Media coverage and news
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GODEAE OV Summer School - Operational Oceanography
2 October 2017
Prof. Roughan was invited to attend the 2017 Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment Summer School and gave 2 lectures on observing the ocean: global and coastal in-situ observations.
The GODAE Ocean View Summer School brings together world leading oceanographers to teach 70 students from around the world who are the next generation of leading oceanographers. Operational oceanography is an integrated approach (satellite data, in-situ observations, numerical models), science-based and user-driven to describe and forecast the ocean in support of societal needs.
Australia is represented in the International GODAE Ocean View Programme through the efforts of the operational Bluelink ocean forecasting team.
2017 GODAE Summer School Group Photo @GOVMallorca2017 #GOVSchoolMallorca2017
More information:
Oceanographic Research Cruise on R/V Investigator
31 August 2017 - 5 October 2017
Members of the Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab recently participated in the research voyage. The whole enchilada: from production to predation in Tasman Sea ecosystems which focused on the relationship between open ocean production and coastal fisheries off the eastern coast of Australia. They lead the Blue Team onboard the R/V Investigator, identifying different water masses to sample in, and tracking ocean circulation features, from fronts to eddies. During the cruise, several interesting physical features were observed, including: a frontal convergence of two water masses, a train of frontal eddies along the inshore edge of the EAC, and internal waves hundreds of meters below the surface, with waveheights over 50 m!
Voyage Schematic
Langrangian Drifter Experiment
Eduardo Quieroz, Carlos Vieirarocha & Matt Archer do the science
UNSW Oceanography featured in IMOS Marine Matters
30 June 2017
The June 2017 edition of IMOS Marine Matters features 3 interesting stories on UNSW Oceanography:
Marine heatwaves: surface temperature doesn't tell the whole story.
Ocean radar: Radar observations prove to be a useful tool for examining frontal eddies along the East Australian Current
Satellite Remote Sensing: A tale of two eddies in the EAC: introducing Murphy and Freddy.
For more detailed information see our publications page.
World Oceans Day
8 June 2017
Spare a thought for your oceans on World Oceans Day!
Over 8 Million Tons of plastic enter the ocean every year. Plastic bags and packaging strangle and suffocate turtles, seals and seabirds such as the Australian Albatross who become entangled or mistake them for food.
Plastics break down over time into smaller pieces which are eaten by fish and other marine organisms.
Very small plastic pieces (microplastics) may not be visible to the naked eye but are still ingested by zooplankton and small fish harming the entire marine food web through bioaccumalation of toxic substances which are passed onto larger predators (including humans).
How can you help?
REDUCE.. REUSE.. RECYCLE.. RECOVER.. REDESIGN
It is critical we reduce the amount of plastics entering our oceans through dumping or entering waterways.
This starts with reducing your own individual usage and spreading the word to help friends and others reduce theirs too. Dont think your contribution is not important!
Become mindful of your plastic usage and avoid plastics you dont need.
Turn down plastic bags, straws, excessive packaging and single use items.
Avoid shampoos, soaps and cosmetics containing microbeads.
Help locally to keep your beach or environment clean.
Support a ban on single use plastic bags - Sign the #BanTheBag petition on change.org.
Ask your retailer to cut down on excessive packaging.
More Information.
World Oceans Day - Free public lecture @ Sydney Institute of Marine Science - 7pm, Thursday 8 June 2017
Coffs Harbour HF Radar featured front cover of JGR Oceans
31 May 2017
This months Journal of the Geophysical Research: Oceans edition featured the Coffs Harbour HF Coastal Radar Array front cover along with UNSW Oceanographys latest paper on frontal eddies:
Characterizing frontal eddies along the East Australian Current from HF radar observations by Amandine Schaeffer, A. Gramoulle, M. Roughan and A. Mantovanelli.
Key Points:
Cyclonic eddies occur frequently along the East Australian Current (30'S) on average every 7 days over a 12 month period
Frontal eddies with high Rossby number (0.6,1.9) and inshore radius ~10 km propagate downstream all year round at 0.3 - 0.4 m/s
Cyclonic frontal eddies influence biology through vertical uplift favoring local production or entrainment of productive water over 100s of km
Marine Heatwaves Paper featured in Sydney Morning Herald
21 May 2017
Amandine and Moninya's recently published GRL paper "Sub-surface intensification of marine heatwaves off southeastern Australia: the role of stratification and local winds" made front page news in the The Sun Herald today.
The Herald Article "Endless Summer" highlighted the threat of marine heatwaves to marine organisms and the importance of long term sub-surface temperature records.
The Port Hacking National Reference Station will turn 75 this year (data pictured) making it one of the longest sub-surface temperature records anywhere. The introduction of the Port Hacking 100m IMOS Mooring in 2009 has significantly enhanced the data resolution.
