PhD Sponsoring

Fortuna believes that responsible operation in the South Atlantic must be informed by science. As a long-term participant in the region’s fisheries and marine economy, we recognise the importance of investing in research that strengthens understanding, supports sustainable management and helps safeguard the long-term health of the ecosystems on which so much depends.

Through our investment in South Atlantic Laboratories Ltd, and through the support of multiple PhD research programmes across Fortuna and group companies, we have contributed to important scientific work on the South Atlantic marine environment over more than a decade. These projects have explored issues ranging from toothfish recruitment dynamics around South Georgia, into the decline and recovery of Southern blue whiting, seabird-fisheries interactions in the Falkland Islands, the ecology and genetic diversity of brown trout, and the ecosystem role of coastal ichthyoplankton and zooplankton in Falkland Islands waters.

This sustained support reflects a wider belief that science, industry and responsible stewardship should work hand in hand. By helping to build knowledge and research capacity, Fortuna is contributing to the evidence base that supports sustainable fisheries, informed environmental management and the long-term resilience of the Falkland Islands and the wider South Atlantic.

For Fortuna, investing in research is part of investing in the future: creating value not only through enterprise, but through a deeper understanding of the marine systems that sustain communities, livelihoods and opportunity across the region.

2014-17 Katie Brigden

Predicting Recruitment variability in toothfish around South Georgia

2016-21 Tom Busbridge

Understanding the decline and recovery of one of the South Atlantics largest fishery (Southern blue whiting)

2018-22 Amanda Kuepfer

Seabird-fisheries interactions in the Falkland Islands

2018-20 Jessica Minett

Brown trout in the Falkland Islands: invasion ecology, population structure and genetic diversity

2022-25 Rhian Taylor

The role of coastal ichthyoplankton and zooplankton to ecosystem function Falkland Islands marine environment and fisheries