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The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is Scotland's premier independent marine science organisation generating new knowledge for the benefit of the marine environment and society since 1884.
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Dr Benjamin Williamson

Principal Investigator in Engineering and Environmental Science

I am interested in using marine and terrestrial sensing applied to environmental science. My research interests include sensor fusion, remote sensing above and under water, computer vision and machine learning, with applications from measuring the environmental and ecological effects of marine renewable energy devices to marine plastic litter. I have a background in smart grids, prior to hydroacoustics and developing subsea multi-sensor platforms to track the interactions of fish, seabirds and marine mammals with marine energy devices.

Benjamin.Williamson@sams.ac.uk

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SAMS Research Outputs

A paradigm for understanding whole ecosystem effects of offshore wind farms in shelf seas

Natalie Isaksson, Beth E Scott, Georgina Hunt, Ella Benninghaus, Morgane Decclerk, Kate Gormley, Caitlin Harris, Sandra Sjöstrand, Neda Trifonova, James Waggitt, Juliane Wihsgott, Charlotte Williams, Arianna Zampollo, Benjamin Williamson

12/12/2023 | Article | DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsad194

A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream Environments

James Slingsby, Beth E. Scott, Louise Kregting, Jason McIlvenny, Jared Wilson, Benjamin J. Williamson

4/12/2023 | Review article | DOI: 10.3390/jmse11122298

Evaluating the Performance of a Dual-Frequency Multibeam Echosounder for Small Target Detection

Nicholas Petzinna, V. I. Nikora, Joseph Onoufriou, Benjamin Williamson

31/10/2023 | Article | DOI: 10.3390/jmse11112084

The bigger picture: developing a low-cost graphical user interface to process drone imagery of tidal stream environments

James Slingsby, Beth E Scott, Louise T Kregting, Jason McIlvenny, Jared Wilson, Marion Yanez, Benjamin Williamson

31/3/2023 | Article | DOI: 10.36688/imej.6.11-17

Comparison of dense optical flow and PIV techniques for mapping surface current flow in tidal stream energy sites

Jason McIlvenny, Benjamin Williamson, I A Fairley, M Lewis, S Neill, I Masters, D E Reeave

2/9/2022 | Article | DOI: 10.1007/s40095-022-00519-z

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Publications

Harris CB, Benjamins S, van Geel N, White E, Scott B, Williamson BJ (2026) Impacts of large-scale maintenance of a floating offshore wind farm on noise levels and harbour porpoise activity. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 83 (8), fsag150. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsag150