The Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) HKU

Prof. Juan Diego Gaitán-Espitia’s @iBEER_LAB team were featured in TVB (Hong Kong's public television broadcasting company) episode 7 of the series "Go global and attract foreign investment: The Greater Bay Area." youtube.com/watch?v=VNiWJZ… #marinescience #hku #SWIMS #seagrass

Part one of the story of SWIMS whale – the blue whale skeleton that stood outside SWIMS building for almost 30 years. The whale will be back soon! And so will part 2 of its story. #HKU #UniversityofHongKong #SWIMS #marinescience

SWIMS’ alumnus @sanjaynagarkar, a PhD in marine microbial ecology and founder of a multitude of successful businesses, gave a workshop entitled Scientist to Entrepreneur to Integrative Marine Ecology and Conservation (IMEC) MSc students. @joncybulski

SWIMS will be a very busy place from tomorrow because Integrative Marine Ecology & Conservation (IMEC) MSc has launched! Tomorrow, forty-four students will start their journey at SWIMS and HKU. Their first class – Ocean Biodiversity, is at 9am. Welcome to SWIMS! @joncybulski

The SWIMS whale, that once stood outside our institute, is coming back! We will tell you the full story (that spans 70 years!) of SWIMS whale very soon. #whales #HKU #SWIMS #marinescience #biodiversity

Today is the National Ecology Day. At SWIMS we have many public outreach programs & at the center is the Swire Coastal Outreach Hub (SCOH), funded by the Swire Trust. Everyone is welcome to come to learn about Hong Kong’s marine biodiversity. Visiting times - 1-4 pm Fri & Sat.

Team led by @celiaschunter with @arthurcyc & Wu Cheuk Ho, in collaboration with WWF Hong Kong, started a conservation project: Embracing Our Tolo: Analyzing Fishery Landscape and Population Health of a Depleted Seascape. #marinescience #HKU #hongkong

Dr Jon Cybulski @joncybulski talks about the his latest paper: Historical Ecology of the Southern Central American Pacific Coast royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs… #marinescience #HKU #centralamerica #sustainabledevelopment

Dr Xin Dang has discovered a previously unknown consequence of #globalwarming - induced ocean acidification: its effect on sex ratios in marine invertebrates. The paper was featured on the cover of Environmental Science & Technology.

A delegation from Sino Group, including Ms Nikki Ng, Non-Executive Director & Director of Philanthropy, came to SWIMS yesterday. They met #HongKong marine biodiversity at the Swire Coastal Outreach Hub, saw research facilities & residential quarters & enjoyed spectacular views!

🌊✨ Coral Spawning Season is Here! ✨🌊 #Corals in #HongKong are in the mood for love! 💖 This summer, they’re preparing for reproduction, a critical event for reef resilience. At SWIMS, our outdoor mesocosms allow us to observe coral spawning on shore.

Meet the algae. Salads, medicine, paper, ice-cream… these are some of the uses, actual and potential, of the marine algae species that we collected diving last week. Each species has a story, and we are now experimenting with how to preserve them for public display.

Marine algae, rich in proteins & essential nutrients, may soon be an important source of nutrition for humanity. SWIMS went diving for specimens of edible algae that may become part of a public exhibition. In the next post we share photos of species of algae we collected.

City of Shells, a documentary about the restoration of oyster reefs in #HongKong, has been released. Prof Bayden Russell’s research group at SWIMS, featured in the film, plays a key role in restoring Hong Kong’s oyster reefs. cityofshells.com

HKU - SWIMS & Xiamen University - MEL collaboration workshop started today. Scientists from two sister marine research institutions updated each other on their research & discussed how they can pool their strengths in future collaborations.

It is #oyster season - we will be posting a series of content about the work that we do at SWIMS with oysters. Watch this video to learn more about the lost ecosystem of #HongKong - oyster reefs.

Chairs & coordinating lead authors for the International Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) visited SWIMS last week, enjoying the facilities and the landscape. The visit was part of the workshop hosted by Prof Alice Hughes @ HKU School of Biological Sciences.

Archaea are difficult to cultivate in the laboratory and we lack knowledge about their chemical communication with the environment. Research by team led by Prof Philip Yongxin Li: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/an…

The Area of Ecology and #Biodiversity @ School of Biological Sciences @ HKU is recruiting a tenure-track /associate/assistant professor. #HongKong is an incredible place for #ecology research. Watch this video to see why. To apply: jobs.hku.hk/en/job/531611/…

ESG – Beyond the Buzzwords. Understanding blue carbon. Reducing carbon footprint and combating climate change are cornerstones of ESG, and HKU research helps here too. Tiny seagrasses store carbon at a faster rate than rainforests, but we still know little about this ecosystem. Moreover, we are quickly losing sea grass meadows to coastal development. Researchers at @SWIMSHKU are not only working to find out how much carbon seagrasses store, but are also developing methodology to restore this disappearing ecosystem. This knowledge will contribute to the fields of blue carbon and nature-based solutions, helping us to better mitigate the effects of climate change.