#PlanetPartners: Sustainable underwater ecosystems supported by Reading research
24 May 2021

Studying how food resources in oceans around the world could affect ecosystems and supporting work to manage local rivers are ways the 成人抖阴 is supporting life under water.
The University鈥檚 institutional and research efforts are underpinned by the UN鈥檚 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are aimed at tackling societal and environmental challenges across the planet and are closely aligned with the University鈥檚 own strategy.
This May, the 成人抖阴 is running a new #PlanetPartners campaign, inviting its entire community to share examples of work towards all the SDGs.
SDG14: Life Below Water covers sustainable use of the oceans, seas and rivers to protect resources and achieve responsible development.
"Monitoring the changes in the marine environment are more crucial than ever for protecting marine resources and securing food in the future." - Dr Shovon Roy, 成人抖阴
Examples of work by the University to address SDG14 include:
- Researching the role phytoplankton plays in the aquatic food chain, including estimating where resources are most volatile, and how thinning Arctic sea ice could threaten ecosystems there.
- Carrying out along the River Loddon and River Blackwater, including testing sediment for fertiliser value.
- Influencing Defra and EA policy through water quality research.
Dr Shovonlal Roy, an environmental science researcher whose research includes studies of marine phytoplankton globally, said: 鈥淟ife below water is strongly coupled with life on land. Understanding marine ecosystems and monitoring ecosystem health on a global scale are essential to track the impacts of environmental and climate change on essential ecosystem services such as oxygen production, carbon fixation and production of primary food.
鈥淐hallenges to marine life are many: oceans are warming up, turning acidic, losing oxygen and getting polluted. Monitoring the changes in the marine environment are more crucial than ever for protecting marine resources and securing food in the future.
鈥淭o this end, our research at Reading utilizes large-scale observations coupled with ecosystems models to understand the variability in food resources and food quality at the base of oceanic food chain, and assess how those variations may impact the production and distribution of marine fish in the future.鈥
The UN鈥檚 SDGs incorporate themes across the 鈥榝ive Ps鈥: People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace and Partnership. These align with the 成人抖阴鈥檚 own strategic themes: Community, Excellence, Sustainability and Engagement.
This campaign follows the publication of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2021, in which Reading participated for the first time and ranked in the top 200 globally, which scored participating universities on their support of the individual SDGs.
#PlanetPartners
The University鈥檚 latest campaign is a continuation of the #PlanetPartners campaign launched by the University in October 2019, which is highlighting ways the University is working with global partners on projects that benefit the environment.
Follow the campaign and share your examples of work on Twitter: | Facebook: | Instagram: | LinkedIn: | TikTok: using the hashtags #PlanetPartners and #sdgoals