The Sun Herald - "Endless Summer" (print version)
The Sun Herald - "'Maximum damage': What's going wrong in our deep blue and warming sea" (online version)
See also a more comprehensive write-up on the national IMOS news site:
IMOS - "Marine heatwaves - surface temperature doesn't tell the whole story"
PH100 Temperature
5th CSIRO - UNSW EAC workshop
24-28 April 2017
The 5th UNSW/CSIRO East Australian Current Workshop was hosted by MetOcean solutions in New Zealand. It was an opportunity for students and scientists from UNSW to share their research and foster new collaborations. Themes of the conference included meso-scale ocean circulation and oceanic eddies, as well as operational oceanography.
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ADCP trans-tasman voyage
1 November 2016
An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) which is normally moored in 100m of water off Bondi Beach broke its mooring in January this year and went missing. Luckily it washed up in New Zealand last week and was found by a Foxton fisherman, Rusty Kuiti, while out fishing on Waitarere Beach, NZ.
Rusty contacted us here in Sydney via Clive at OFS and Stuart's father in New Zealand was able to collect it on the weekend. It will be shipped back to Sydney in the next week. Oceanographers here at UNSW are keen to download the data onboard to see what details we can find about its interesting voyage. We are very grateful to Rusty for finding and returning it and relieved to get our research instrument back safely. Rusty was happy with a case of beer as a small reward and said he was heading back down the beach to look for another one.
ADCP's work by sending out 4 sonar 'pings' of sound waves at a set frequency. From the return echo the speed of the water can be calculated throughout the water column. This is similar to how a police radar gun works but instead of tracking one car, an ADCP can track many water parcels in any direction. In addition, this instrument array collects temperature and pressure data and is usually paired with a thermistor string for temperature profiling and water quality or flourescence, salinity, turbidity meters at some sites. These scientific moored arrays are deployed as part of Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).
Link to article in the NZ Herald - Fisherman's Foxton find stuns Sydney scientists
Foxton Beach, NZ near where the ADCP was found
Local fisherman Rusty Kuiti (L) hands over ADCP to Mike Milburn
ADCP Voyage (Path unknown)
Public lecture - Observing coastal circulation in a hotspot of ocean warming
1 September 2016
A public lecture to be given by A.Prof Moninya Roughan, while on academic sabbatical at the University of Auckland, will explore the physical oceanography of the Tasman Sea region, ocean observing systems, and applications to biology and larval recruitment.
Download as a full size pdf here.
Link to article in the NZ Herald - Ocean between NZ and Australia a climate change "hotspot"
Otago Daily Times article - Tasman Sea a climate change 'hotspot'
East Australian current changes may be behind unusually warm waters off Sydney
24 June 2016
Another article in The Sydney Morning Herald regarding warmer sea temperatures and the extension and warming evident in the EAC, referencing Moninya Roughan and Bernadette Sloyan.
SMH - East Australian current changes may be behind unusually warm waters off Sydney
Warm waters and long summer have climate scientists alarmed
13 May 2016
The Sydney Morning Herald quotes UNSW's Moninya Roughan and Matthew England on warmer water temperatures in the EAC and how 2016 is virtually certain to break climate records.
SMH - Sydney weather: Sunny days roll on as huge high pressure ridge keeps cold at bay
Coral Bleaching in Sydney Harbour
20 April 2016
Record sea surface temperatures have been observed during the 2015-16 El Nino. This has lead to widespread coral bleaching across Northern Australia and the Great Barrier Reef as coral cells lose their symbiotic algae to heatstress. Initial surveys suggest 93% of the Great Barrier Reef has been affected.
ARC Coral Reef Studies - Only 7% of the Great Barrier Reef has avoided coral bleaching
SMH - The Great Barrier Reef: 93% hit by coral bleaching, surveys reveal
The Age - Is this the end of the Great Barrier Reef?
Coral bleaching has even been observed in Sydney Harbour for the first time on record.
ABC - Coral bleaching found in Sydney Harbour, rising sea temperature may be cause, scientists say
SBS - Coral bleaching found in Sydney
SMH - Sydney's corals now bleaching in 'pretty shocking' sign of warming waters
9 - Coral bleaching in Sydney Harbour could lead to ecosystem collapse
With El Nino declining, it is likely that most Corals in Sydney Harbour will recover from this bleaching episode once temperatures return to normal. However, this disquieting event should reinforce calls for a marine park to be established in Sydney Harbour to protect her unique diversity as combinations of stressors such as heatstress, pollution and overfishing can cause sudden and irreversible change to an ecosystem.
The Age - Sydney needs a marine park to protect its biodiversity
Note you can observe the Sydney Harbour surface temperature and salinity from our reatime marine observatory by following this link.
