Welcome

Marine Biogeoscientist | Human Rights Law Specialist | London, UK
MastodonDr. Siddhi Joshi
Marine Biogeoscientist | Human Rights Law Specialist | London, UK
Hi and welcome to my webpage- the about section! I am a PhD qualified marine biogeoscientist and LLM qualified human rights specialist based in London, UK, with strong interest in marine conservation and environmental protection. I am presently the coordinator of the Challenger Society for Marine Science Early Career Researcher Network. My professional interests include marine sediment dynamics and benthic habitat mapping, in particular of maerl or rhodolith beds (coralline red algae). I have recently completed a post doctoral research year in Geography in NUI Galway. I have completed my LLM in International Human Rights Law at Irish Centre for Human Rights. My project in Geography was on beach morphodynamics and numerical modelling of climate change impacts of storminess. My LLM thesis was on “Climate change as a human rights issue from a business and human rights perspective.” I am a keen blogger running the Seabed habitats blog, organising the Seabed habitats seminar series 2021.
I completed my PhD at Earth and Ocean Sciences in National University of Ireland, Galway, based in the Biogeosciences group, working on the “Understanding the seabed” project (“Sediment mobility modelling and hydrodynamic properties of maerl”) As part of this, my work was an interdisciplinary study of the sediment dynamics in Galway Bay, and specifically of maerl coralline algae. It links aspects of physical oceanography, marine geophysics, sedimentology and ecology in the shallow water environment. It was funded by the Griffith Geoscience Research Award, Geological Survey Ireland and the Thomas Crawford Hayes Trust Fund. Multibeam and LiDAR data from the INFOMAR national seabed mapping programme were used as part of coupled hydrodynamic-wave -sediment transport models to increase understanding of the oceanographic forcing factors driving habitat distribution.
I have a unique multidisciplinary expertise including an MSc in Hydrographic Surveying, a International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO/FIG) Category A accredited course from University College London. Here my international research included comparison of state-of-the-art commercially available seabed classification software utilising multibeam backscatter and sidescan sonar imagery for marine habitat mapping.
Present Occupation
Host and organiser of Seabed Habitats Seminar Series on Seabed Habitats Blog- An exciting series of talks from scientists all around the world held on last Tuesday of every month.
Challenger Society for Marine Science Council Member for Early Career Researcher Network (September 2021- Onwards) including organising the Challenger Early Career Researcher Seminar Series 2022
Committee Member of Women in Coastal Geoscience and Engineering Network (March 2017 – Onwards)
Independent Marine Scientist training towards ESRI ArcGIS certification, R programming, Python programming and machine learning/data science.
Recipient of Challenger Society for Marine Science Stepping Stones Bursary 2021 for oceanographic modelling/multibeam backscatter research and conference presentation.
Chairperson and Founder of British Asian LGBTI – Support Group for South Asian LGBTI community (September 2013- Onwards)
Events Secretary at Amnesty International Galway (April 2013- onwards)
General Interests
Events Secretary at Amnesty Galway
Marine Science Documentary
Beginners Bass Guitar & Music
Environmental Education
Marine Science Research
Climate Change Litigation
LGBTI Human Rights
Marine Science Outreach / Science Communication
Programming in Python

Past Experiences
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at National University of Ireland Galway
(November 2017 – October 2018)
Modelling maerl habitat dynamics in response to increased storminess. Principal Investigator of Geological Survey Ireland Short Call Project in the Discipline of Geography. This project in marine geomorphology involved fieldwork and modelling at Carraroe’s maerl beach- Trá an Doilín in County Galway.
Master of Law LLM International Human Rights at Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway
(September 2017 – August 2019)
Core: Introduction to Human Rights Law; Specialisms: Business and Human Rights, Refugee Protection and International Humanitarian Law. LLM Thesis: Climate Change as a Human Rights Issue from a Business and Human Rights Perspective. Supervisor: Prof. Shane Darcy. Audit only modules: Conflict/Post Conflict, Rights of the Child, Minority Rights, Migration Law, Immigration Law, Equality Law, Gender and Human Rights.
PhD Earth and Ocean Science at National University of Ireland Galway
(February 2009 – November 2016)
Griffith Research Award by Geological Survey Ireland (NUIG Biogeoscience Research Group) PhD Thesis: Sediment Mobility Modelling and Hydrodynamic Properties of Maerl Supervisors: Prof. Colin Brown and Dr Garret Duffy.
MSc Hydrographic Surveying at University College London
(September 2007- September 2008)
Category A accredited course by the International Hydrographic Organisation/ FIG. Funded by Marine Environmental Protection Fund MSc Bursary Scheme, Cefas, UK. Supervisors: Prof Jon Iliffe and John Dillon-Leetch of Port of London Authority.
UCert Biological Recording and Species Identification at University of Birmingham/Field Studies Council
(September 2006- September 2007)
Specialist courses based at Dale Fort Field Centre, Pembrokeshire and Preston Montford Field Centre, Shropshire.
BSc (Hons) Marine Biology with Oceanography at University of Southampton
(October 2003- July 2006)
School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton with specialism in marine habitat mapping in Patricia Bay, British Columbia, Canada. Supervisors: Dr Veerle Huvenne and Dr Tim Le Bas.