About Us
About Us
Queen's University Marine Laboratory (QML), Portaferry is a research laboratory that serves the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Natural and Built Environment. Facilities in Portaferry are used by resident staff and students as well as associated researchers from Queen's University and international visitors.
Our research success is presented in our 2018-20 QML Review, our previous success can be seen in the 2015-17 review, 2014-15 review.
For general enquiries, or to book the teaching laboratory or meeting rooms, please contact Bernie Curran.
For scientific visitors and research enquiries, please contact the Laboratory Director, Prof. Jaimie Dick.
The University accepts the responsibility of demonstrating sustainable leadership in environmental protection and enhancement through its actions as an institution. QUB's Environmental Policy Statement can be found here.
Location
Portaferry is located at the entrance of beautiful Strangford Lough, a large enclosed, marine lagoon (150 km2) opening into the Irish Sea. We are approximately one hour drive from the main QUB campus in Belfast.
Strangford Lough is a Special Area of Conservation under the European Union Habitats Directive and Northern Ireland's first Marine Conservation Zone under the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The marine flora and fauna in the vicinity of Portaferry are among the most diverse in the North Atlantic; Portaferry is located in close proximity to an extraordinary diversity of habitats, from tidal mudflats inside Strangford Lough to the exposed coast of the Irish sea outside the Lough. The entrance to Strangford Lough is a narrow channel that experiences high speed tidal fluctuations (up to 8 knot flows), the whole volume of the Lough is exchanged every two weeks through a passage less than 1 km wide. The Narrows is the site of an experimental commericial tidal energy generator, SeaGen, operated by Marine Current Turbines.