4th CSIRO- UNSW EAC workshop
30-31 March 2016
The 4th CSIRO- UNSW EAC workshop was held on 30-31 March 2016. Presentations and Discussions ranged broadly. For example, talks were given on diagnosing the properties of sub meso scale eddies, understanding the vertical processes in idealised mesoscale eddies, physical and biogeochemical properties of Tasman Sea Eddies, understanding the mean and variability in the circulation in the coastal ocean and Sydney Harbour through high resolution modelling.
Invited Guest Ken Ridgway (CSIRO) gave a special seminar on our understanding of the East Australian Current gained over the past 30 years, and Prof Moninya Roughan (UNSW) presented an overview of the impact of the EAC on the shelf hydrography and circulation along the east coast of Australia.
The EAC Array
31 March 2016
The major australian western boundary current, the EAC (East Australian Current) is now better understood thanks to the EAC Array and the work of Bernadette Sloyan, Ken Ridgeway and Rebecca Cowley. Data from the first 18 month deployment (2012-13) is now available through the IMOS data portal.
Oceancurrent - The EAC Array - Revealing the Boundary Current
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3rd CSIRO- UNSW EAC workshop
7-8 November 2015
The 3rd CSIRO-UNSW EAC Workshop was held 7-8 December 2015.Lively discussion centred on data assimilation methods and techniques.
Invited Guest Prof Brian Powell (U Hawaii) gave a special seminar on the different flavours of Data Assimilation and their advantages, purposes and uses.
Wild Researchers Exhibition Stars Sage Oceanographers
Thursday 5 November 2015
A photo exhibition entitled Wild Researchers opened at the Australian Museum last night. This image starring Nina Ribbat, Dr Paulina Cetina-Heredia and Dr Amandine Schaeffer received a write-up in The Australian and airtime on ABC News.
Congratulations to Oceanographer Trevor McDougall being elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of New South Wales
Wednesday 23 September 2015
Scientia Professor Trevor McDougall has been unanimously elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society of NSW, the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. His appointment as Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW has been described by Head of School Bruce Henry as a "wonderful honour", and we warmly congratulate Trevor for his latest achievement.
Treadmills for Baby Lobsters
Tuesday 2 September 2015
A collaborative research project at SIMS between University of Auckland, DPI Fisheries and UNSW Oceanography Scientists is looking at swimming behaviour of larval Eastern Rock Lobster (Jasus verreauxi). The results from the study will be combined with modelling of ocean currents and larval feeding conditions to see if it possible to use satellite information about the sea to predict the recruitment of baby lobsters into NSW fisheries.
Further information at:
http://sims.org.au/research/current-projects/treadmills-for-baby-lobsters/
https://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/industry/industry-and-research
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/saltwater/sw-species/eastern-rock-lobster
10 Year Marine Science plan released
Wednesday 12 August 2015
A national marine science plan covering the next 10 years was released yesterday by the Australian Government. This plan calls for increased seatime for RV Investigator, systematic mapping of Australias marine environment and co-ordination of existing marine scence efforts in particular a "national oceanographic modelling system". According to National Marine Science Committee Chairman, Mr John Gunn only 25% of Australias marine environment is comprehensively mapped. The plan also calls for more spending on Marine Science, currently less than 1% of marine revenue and for graduate training to become more multidisciplinary. Marine scientists need to be across social sciences, economics, maths, statistics, physics, chemistry and information technology — along with emerging fields such as bioinformatics and new “omics” disciplines including metagenomics, proteomics and metabolomics.
Read more in the following articles:
science.gov.au - Marine Science Plan to help grow and protect Australia's blue economy
The Australian - Better marine science to underpin a doubling of the blue economy
UNSW symposium celebrating Women in Science
Wednesday 12 August 2015
A.Prof Moninya Roughan and members of the Coastal and Regional Ocenographic Lab took part in a Celebrating Women in Science Leadership event today. Speakers at the UNSW Science event included NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Professor Mary O'Kane, CEO of Circadian Technologies Dr Megan Baldwin, CEO of Cellmid Pty Ltd Maria Halasz, CEO of Arup Peter Bailey, and UNSW Dean of Science Professor Merlin Crossley. UNSW has some of the countrys leading female scientists including Professors Michelle Simmons (quantum physics), Veena Sahajwalla (material sciences and engineering), Emma Johnston (marine ecology), Angela Moles (plant ecology) and Martina Stenzel (chemistry).
