Mark Hartl

Dr Hartl is an Associate Professor of Marine Biology, specializing in Marine Ecotoxicology in the Centre for Marine Biodiversity & Biotechnology (CMBB), Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, at Heriot-Watt University. He is also Director of the CMBB and Director of Studies for the MSc cluster in Marine, Environment and Climate Change (shttp://www.hw.ac.uk/marinemsc). Dr Hartl represents the Marine Alliance for Science & technology, Scotland (MASTS) on the Scottish Government’s Marine Litter Advisory Group Steering Committee.

He received an MSc from the University of Vienna (1996) in Biology (Zoology/Marine Ecology) and a PhD from the University of Southampton (2000). Following a Postdoctoral Fellowship at University College Cork (2001-2006), he took up a position as Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He was president of the Physiology Section of the American Fisheries Society (2010-2012) and serves on Review Panels for FORMAS.

His research interests include the ecotoxicology of marine organisms, from estuaries to the deep sea, the general ecophysiology of benthic organisms, the effects of anthropogenic activity on community structure and the fate of organic and inorganic pollutants in the marine and estuarine environment. Recent research activity has focused on sediment-associated organotin compounds, bioaccumulation capacity of clams for metals and importance of exposure history, the potential impact of manufactured nanoparticles and microplastic contamination on the marine environment, as well as the effect of climate change on ecotoxicological biomarkers of contaminant exposure and effect. My current research projects are focussed on the impacts of deep-sea mining, nanomaterials and microplastics, as well as the impacts of multiple stressors in the marine environment.