Associate Professor Jes Sammut

Member of:  Centre for Ecosystem Science and Centre for Marine Science & Innovation (CMSI)

Jes Sammut leads the UNSW Aquaculture Research Group and is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science and the Centre for Marine Science and Innovation.  He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at ANSTO where he is a chief investigator on an innovative collaborative project using nuclear tools to determine seafood provenance and production methods. Jes works across the biological, physical and social sciences, and leads multidisciplinary teams in the Asia-Pacific that research solutions for aquaculture production problems.  Jes and his teams research inland and coastal aquaculture systems, fish nutrition, aquaculture planning and development, sustainable livelihoods, seafood provenance, oyster nutrition, environmental impact assessment, gender in aquaculture development, social impact assessment and rice-shrimp farming systems. He currently conducts research in Australia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea, and has previously worked in Indonesia, India, Thailand and the Philippines.

Jes and his team also conduct capacity building in Asia-Pacific countries to strengthen research and development.  Jes coordinated several ACIAR-funded projects in Aceh that rebuilt research and technical capacity to support redevelopment of the aquaculture industry that was severely impacted by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. He has also established soil and water chemistry laboratories in Indonesia on his other ACIAR projects.  Since 2008, Jes and his team have been building research capacity for fisheries scientists in Papua New Guinea through a series of inland aquaculture projects, funded by ACIAR and the National Fisheries Authority of PNG.  The research team conducts farmer training and contributes to the National Fisheries Authority's 'Fish for Prisons' and 'Fish For Schools' programs, certificate level training in aquaculture at the Maria Kwin Centre, and various NGO-run programs that assist disadvantaged people.  Jes also leads a major ACIAR-funded project on rice-shrimp farming systems which includes a team of research specialists from Australia and Vietnam involved in training local scientists, extension staff and farmers.  All of Jes' ACIAR projects involve targeted capacity building of 'lead' rice, fish and shrimp farmers and farming communities, and engage with extension officers, NGOs and other programs focussed on community development and livelihoods. 

Jes also contributes his expertise to ACIAR's fisheries research program in PNG and is an English Editor for the Indonesian Aquaculture Journal.