Ocean lab in the news following Volcano discovery
Friday 17 July 2015
The volcano discovery (see below 2 articles) has generated significant interest in the media including:
Sydney Morning Herald - CSIRO Investigator discovers extinct volcanoes off Sydney coast
Nine News - 50 MILLION YEAR OLD OCEAN VOLCANO FOUND OFF THE COAST OF SYDNEY
Sky News - Submerged volcano cluster found off Sydney
The Australian - Deep sea volcanoes found off Sydney
The Guardian - Huge and ancient underwater volcanoes discovered off coast of Sydney
Cosmos - Ancient cluster of volcanoes found off Sydney
The Telegraph UK -Huge underwater volcanoes found off Sydney
News.com.au - Submerged volcano cluster found off coast of Sydney
Techly - CSIRO find extinct volcanoes just off Sydney's coast
CSIRO news blog - Volcanic discoveries create Sydney's hottest new suburb
UNSW Newsroom - 50 million-year-old volcano cluster discovered off Sydney
Oceanographic research aboard RV Investigator
Wednesday 15 July 2015
Groundbreaking oceanograpic insights into fish larvae and small eddies as reported in the Coffs Coast Advocate today by the team from our UNSW Coastal and Regional Oceanographic Laboratory. Some more information on fish larvae and audio of an interview with Professor Iain Suthers here at ABC Rural.
Oceanographers: Moninya Roughan, Paulina Cetina-Herida, Shane Keating, Amandine Schaeffer, Carlos Rocha
RV Investigator discovers 50 million-year old volcano cluster off coast of Sydney
Monday 13 July 2015
Australia's new ocean-going research vessel Investigator has discovered extinct volcanoes likely to be 50 million years old about 250 kilometres off the coast of Sydney. The chief scientist for the voyage, UNSW Australia marine biologist Professor Iain Suthers, said that while searching for the nursery grounds for larval lobsters the ship was also routinely mapping the seafloor when the volcanoes were discovered in 4,900 metres of water. "The voyage was enormously successful. Not only did we discover a cluster of volcanoes on Sydney's doorstep, we were amazed to find that an eddy off Sydney was a hotspot for lobster larvae at a time of the year when we were not expecting them," Professor Suthers said.
The four extinct volcanoes in the cluster are calderas, which form after a volcano erupts and the land around them collapses, forming a crater. The largest is 1.5 kilometres across the rim and it rises 700 metres from the sea floor. Professor Richard Arculus from the Australian National University, an igneous petrologist and a world-leading expert on volcanoes, said these particular types of volcanoes are really important to geoscientists because they are like windows into the seafloor. "They tell us part of the story of how New Zealand and Australia separated around 40-80 million years ago and they'll now help scientists target future exploration of the sea floor to unlock the secrets of the Earth's crust," Professor Arculus said. "They haven't been found before now because the sonar on the previous Marine National Facility (MNF) research vessel, Southern Surveyor, could only map the sea floor to 3,000 metres, which left half of Australia's ocean territory out of reach." "On board the new MNF vessel, Investigator, we have sonar that can map the sea floor to any depth, so all of Australia's vast ocean territory is now within reach, and that is enormously exciting," Professor Arculus said.
Professor Suthers said the 94-metre Investigator has other capabilities that marine scientists in Australia have never had before, and the vessel will be key to unlocking the secrets of the oceans around our continent and beyond. "Investigator is able to send and receive data while we're at sea, which meant the team back on base at UNSW in Sydney could analyse the information we were collecting at sea and send back their analysis, along with satellite imagery, so we could chase the eddies as they formed," Professor Suthers said. "This is the first time we've been able to respond directly to the changing dynamics of the ocean and, for a biological oceanographer like me, it doesn't get more thrilling," Professor Suthers said. "It was astounding to find juvenile commercial fish species like bream and tailor 150 kilometres offshore, as we had thought that once they were swept out to sea that was end of them. But in fact these eddies are nursery grounds along the east coast of Australia." The research voyage led by Professor Iain Suthers departed Brisbane on 3 June and concluded on 18 June in Sydney, with 28 scientists from UNSW, La Trobe University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Sydney, the University of Auckland, the University of Technology Sydney, and Southern Cross University.
The centre of the volcanic cluster is shown on the map below, 248 kilometres from Sydney Heads. The cluster is 20 kilometres long and six kilometres wide and the seafloor is 4890 metres deep, with the highest point in the cluster rising up to 3,998 metres.
Map showing discovery location
RV Investigator BNE-SYD EAC Cruise.
Tuesday 2 June - Wednesday 17 June 2015
A/Prof Moninya Roughan and 4 other researchers from UNSW Oceanography are aboard RV Investigator to study eddy evolution and the physical oceanography of the East Australian Current Coastal Ocean Region. They are part of a expedition led by Prof. Iain Suthers investigating the biology, chemistry and dynamics of submesoscale frontal eddies (aka Freddies).
There is a nice write-up of this Expedition to study offshore eddies on UNSW Newsroom
The shiptrack and near realtime data (example below) can now be viewed on the IMOS Oceancurrent website as described here.
RV Investigator SYD-BNE Moorings Cruise.
