Marine Institute scientist receives ICES Outstanding Achievement Award

7 September 2021: Professor Dave Reid of the Marine Institute received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), at their virtual Annual Science Conference 2021.

Professor Reid is a Principal Investigator in the Fisheries Ecosystems Advisory Services team at the Marine Institute. As an ecosystem scientist, he is involved in a number of EU-funded projects and leads a team of students and researchers.

The ICES Outstanding Achievement Award honours scientists who have made a notable contribution to the organisation of ICES in the field of marine science over a sustained period of time. Professor Reid's first leadership involvement with ICES was chairing the Planning Group on the HAC (file type) Data Exchange Format, a role he held for six years and since then he has participated in 25 working groups, 30 workshops, 2 strategic initiatives, 4 steering groups, and the Science Committee. Professor Reid has also chaired 10 workshops, 8 working groups, and 2 steering groups and is currently an active member of 12 of these groups.

Congratulating Professor Dave Reid on receiving the ICES Outstanding Achievement Award, Michael Gillooly, Interim CEO of the Marine Institute said, "This award recognises Professor Reid's contribution to marine science and his long standing commitment to ICES. It is a great honour for Professor Reid to be acknowledged by his colleagues at the Marine Institute and the international scientific community for his endeavours in science, research, and leadership."

Professor Reid says he is most proud of his involvement in the ICES Working Group called WKIrish, an Ecosystem Based Approach to Fishery Management for the Irish Sea. "This was a collaboration between ecosystem scientists, with fish stock assessors and fishers in the industry. We were trying to explain why the Irish Sea had become less successful as a fishing ground. The fishers had asked for this study, and they really engaged with it. They were with us for the whole journey, and the study had great results."

Professor Reid added, "The most inspiring aspect of my career by far is the chance to work with young scientists at the start of their career. I've always found this incredibly stimulating - they are smart, lively, switched on and sparky people. Working with people like that not only keeps me semi-young, but I also get to train them, see them develop and continue on to careers in marine science and some of my ex-graduates are now working at the European Commission and governments around the world."

ICES is an intergovernmental marine science organisation, with a network of 6,000 scientists from over 700 marine institutes in the 20 member countries that border the North Atlantic. ICES advance and share scientific understanding of marine ecosystems and the services they provide and use this knowledge to generate state-of-the-art advice for meeting conservation, management, and sustainability goals.

Video Credit to ICES - International Council for the Exploration of the Sea

 ENDS

For more information, please contact:
Sinéad Coyne e. sinead.coyne@marine.ie m. +353 (0)87 947 7090
Sheila Byrnes e. sheila.byrnes@marine.ie m. +353 (0)87 225 0871