORESEAGRASS project (LIFE23-NAT-PTRESTORESEAGRASS) and the Youth4Ocean Forum, part of the EU4Ocean Coalition.
You can register for the webinar here.