Title: Deep sea mining: problems and research

Increased demand for minerals, combined with dwindling land deposits, has made deep sea mining an attractive alternative for obtaining these materials. The environmental consequences, such as habitat loss and the creation of sediment plumes, have been identified as the most far-reaching and immediate effects of this activity. Deep-sea ecosystems are highly specialized due to the conditions that characterize them, but they are the least studied by science. In the DEEPRISK project, a multidisciplinary team seeks to respond to the gaps in knowledge about the effects of mining on the oceans, through exposure tests, biogeochemical analysis and modeling tools. The main objective is to help create legislation for the sustainable exploitation of the ocean.

Name: Marlene Pinheiro

With a Master’s degree in Environmental Toxicology and Contamination from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences and the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto and a PhD in Biology from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, Marlene Pinheiro’s main area of specialization is the deep sea. She is currently a researcher at CIIMAR, focused on assessing the ecotoxicological effects of deep sea mining, particularly sediment plumes, and other emerging stressors in these ecosystems such as microplastics.

Free online webinar. To access please follow this LINK.

If you are a CIIMAR member you can also access last seminars recordings through the LINK.