Goal #14 Life Below Water | Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

8th

in the world for SDG 14

UNSW achieved the ranking in the 2024 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.

Project Halophyte

Five-year partnership

between UNSW and the University of the South Pacific to restore mangrove ecosystems.

1 million

hectares of kelp forests

UNSW researchers are leading an ambitious restoration challenge aiming to plant a million hectares of kelp seaweed by 2040.

In this video, Professor Tracey Rogers from the UNSW School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences breaks down some of the key challenges behind SDG #14.

Our work

Creating living seawalls

The UNSW co-led Living Seawalls project is being trialled in harbours across Australia, in Asia and Europe - building living seawalls to promote marine life and better ecosystems. In 2023, UNSW helped install new walls and design new piling wraps for wharfs.

Researching marine heatwaves

UNSW researchers led a 24-day mission aboard Australia’s flagship ocean research vessel to study a deep eddy forming off Sydney that could have triggered another coastal marine heatwave.

3D printing to restore Sydney's underwater forests

In 2024, UNSW’s Operation Crayweed project received a $890,000 Ian Potter Foundation grant to expand and accelerate seaweed restoration along a 70 kilometre stretch of Sydney’s coastline.

The Kelp Forest Challenge

A million hectares of kelp forests need planting by 2040, and scientists need our help. This ambitious restoration challenge led by UNSW aims to restore these forgotten forests.

Tackling seafood fraud

At the foreshore of sustainable fishing: UNSW researchers are partners in this project that developed a handheld scanner which uses nuclear methods and mathematical models to determine the origin and production of seafood.

Protecting vulnerable coastlines in fiji

UNSW's Project Halophyte is working with the University of the South Pacific to design floating mangrove islands in Fiji to protect vulnerable coastlines from a warming climate and to revitalise ecosystems.

Find out more

Living Seawalls

The Living Seawalls project aims to investigate methods to enhance the ecological value of artificial structures in the marine environment such as seawalls and pilings.

What started as a flagship program of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science is now being trialled in in harbours across Australia, in Asia and Europe.

Find out more

Centres, institutes and partnerships

UNSW Global Water Institute

A world leader in water research, innovation and problem solving, the GWI draws on water expertise across UNSW to create the nation’s most advanced water knowledge hub.

UNSW Centre for Marine Science and Innovation

The CMSI's expertise and research covers a multidisciplinary mix of ecological and biological sciences, physical and biological oceanography, environmental impact assessment, as well as coastal geomorphology and engineering.

UNSW Water Research Laboratory

Providing research and advice to industry and local government on water matters for over 50 years in areas of the coast, estuaries, inland waterways, wetlands, groundwater & portable water.

Photo of coral reef looking towards to the sun

Sydney Institute of Marine Science

UNSW is a founding member of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS). SIMS conducts multidisciplinary marine research on impacts of climate change and urbanisation, eco-engineering and habitat restoration, ocean resources and technologies, and outcomes of marine management approaches.

Gamay Rangers partnership

Experts from UNSW partnered with Gamay Rangers from the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council for a hands-on knowledge-share course covering marine botany, zoology, ecology and experimental design. It included a mixture of interactive lectures, field practicals and laboratory sessions.

Global Ocean Accounts Partnership

The Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) Secretariat, hosted by UNSW’s Centre for Sustainable Development Reform, advances ocean sustainable development through research, capacity enhancement, and institutional strengthening. In 2025, it was endorsed as an official UN Ocean Decade Project, as a key initiative for Sustainable Ocean Planning.

Artificial Reefs

With specifically designed reef fields costing approx $1 million, the question is not do they work, but do they work too well? Prof Tracy Rogers speaks to special guest, Prof Iain Suthers about production vs attraction and lots more.

Warming waters & turtles

Prof Tracey Rogers explains some of the challenges facing marine turtles including sex skewing. The sex of marine turtles depends on what the temperature was when they were eggs, so will global warming mean too many females?

Justice for the Oceans

Globally-renowned ocean defender Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is clear: saving the oceans is key to fighting the climate crisis. Listen to this conversation between Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and leading Australian marine scientist Emma Johnston.

Master of Marine Science and Management

This masters course offered by UNSW in partnership with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, educates students about coastal management and engineering, climate change, marine ecology and conservation, marine legislation, physical oceanography, and data analysis and modelling.

Find out more

SciX@UNSW

The SciX@UNSW Program is designed to support passionate high school students who are eager to delve into scientific research. In this on-campus program, students join a UNSW research group and conduct an independent research project on a range of topics including Marine Biodiversity. Each project is overseen by a member of the academic research staff, such as Associate Professor Mariana Mayer Pinto and taught by UNSW graduate research students who act as student mentors.

Find out more