For the birds: Prof Phil Hockey was one of the speakers at the MA-RE research forum.

The Marine Research Institute (MA-RE) marked its first annual forum with a chock-a-block programme that mirrored the research range of the institute, an umbrella body for "all UCT research involved in salty water matters", as institute director Prof John Field put it. Titled Making Waves in Marine Research: A cross section of marine research at UCT, the forum on 8 September featured 11 talks from a variety of disciplines and departments.

Topics included a model for monitoring bird populations, tracking using floaters (birds with breeding territory) as markers; how measures to control abalone fishing boost illegal trade; seaweed diversity; the effects of fishing-rights control on a community in St Helena Bay; and the use of marine biotechnology and satellite tracking at UCT.

Monday Paper will take a closer look at some of this research in an upcoming issue.