Friday 15 May - Tuesday 26 May 2015
5 members of UNSW Oceanography headed out to sea today aboard RV Investigator to assist in a scientific expedition to deploy a deepwater mooring array which will monitor the East Australian Current at approximately the latitude of Brisbane. 6 moorings are to be deployed in depths of almost 5000m. These moorings house scientific instruments which will measure water properties such as temperature and salinity and also water velocity from the ocean floor to the surface. This will allow unprecedented unserstanding of the temporal variability of the East Australian Current critical to accurate modelling of the Australian coastal ocean region and also to inform global ocean and climate models. Very little is known about the long term variability of the East Australian Current although recent recearch has suggested an increase in both strength and southward penetration.
In addition to the mooring deployment there will be a number of other concurrent research activities during this voyage. These include water sampling and hydrochemical analysis, acoustic current profiling, biological surveying and a XBT (expendable bathythermograph) calibration study.
Some media links:
The Sydney Morning Herald - Going with the flow: scientists probe changes in the East Australian Current
The Australian - Buoys no toys, as scientists probe Nemo's current
The Age - Going with the flow: scientists probe changes in the East Australian Current
RV Investigator is a state of the art 94m long ship equipped for a wide range of scientific expeditions. You can learn more or even conduct a virtual tour at the Marine National Facility Website.
Prof. Iain Suthers and Moninya Roughan led a UNSW tour of the RV Investigator after she docked.
Pictured L- R
Prof. Iain Suthers (BEES), Prof. Bruce Henry (HoS Maths and Stats), A/Prof. David Cohen (HoS BEES), Prof. Jason Middleton, (HoS Aviation) Prof. Merlin Crossley (Dean Faculty of Science), A/Prof. Moninya Roughan (UNSW Oceanography) and Prof. Laura Poole-Warren (Pro Vice-Chancellor Researcher Training, Dean Graduate Research School)EAC Workshop 2 @ UNSW - 2nd East Australian Current Workshop held at UNSW.
Thursday 14 - Friday 15 May 2015
The Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab at UNSW, hosted the 2nd UNSW, CSIRO, UTAS East Australian Current workshop on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th of May at the School of Mathematics and Statistics,Faculty of Science, UNSW Australia.
NSW-IMOS Glider investigates flood plumes.
Friday 1st May 2015
A NSW-IMOS Slocum deployment captured flood plume behaviour off the Hunter coast. Some very interesting images and a write up on the Oceancurrent news site. Edit: 7 July 2015, This was also written up in the Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences June Foundation Newsletter.
Sydney Harbour Marine Observatory serviced and now live.
Thursday 19th March 2015
Following a successful trial deployment, the Sydney Harbour Marine Observatory (SHMO) Realtime Buoy has been serviced and redeployed. The buoy is located approximately 0.4nm south of the Sow and Pigs Reef in the middle of Sydney Harbour. It is between the western and eastern channels in approximately 17m of water and in the proximity of Chowder Bay. Data from the buoy is streaming live to UNSW servers and will be available to view on the web in near realtime. Surface (1m) Temperature and Salinity can now be viewed here.
Subsea capabilities are in advanced development and will include Dissolved Oxygen, FLNTU, Seafloor Salinity, Temperature and Current profiling sensors. Data will be streamed back via underwater modem and broadcast in near realtime. The strength of this system is that adaptive and remote adjustable sampling will now be possible. For example, during anomolous conditions, sampling frequency and burst rate can automatically adapt to maintain a required standard deviation, or an instuments sampling regime can be remotely tasked.
This is a research & development project funded and in collaboration with Oceanographic Field Services.
Photo: Tim Austin (UNSW), Clive Holden (Oceanographic Field Services) deploys the Realtime Buoy. Credit:Stuart Milburn
Stuart Anderson speaking at UNSW today at 1pm in RC4082
Tuesday 24th February 2015
Applied Mathematics in HF Radar Oceanography : Some Recent Developments Abstract:
It is a common feature among remote sensing technologies that very considerable progress can be made with relatively simple physical and mathematical models. This is often fortuitous, as without getting runs on the board at an early stage, support for further development may evaporate and consign a technology to the graveyard of good-in-principle ideas. But, having survived to puberty, it is equally common for progress to slow or even stall because the detail and fidelity of measurements fail to meet the rising expectations of the users. At this point there is no option but to identify the factors that are limiting performance and to develop techniques to mitigate them. Typically the research problems which arise at this point demand a marriage, or even a mnage-a-trois, between the disciplines of physics, engineering and mathematics. In the case of HF radar in its oceanographic roles, several topics within the realm of applied mathematics are of special interest at present, and it so happens that these are strongly represented in the research activities of the Department of Applied Mathematics at UNSW, specifically in the areas of (i) fluid dynamics, oceanic and atmospheric sciences, (ii) nonlinear phenomena, (iii) inverse problems, (iv) optimisation, and (v) computational mathematics. In this talk I shall illustrate the application of these branches of mathematics to the problems currently of concern to the HF radar community.
