Dr Charlie Ellis

Growing up in coastal North Cornwall, I became interested in marine biology, sustainable seafood, and conservation of both marine ecosystems and artisanal fisheries. I’m a marine ecologist with expertise in research and education, specialising in crustacean biology, genetics, conservation and sustainable fisheries & aquaculture. I have extensive experience of working alongside academic partners, industry stakeholders and members of fishing communities, both on land and at sea, and in developing techniques that facilitate the integration of research to commercial 

organisations. In 2016 I attained my PhD, focussing on the population ecology of European lobsters, and on stock enhancement projects run to conserve this important species, like

the National Lobster Hatchery (NLH), with whom I have collaborated since 2005. After my PhD, I have worked as a postdoctoral researcher for NLH on the interdisciplinary Lobster Grower 2 project, a novel industrial aquaculture pilot (2016-2019), and for Exeter University's Molecular Ecology and Evolution Group (MEEG), on a variety of projects developing  genomic tools to explore population biology, upgrade traceability and improve conservation management in clawed lobsters, spiny lobsters, trout and maerl (2019-now). In 2024, I successfully conceived and funded my own first major research     proposal, the GEMALOR project, which       received a £298k award from DEFRA's     FISP scheme. Via the GEMALOR project, MEEG, NLH and collaborating commercial fishers are using genetic parentage assignments to assess the impacts of hatchery stocking on genetic diversity and fitness of wild lobster stocks.