SDG 14 Life Below Water

UNSW demonstrates expertise through people, centres and institutes and partnership

The UNSW Centre for Marine Science and Innovation (CMSI) focuses on researching fundamental knowledge on the functions, processes, interactions and changes in the marine environment and use this to develop innovative solutions for management, conservation and economic developments. This research covers physical and biological oceanography, environmental impact assessment, and coastal geomorphology and engineering making it the leading teaching and research centre for solution-based, multidisciplinary science and innovation in coastal, temperate ecosystems 

Founded in 2007, the UNSW Evolution and Ecology Research Centre (E&ERC) builds on a desire to provide a cohesive and cooperative environment for the University's effort in evolution and ecology research and research training. The E&ERC builds capacity for and quality of research into evolution and ecology, creating public outreach to benefit life below water.

A/Prof. Gribben is the Director of the Centre for Marine Science and Innovation. He focuses on on the ecology of coastal marine ecosystems and is interested in using fundamental ecology to improve our understanding of the response of marine communities to global change and to develop more robust conservation and restoration efforts for critical marine foundation species such as oysters and seagrasses. 

Professor Brander of the Centre for Marine Science and Innovation is a beach safety researcher who combines elements of coastal geomorphology and hazards with an understanding of social and demographic aspects of beachgoers. The overall goal of his research is to understand the physical-social interaction of beach hazards in order to reduce the incidence of drowning and injury on beaches and other coastal environments.

Professor Roughan's work focuses on improving dynamical understanding of the coastal ocean including physical forcings, nutrient enrichment processes and their biological impact. She uses a combination of observations and numerical models to study the oceanography of the East Coast Region and coordinates research in this field.

A/Prof. Egan of the Centre for Marine Science and Innovation has a broad interest in the areas of environmental microbiology, marine ecology and biotechnology. Her recent work in these areas aims to gain a better understanding of the interactions between marine microorgansims and their eukaryotic hosts from both an ecological and cellular/mechanistic perspective.

Dr Parker is the Deputy Director (Indigenous Engagement) for the Centre for Marine Science and Innovation. She is interested in understanding and overcoming the impacts of climate change and environmental stress on marine organisms. Her research focuses specifically on building resilience in marine molluscs to current (e.g. salinity, food availability) and future (e.g. ocean warming and acidification) stressors and understanding the underlying physiological, molecular and epigenetic mechanisms involved.

Dr Ben Milligan is a Scientia Fellow based at the Environmental Law Cluster, Centre for Applied Economic Research, and Centre for Ecosystem Science. His interdisciplinary research, teaching and advisory work predominantly focuses on the use of environmental information in policymaking, and the design or legal, institutional and policy frameworks for sustainable development.

 

Dr William Glamore is an Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow at the Water Research Laboratory in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His primary fields of interest are related to estuarine hydrodynamics and water quality including restoration of estuarine environments, acid sulphate soils, coastal wetlands, boat wake waves, outfall hydraulics and field testing, and related physical and numerical models.  

Dr Valentin (Tino) Heimhuber is a postdoctoral researcher within the EcoEng group at the UNSW Water Research Laboratory. Tino is also an expert on satellite and drone remote sensing climate change, global sustainability and carbon markets. 

More information

UNSW is committed to conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Explore our commitments and activities to this Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). 

Explore the courses at UNSW that are related to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #14 Life Below Water.

Explore UNSW's contributions to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, designed to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges, such as ending poverty and hunger, climate change, the reduction of inequalities and more.