About the speaker:
Stuart J. Anderson received B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Western Australia. In 1974, he was invited to join the team being assembled in the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organization to develop the Jindalee over-the-horizon radar system where he assumed responsibility for ocean surveillance and remote sensing. He has worked as a visiting scientist at government laboratories in several countries and moonlights as invited visiting professor at the University Paris VI and University College London. Stuart holds or has held adjunct professor appointments at several Australian universities, including the University of Adelaide (Physics), Curtin University (Applied Physics) and the University of New South Wales (Applied Mathematics), and is a professor at the Universit'Rennes I, France, which, in 2005, awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contributions to radar science. He was the recipient of the 1992 Australian Minister of Defence Science Award for Research Achievement. His active research interests span ionospheric physics, radiowave propagation, radar oceanography, signal processing, electromagnetic scattering, passive coherent location, and microwave polarimetry. He has published over 300 journal papers, conference papers, book chapters, and reports in these fields and is the author of the chapter on OTH radar in the authoritative Radar Handbook.
Dr Moninya Roughan awarded prestigious fellowship to China
Tuesday 10th February 2015
Congratulations to Moninya on receiving the great honour of being selected by the Chinese 'Recruitment Program of High-end Foreign Experts of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs' to receive a fellowship to spend time in Shanghai, China as a 'High-end Foreign Expert'. The generous fellowship will allow Moninya to spend up to 6 months in Shanghai over the next 3 years, based at the 'State Key Lab' in Estuarine and Coastal Science at Eastern China Normal University.
State Key labs are recognised as the leading institutes in a discipline, somewhat similar to Australia's Centre's of Excellence, and receive continuing funding.
Moninya will also be spending time at SunYat-sen University in Guangzhou (top 10 in China), and possibly the Ocean University of China, Qingdao during this time. ECNU and OUC are partner Institutes in one of the flagship programs at Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS), the World Harbour Project, led by Peter Steinberg. We wish Moninya all the best in this fellowship and look forward to hearing of new collaborations between China and Australia.
Dr Moninya Roughan and technical team featured on Coast Australia (History Channel)
Monday 19th January 2015
Neil Oliver and the Coast Australia documentary filming team came along on a Slocum glider deployment offshore from Yamba. They were filming for episode 3 of the second series entitled Northern NSW. The team filmed the glider deployment and were lucky enough to see some Humpback whales cruising up the coast. The show will be aired tonight on the History Channel and should appear on SBS sometime later this year.
UPDATE: 12/5/15 - Video now available via youtube or direct download.
Photo: Moninya Roughan, Tim Austin, Neil Oliver, Stuart Milburn
New Artificial Reef Deployed off Shoalhaven
Saturday 17 January 2015
The second NSW Offshore Artificial Reef (OAR) was deployed today in the Shoalhaven Bight approx. 200km south of Sydney. OAR's provide a habitat for fish and other marine life.
Research is underway to try to quantify the nutrient uptake and increase in primary productivity at these reef sites. As part of this, Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab scientists have been studying the phyical marine environment around the first NSW OAR located just outside Sydney Harbour.
Photos courtesy of DPI Fisheries and Aquaculture.
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Dr Amandine Schaeffer in Antarctica
Friday 5 December 2014
Amandine recently took part in the oceanographic campaign aboard the L'Astrolabe to Antartica. She took temperature profiles using XBTs (Expendable BathyThermograph) during the voyage from Hobart to Terre Adelie and back. The program SURVOSTRAL (SURVeillance of the Ocean auSTRAL) has been collecting temperature and subsurface salinity measurements (from a thermosalinograph) in the Southern Ocean since 1992. Research investigations include water mass fronts, seasonal and interannual variability of the heat budget, transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and long term trends of the Southern Ocean warming. The data is available on the IMOS portal and plots can be found here with thanks to the Scripps High Resolution XBT Program.
Dr Linda Armbrecht
Friday 28 November 2014
Congratulations to PhD student Linda Armbrecht (Macquarie University) for successfully completing her PhD, titled 'The phytoplankton and oceanography of Coffs Harbour, Eastern Australia'. Supervisor Leanne Armand (Macq) co-supervisors Moninya Roughan (UNSW) and David Raftos (Macq).
Photo. Dr Linda Armbrecht, A.Prof. Moninya Roughan, Dr Penny Ajani
National Marine Science Symposium
Tuesday 25 November 2014
Members of the Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab attended the National Marine Science Symposium hosted byt the Australian Academy of Science at the Shine Dome in Canberra. The Ministerial address was given by the Hon Ian Macfarlane, Minister for Industry.
Link to the National Marine Science Committee (NMSC) Symposium here.
EAC Workshop at UNSW
Friday 21 November 2014
The Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab at UNSW, hosted the inaugural UNSW, CSIRO and UTAS EAC workshop on Friday the 21st of November at the School of Mathematics and Statistics,Faculty of Science, UNSW Australia.
