MERSEA

Marine biology
à l’Université de Caen Normandie
Direction
Responsible PHARE

Responsible FORSEAS

MERSEA

Our ambition

Monitoring the health of marine environments –  from genes to ecosystems

Our research teams, PHARE and FORSEAS, bring together recognized scientific expertise. Their work is complementary, spanning multiple scales of investigation, from molecular biology to ecosystem-level dynamics

Our missions

  • Study marine organisms to understand their interactions, acclimation processes, and long-term adaptations
  • Investigate ecosystem functioning and track their trajectories in response to anthropogenic pressures, such as climate change, pollution, and habitat disturbance

  • Monitor the health of marine environments, using multi-scale approaches – from molecular biology to ecosystem analysis

  • Focus on the English Channel as a key observation area, serving as a model region for understanding environmental changes in temperate coastal seas

  • Support sustainable marine management by providing scientific data and expertise to inform public policy and conservation efforts

Our expertise

  • Model organisms : microalgae, mollusks, fish
  • Physiological functions : reproduction, growth, immunity

Our teams

PHARE

The PHARE team brings together researchers and teachers of the unit specialized in the processes of regulation of the molecular physiology of aquatic species, on the levels of observations spanning the gene, cell, tissue, and up the body…

FORSEAS

The research team FORSEAS UR MERSEA focuses on thecoastal ecosystem of the Neck, characterized by gradients of human impact, with areas such as the Bay of the Seine much affected by the human activities…