Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Our large team of researchers tackling the key issues facing marine environments including Professor Chris Battershill, the public face of New Zealand's worst maritime disaster and award-winning science communicator.
We have a Coastal Marine Field Station in Tauranga and Raukōkore Marine Research Centre.
Our Tauranga campus offers the only science research facility in New Zealand specifically configured to address the real issues of our engagement with the sea. The Coastal Marine Field Station and neighbouring Facility for Macroalgal Research are home to some of New Zealand’s leading scientists and innovators focused on protecting and restoring our marine environment and creating wealth from our marine resources.
Undergraduate students in Tauranga can explore life below water through an array of majors within our Bachelor of Science degree including Aquaculture, Coastal Processes, Environmental Sciences, Ecology and Biodiversity. Tauranga is also home to a thriving community of researchers
Known as the nurseries of the sea, estuaries are important and complicated environments that often slip between the gap of marine and freshwater management. In 2020 a Parliamentary Commission for the Environment released an alarming report on the state of estuaries in New Zealand highlighting the growing problems caused by nutrient-rich sediment running off the land. We are proud to have several PhD students currently carrying out important estuarine research to tackle this problem under the supervision of a world-leading team of experts including Professor Conrad Pilditch.
We are enormously proud of our state-of-the-art facility in Tauranga dedicated to macroalgal research. The team of researchers based in this facility are creating innovative ways to use the seaweed which is accumulating in our harbours, including as a human food source, and using macroalgal bioremediation to clean nutrient rich wastewater.
In 2024 we received an $11.4 million grant by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to work with Plant & Food Research to uncover the benefits of sugars in seaweed in protecting our horticulture industry.
Manawanui sinking: an expert explains why a speedy cleanup will be crucial – and the main challenges ahead
Professor Christopher Battershill explains why speed will be of the essence as salvage crews attempt to stop fuel leaking from the sunken New Zealand naval ship off the coast of Samoa in this piece for The Conversation.
Seaweed to sustainable packaging: Waikato researchers secure major funding boost
The University of Waikato has achieved significant results in the latest funding round from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Endeavour Fund.
Study uncovers key to delayed climate recovery following mass extinction event
Sofia Rauzi's PhD research has shed light on the cause of delayed climate recovery following Earth’s most severe extinction event 251 million years ago.
Renowned wetland expert receives University of Waikato Medal
In recognition of her substantial and exemplary contribution to understanding and protecting New Zealand’s landscapes and ecology, Dr Beverley Clarkson has received the University of Waikato
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