Photo: Eduardo, Moninya Roughan, Paulina Cetina-Herida, Nina Ribbat, Colette Kerry, Gary Brassington (BoM), Peter Oke (CSIRO), Gabi (UTAS, CSIRO), Richard Coleman ( UTAS, Pro-vice Chancellor ), Tatiana (CSIRO)
Dr Julie Wood
Wednesday 12 November 2014
Congratulations to PhD candidate Julie Wood (UNSW) who has graduated after finishing her PhD. Her supervisor was Moninya Roughan (UNSW). Julie is now working in the Oceanography Department at Southhampton University with free swimming Ocean Gliders. Well done Julie, we will miss you!
Photo. A.Prof. Moninya Roughan, Dr Julie Wood
Moninya is the guest speaker at 2014 AHA Field trip
Friday 31 October 2014
A.Prof. Moninya Roughan is the expert guest speaker at the Australian Hydrographers Association - AHA2014 field trip - on a cruise from Ryde to Fort Denison, the site of Australia's oldest tidal gauge pictured below.
Australian Coastal and Oceans Modelling and Observations Workshop 2014.
Thursday 2 October 2014
What's happening in our Oceans?
Australia's best and brightest marine scientists are meeting in the Canberra next week [7-8 October] to discuss the latest research aiming to unlock the secrets of the oceans surrounding Australia. The Australian Coastal and Oceans Modelling and Observations Workshop will be held at the Academy of Science, with Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb guest speaker. The workshop is organized by the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), a national research infrastructure operated by a consortium of Universities and research agencies from around Australia. IMOS Director Mr Tim Moltmann said marine science grapples with incredibly complex problems with real world impact: the state of our oceans, the variability of our climate, and the health of fisheries and reefs around Australia. IMOS is funded by the Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), through the Federal Department of Education.
Media are invited to contact the following experts to discuss the work of IMOS:
Understanding the East Australian Current: Associate Professor Moninya Roughan (NSW) (University of New South Wales) ph. 02 9385 7067
Understanding the Leeuwin Current: Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi (WA), (University of Western Australia) ph. 08 6488 3179
Understanding physics and biology on the Great Barrier Reef: Dr Emlyn Jones (Q) (CSIRO) ph. 03 6232 5483
Understanding the South Australian Gulfs: Dr Charles James (SA) (South Australian Research and Development Institute) ph. 08 8207 5320
Understanding Southern Ocean ecosystems: Dr Jess Melbourne-Thomas (Tas) (Australian Antarctic Division) ph. 03 6232 3322
Sydney Harbour Research Program Science Report Launch
Thursday, 28 August 2014
The Sydney Harbour Research Program Science Report is being launched today at The Sydney Institute of Marine Science by the Hon. Rob Stokes, NSW Minister for the Environment. Entitled "Sydney Harbour: A systematic review of the science 2014" this technical report provides the first systematic review of the state of scientific knowledge around Sydney Harbour. Prof. Emma Johnston and Dr Moninya Roughan of UNSW/SIMS and Prof. Peter Steinberg, CEO of SIMS, are among the reports 15 authors.
The Science report is available here or through the SIMS website.
Further media coverage on the science report launch and findings including the need to reduce microplastic pollution can be found at:
Hon. Rob Stokes (NSW Minister for the Environment), Prof. Emma Johnston (UNSW/SIMS) and Prof. Peter Steinberg (CEO of SIMS)
Schmidt Ocean Institute planning workshop
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Moninya was recently invited to be on the steering committee for the Schmidt Ocean Institute planning workshop - Critical opportunities for advanced shipboard oceanography in 2017. The workshop was held at Turtle Bay Resort, Oahu, Hawaii.
Moninya Roughan, Iain Suthers (UNSW, SIMS), Zdenka Willis (Director of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS))
Asia Oceania Geosciences Society Meeting
Friday, 1 August 2014
Three members of our team attended the 2014 Asia Oceania Geosciences Society Meeting in Sapporo, Japan. Moninya Roughan co-ordinated a session to bring Western boundary Current scientists together to compare and contrast the East Australian Current(EAC), Gulf Stream (GS) and Kurushio Current. Paulina Cetina-Heredia and Amandine Schaeffer gave talks in the session and Julie Woods PhD work was presented as a poster.
(From left to right) Ocean Sciences Section President, Toshiyuki Hibiya, The University of Tokyo; Toshi Yamagata, The University of Tokyo (who gave the Axford Lecture on Climate Variability and Predictability) and Moninya Roughan
SIMS release new video featuring NSW-IMOS Moorings.
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
The Sydney Institute of Marine Science or SIMS conducts a wide range of research in and around Sydney Harbour. Take a look at their new promotional video here.
Verges, Roughan paper sparks media interest.
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
Adriana Verges recently published scientific article on the warming of temperate marine ecosystems which was co-authored by Moninya Roughan and other (primarily UNSW) researchers has had significant public impact including the articles below.
