In the summertime, the PML Applications team often spend more time in the field than in our offices. With lots of exciting projects to work on, our team’s time is spread between the marina, our fleet of vessels, and our desks, with members across different departments pitching in to provide delivery support.
This collaborative approach ensures that all our projects are completed promptly, and with everyone trained to a high standard, quality is always at the forefront of everything we do.
We’re pausing and reflecting on the year so far and celebrating the achievements of our dedicated team.
So far this year, feedback demonstrated:
- Customers are very satisfied with services provided, rating PML Applications at the highest level
- Customers rate PML Applications staff as very good, achieving the highest possible rating
- Customers would recommend PML Applications’ services
- PML Applications’ projects have been delivered to the agreed timescale
Centre for Environmental Solutions
The Centre for Environmental Solutions hit the ground running in 2026 with a busy January. First, Dimitrios Kaloudis, Michael Day, and Heidi Tillin attended the Coastal Futures conference accompanied by Emmanuel Nwokocha, who represented the Centre for Geospatial Applications’ CORDIAL Earth Observation product. PML Applications were sponsors for this event.
This was closely followed by the publication of a paper titled ‘Co-benefits reveal the true value of blue ecosystems’, co-authored by Dimitrios Kaloudis and Nicola Beaumont, and led by Plymouth Marine Laboratory’s Dr Olivia Rendón. This new study explored the value of blue ecosystems beyond carbon sequestration by reviewing all available monetary valuations of ecosystem services across saltmarsh, seagrass, kelp, maerl, and oyster habitats for the UK. The results demonstrated that this increased the value of blue ecosystems by 10- to 100-fold beyond carbon sequestration alone.
The Centre for Environmental Solutions spent recent months splitting their team between desk-based studies and fieldwork, delivering a variety of projects including a study on optimising primer selection for eDNA detection of UK fish, ultra-low detection limit saline nutrient analysis, and estuarine water surveys.
Centre for Marine Biofouling and Corrosion
The Centre for Marine Biofouling and Corrosion (CMBC) continues to grow, working across new MoD departments with significant follow-on phases. Our Security Cleared staff’s understanding of MoD requirements allow us to set up new projects quickly and efficiently.
The expansion of our CMBC facilities includes increasing our dynamic testing capabilities at our existing sites to meet rising demand for these services. This allows us to test larger quantities of coated samples for both static and dynamic coating efficacy testing as well as biosecurity monitoring.
Alongside this growth, we are also extending into several warm water sites, including Singapore, to increase testing capabilities of our antifoul coating, biofouling, and corrosion services.
Recently, we shared that Anna Yunnie is now the Manager of the Centre for Marine Biofouling and Corrosion. After 11 years at PML Applications, Anna will lead our biggest centre while retaining her role as our Principal Consultant. Anna’s experience in biofouling and biosecurity perfectly positions the centre to assist companies looking to get ahead of anticipated IMO biosecurity regulations.
Anna can be found out conducting fieldwork, at her desk, and occasionally teaching in the classroom or on a boat. This year saw the successful delivery of our first UK diver biosecurity training course. This significant milestone was a collaboration between PML Applications and MoD. Anna developed and led this course to provide a combination of classroom learning and real-world experience, with divers heading out on vessels on the second day to conduct their first survey under Anna’s guidance. The training taught the divers to identify non-native species on ship hulls and infrastructure to report on biofouling.
Centre for Coastal Technologies
Sam Fawcett, Manager for the Centre for Coastal Technologies, started the year by attending many events while working on projects at PML Applications. In particular, he presented the latest information on the Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Environmental Impact Monitoring Framework at the Carbon to Sea Annual Convening 2026 which has since been published.
Alongside this, he attended several marine technology events including the Ocean Tech Expo and Oceanology International, representing PML Applications and Smart Sound Plymouth.
To create a joined-up approach to our marine autonomy services, Sam Fawcett was appointed Smart Sound Plymouth Head of Commercial. Smart Sound Plymouth is a PML-led project that provides facilities and access to water space for developing, testing, and validating marine technologies.
PML Applications maintains its own marine autonomy services, often in collaboration with Smart Sound Plymouth, and has recently focused on developing staged and gated programmes for structured autonomous vessel trials.
Centre for Geospatial Applications
The Centre for Geospatial Applications have been focused on implementing CORDIAL, our Earth Observation data analysis platform, in several organisations. This adaptable EO platform has versatile capabilities that have seen our team working with a variety of sectors to deliver packages that cater to a range of data needs.
Using components and concepts from CORDIAL, our team has also provided new Insights Applications for Welsh Government, turning 30TB of satellite data into easy-to-access, actionable information via browser-based point-and-click analysis tools.
Additionally, the team are increasing their role in the Copernicus programme with new projects for the Marine and Climate Change services. These topical areas are an excellent reminder of our core value at PML Applications to reduce our clients’ negative environmental impact while increasing understanding of the marine environment.
The year’s momentum for project delivery is set to continue, with an exciting schedule over the coming months across all four of PML Applications’ Centres of Excellence. Follow us on LinkedIn @PMLApplications to see our latest news and announcements or contact us at forinfo@pml-applications.co.uk to work with any of our four centres.
