Student Research Fund

This has been established to encourage local universities and their students to take an active role in providing research to underpin and refine the policies and management practices related to the Hamble Estuary. Individual stakeholder organisations are encouraged to suggest research topics to support their own management efforts. The Student Research Fund is thought to be unique in the UK and has been included in a national good practice listing of coastal management activity.

Aim

Support applied research concerning the Hamble Estuary that contributes to the implementation of the Estuary Management Plan 2.7mb pdf and/or informs enhanced management practices

Eligibility

The fund is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students studying any relevant subject at any UK university. Funding may also be available to assist PhD fieldwork costs for suitable projects.

Funding provided

The Fund will meet essential travel and research expenses, normally up to a maximum of £200 per project. It is likely that successful projects will also receive advice and support from relevant local stakeholders where possible.

Commitment

In return, students are required to present the research findings to a meeting of the Partnership in addition to providing a copy of their final report.

Applying to the Fund

Applications should be made using the application form. (see right). Applications will be considered throughout the year.

Research topics

Projects that have received funding to date include:

• Metal pollution in the Hamble estuary and its effects on the growth of Spartina anglica
• Concentration of heavy metals in the estuary near to the M27 road bridge
• An evaluation of maritime leisure conflict in the estuary
• A study to evaluate the attitude and practices that the users of the River Hamble have adopted in respect to waste disposal and pollution prevention.

The topic areas in which research is required include:

Nature conservation, Recreation, Pollution and water quality, Fishing and bait collection, Physical processes, Landscape, Moorings, Archaeology, Navigation.

Current topics of particular interest suggested by stakeholders

Recreation and tourism

• Assessment of people's perception of carrying capacity of the river -survey of all types of users - walkers to various boat users - age groups etc.
• Economic analysis of benefits that river activities (again on and off water) bring to the local communities
• To quantify disturbance to feeding and roosting birds from both land-based and water-based recreational activities. Current evidence is generally anecdotal rather than quantifiable and could be linked to monitoring of overall visitor numbers.
• Survey of passenger carrying potential; from the river to Southampton/IoW or within the River - water bus/water taxi or/and ferry routes.

Bait collection

• Does bait digging on a large scale damage the intertidal mud - or does it enhance bird feeding activity as it turns over the mud. What evidence is there ?
• To quantify the impact of commercial bait digging on the river - looking at use of disturbed mud by wading birds and comparing invertebrate populations in disturbed and un-disturbed areas.
• Establishing if there are differences between areas dug for bait and those left undisturbed – continuation of work done in other harbours.
• Affect of bait digging on archaeology

Conservation/biodiversity

• To monitor / assess distribution of mink populations on the river as far as Hook Lake.
• Surveys of estuarine fish populations in various habits throughout estuary (mudflat, saltmarsh, within marinas etc). To build on preliminary work undertaken by Environment Agency for the Water Framework Directive.
• Evaluation of degree of colonization of River Hamble by alien/invasive species and whether recreational boating plays a role in the transfer mechanism.
• Otter survey in conjunction with Mink study continuing work of Hampshire Wildlife Trust and Game Conservancy on Itchen.

Water quality

• What effect do live aboard vessels have on the River - Sewage, Grey water and effects around the local intertidal mud locations?
• Review of sources and fate of zinc inputs into the estuary – primarily the loss from sacrificial anodes used on boats.
• Aesthetic quality surveys of the estuary and marinas. Utilising scoring system as developed for sewage related Garber surveys but extended to include other forms of contamination such as oil from marinas, boats, algal blooms, floating eed etc.
• Sediment chemical surveys comparing results close to scrubbing piles and/or marina slipways with control sites elsewhere in the estuary.
• Evaluation of slipway cleaners, their use and their environmental impact
• Assessment of volume of fuel spills from marine fuel pontoons, whether this has any adverse environmental impact and

  whether good practice could minimise these spills.

Waste management

• Evaluation of the boat user waste recycling initiative on the River Hamble

Archaeology

• The Hants and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology have been working on the archaeology of the river for the past 5 years, and now have a body of data concerning the history and archaeology of the river. There are a number of areas of archaeological research that may be suitable for either undergraduate or masters level dissertation topics.
  The Trust would be happy to help with suggested topics if students were interested.