'Tropical fish threaten kelp and algae'
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/07/09/4041782.htm
'Tropical Fish Are Like Locusts, But For Kelp'
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/tropical_fish_are_like_locusts_but_for_kelp-140178
'Warming oceans force fish south' - radio piece
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2014/s4042327.htm
'Climate-driven migration of tropical fish linked to underwater deforestation'
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climatedriven-migration-of-tropical-fish-linked-to-underwater-deforestation-20140709-zt157.html#ixzz36yNpg9gm
'Tropical Fish Pushed South By Warming Seas Are Destroying Kelp Forests And Seagrass Meadows: Researchers'
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/tropical-fish-pushed-south-by-warming-seas-are-destroying-kelp-forests-and-seagrass-medows-researchers-2014-7
'Tropical fish invasion is destroying kelp forests'
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=6441Moninya Roughan and Peter Steinberg visit SOA East China Sea.
Tuesday, 6th May 2014
In the afternoon on May 6 of 2014, SIMS/SARCCM delegation visited the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) East China Sea Branch in Shanghai. The delegation was welcomed by the Branch Director General Mr Liu Gaifu. Peter presented an introduction of the WHP; Moninya on the Sydney Harbour Research Program. Mr Xu Ren, Director of SOA East China Sea Marine Monitoring Centre, introduced his Centre’s work on the Shanghai Port. He reported that SOA East China Sea Branch is interested to collaborate with SIMS/SARCCM on the WHP. The Branch’s proposal to collaborate with SIMS/SARCCM on the WHP is now under consideration in the SOA Central Office in Beijing.
After the meeting, the delegation toured the SOA research facility.
(From left to right) A/Prof. Xiao Hua Wang, Dr Moninya Roughan, Prof Peter Steinberg of SIMS/SARCCM, Prof Ren Xu of SOA, Dr Dehai Song of OUC and Dr Li Li of Zhejiang University at SOA East China Sea Branch in Shanghai.
Text and image courtesy of UNSW SARCCM
Images courtesy of Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Research (China)
UNSW Sci. Prof Trevor McDougall awarded Royal Society of Tasmania Medal.
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
As reported in the UNSW Australia School of Maths News Site, Scientia Professor Trevor McDougall has been awarded the Royal Society of Tasmania Medal. Congratulations on this latest award go to Sci.Prof McDougall who is one of the world's preeminent oceanographers and heads the Ocean Physics department here at the UNSW School of Maths.
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IMOS formally recognised as GOOS Regional Alliance.
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Australias Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) has been formally recognised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a Regional Alliance to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)
ABC Catalyst television feature on Southern Surveyor.
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
A very nice feature on the ABC's Catalyst program on the Southern Surveyor Research Vessel which will be retired at the end of this year and a tantalising glimpse of her replacement, the RV Investigator currently being built in Singapore. A deepwater flux mooring deployment was shown and there are several good interviews with a number of researchers including Tim Moltmann from IMOS and Ron Plashcke from Marine National Facility at CSIRO.
Links to the article on the ABC Site, the RV Investigator blog and site on the CSIRO website, and to IMOS Deepwater Moorings
Rossi et al (2013) paper featured in EOS Research Spotlight.
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
A research paper written by Vincent Rossi, Moninya Roughan and others was featured in todays edition of the Earth Ocean Science Research Spotlight. Congratulations to Vincent on receiving this accolade!
Seaglider retrieval in Narooma News
Monday, 29 July 2013
The Narooma News today featured an article covering the retrival of a Slocum Seaglider codenamed "Dory 5" by Amandine Schaeffer and Stuart Milburn from the Coastal and Regional Oceanographic Lab. The Shoalhaven trawler was commisioned to help retrieve the Glider which had almost lost power and was floating unassisted approximately 130 Nautical Miles offshore.
Link to the Narooma News article here
UNSW Ocean Science Symposium a success.
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
A wide range of talks were well received during the 2013 UNSW Ocean Science Symosium yesterday. Talks covered a range of topics including ocean mixing and turbulence, neutral surfaces, data collection, modelling of nutrients, larval transport and ocean waves. It is clear there is a rich variety of current research in Ocean Physics and Coastal and Regional Oceanography, and that UNSW continues to be a dynamic research environment.
Link to the UNSW news article here
Oceanography symposium to be held at UNSW.
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
A symposium will be held next week, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 9am-4pm, at UNSW hosted by Sci. Prof, Trevor McDougall and Dr Moninya Roughan. Current research will be showcased by Ocean scientists and students of the School of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, UNSW.
Glider Recovery in Narooma News.
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
A Slocum Glider codenamed 'Nemo' was recovered off Narooma a week ago by Dr Robin Robertson and her team. An article in the Narooma News (link below) discusses the recovery and the two Batesman Marine Park moorings operated by the Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab at UNSW.
See the original article in the Narooma News.
Near real time glider data can be accessed through Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders site.
