Biography

Peter originally graduated in 1985 from Portsmouth Polytechnic in Biological Sciences, specialising in marine ecology and applied marine biology, but his interests in wider conservation issues drew him to studies on environmental policy. After a year spent teaching conservation in primary schools in Portsmouth, he took an MSc at the Institute of Offshore Engineering (IOE), Heriot-Watt University, in Marine Resource Development and Protection, undertaking research on the bacterial mats that cover drilling spoil piles around oil platforms and whether they promote or hinder the biodegradation of oil residues. He was subsequently employed as a biologist with IOE and helped organise a conference on the various issues which affect the future management of the North Sea.

In June 1989 he took a position with a firm of consultants based in Fort William who were retained by the Crown Estate to manage their marine interests on the west coast and islands of Scotland. This included advising on various environmental issues, particularly those relating to salmon farming, and attempting to resolve conflicts between the various users of coastal areas who require a lease from the Crown Estate, providing Peter with 'on the beach' experience. However, after a year he returned to IOE, where he gained experience of oil industry related environmental consultancy, including involvement in various environmental impact and offshore monitoring studies. He also undertook research on marine conservation and coastal zone management policy, initiating and coordinating the EC funded project VALCOAST which investigated the potential of a non-monetary value conflict assessment and management technique, including case studies in the UK, Belgium, Greece and Spain. He also undertook part-time research on different approaches to managing marine protected areas (MPAs) and the value conflicts underlying them, leading to the award of a PhD in July 1997.

Peter then joined University College London (UCL) in August 1997, originally as a Research Fellow at the Jackson Environment Institute. Since January 2001 he has been a lecturer and then senior lecturer (October 2010) in the Dept of Geography. He runs three modules on the MSc Conservation and leads a number of research projects on the theme of governing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). He has a strong interest in inter-disciplinary approaches to analysing MPA governance issues, with a particular emphasis on exploring ways to balance the provision for stakeholder participation in decision-making processes with the achievement of wider-scale and longer-term objectives.