An Angus marine scientist has been made an MBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Peter Wright has had a 30-year career researching sea life and has been pivotal in changing how we understand life in the North Sea.
Peter lives on the outskirts of Forfar with his wife.
The 60-year old said the news of the MBE came as a big shock.
“I got a letter through the post a few weeks ago informing me, but I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about it.
“It was a pleasant surprise.
“There have been other people in my field who have received honours. But you don’t really think you’ll get one yourself so it really was a big surprise.”
A love of the sea
Peter is originally from Leicester, which he describes as “about as far as you can get from the sea”.
Nevertheless, he was always interested in what goes on beneath the waves so moved to Glasgow to do a PHD in marine science.
From there he moved to Angus when he started working at Marine Laboratory Aberdeen, which is now called Marine Scotland Science, in 1990.
At the government-run organisation, Peter’s research has been key in setting up and adapting Marine Protected Areas.
The zones offer guarantees from overfishing at marine ecosystems along Scotland’s coastline.
Peter has also offered an insight into cod and haddock stocks in the North Sea.
Peter said: “One of the biggest bits of work I did was on sandeels and sea birds.
“My work was instrumental in learning about sandeel stocks in the North Sea.
“I led work that changed the way we managed them.”
Among Peter’s other achievements is working with the fishing industry on how to protect haddock and cod stock numbers.
While he no longer works at Marine Scotland Science, his career isn’t over yet.
He said: “I have books on cod and haddock coming out and I’m doing some teaching, working with PHD students.”
Conversation