I’m obsessed with sea worms: ‘Thankfully, in 25 years of working with them, I’ve never been bitten’

An associate professor in marine biology explains her fascination with the surprisingly diverse animals - and how they could help to address the climate crisis

• Read more in this series

I found my first encounter with sea worms a little terrifying. I got into studying them because I was fascinated by a question: how can something as simple as a worm living in the mud in an estuary in Newcastle know exactly what day of the year it is, so that the whole population is able to reproduce on the same day?

So in the first days of my PhD, I visited a worm farm in Newcastle where they were growing worms to sell as fishing bait.