As the campaign against Shell intensifies, it is clear that local communities in South Africa are culturally diverse, hold rich knowledge foundations, espouse an environmental holism, and are deeply concerned about ocean and coastal health.
Close analysis of global heritage identification and conservation reveals enduring inequalities.
Marine ecosystems have a valuable role to play in mitigating the effects of climate change.
Reasons to be Proud - #R2bP: Master’s student in Zoology, Minyonne Verster, received the best postgraduate oral presentation award for her research on the functional importance of seagrass ecosystems at the Southern African Marine Science Symposium (SAMSS).
Adjunct Professor Lorien Pichegru is not only a marine biologist – she’s a force for environmental change.
Nelson Mandela University will be hosting Ecotones, a series of documentary films exploring ocean and coastal cultural heritage from five southern African countries, including South Africa, Namibia, and the Seychelles.
The ocean is vast, unpredictable, and constantly changing—how do marine predators manage to find food in such an immense environment? They rely on more than just sharp eyesight and instinct, a Nelson Mandela University-led study shows.
Reasons to be Proud - #R2bP: Dr Linda Harris, research associate at Nelson Mandela University, was selected by The Pew Charitable Trusts as a recipient of the 2025
Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation.
Marine scientist Hannah Truter, a former researcher at Nelson Mandela University, is diving headfirst into a three-year PhD placement at Nord University in Norway.
Artificial nests can increase breeding rates of endangered African penguins, a Nelson Mandela University-led study has found.
Three books, entitled Ocean Beings, Coastal Worlds and Elemental Feast and two poetry anthologies Between Worlds and Lover Brine, were recently launched at the Coastal and Marine Research Institute (CMR), situated at Nelson Mandela University’s Ocean Sciences Campus.
“I am very lucky that I am surrounded by incredible women that inspire me every day, and I would advise women to identify potential role models that they can connect with for mentorship and guidance”, says Dr Mia Strand, an Ocean Nexus Postdoctoral Research Fellow based at the Institute for Coastal and Marine Research at Nelson Mandela University.
Reasons to be Proud -#R2bP: Research Fellow in Nelson Mandela University’s Botany Department and Institute for Coastal and Marine Research (CMR), Dr Daniel Lemley, was recently honoured as one of 11 emerging researchers in the TW Kambule-NSTF Awards category.
Reasons to be Proud - #R2bP: Dr Mia Strand from the Institute for Coastal and Marine Research at Nelson Mandela University has been selected as the South African, and one of 23 worldwide finalists, in line for the US$1.1 million Frontiers Planet Prize.
Reasons to be Proud #R2bP: Mandela University doctoral researcher Mia Strand claimed the second runner-up position in the national Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, hosted in South Africa by the University of the Free State. She also took the runner-up position at the institutional level at Mandela University, where eight students were selected to compete.
Professor Amanda Lombard holds the SARChI Chair in Marine Spatial Planning at Nelson Mandela University and is lead author of a seminal article title 'Principles for transformative ocean governance', published on 7 September in the leading international journal, Nature Sustainability.
Nelson Mandela University scientist, Professor Mike Roberts and his team have deployed oceanographic instruments to collect data on the ocean dynamics of the Mozambique Channel.
A group of marine scientists from all over the world gathered at Nelson Mandela University this week for an international workshop that sought to explore the potential role of atmospheric deposition in driving ocean productivity in the Southwest Indian Ocean.
Nelson Mandela University’s School of Engineering recently supported ocean research with airborne drones and a kite borne surveillance system to study marine mammals up close - not possible from the research ship.
Marine Spatial Planning research at Nelson Mandela University is continuing to make waves with new research including the impacts of the pandemic on coastal tourism.
The entire issue of prospecting or production for oil, gas or any other substance in the little understood marine environment has to start with how to safeguard it against potential damage.
We have to alert the world to the impending food security, livelihoods and marine ecosystems disaster in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), which extends from South Africa all the way up the east coast of Africa.
Nelson Mandela University’s growing reputation as a leading Ocean Sciences hub was recently recognised with a top place nationally in the Life Below Water category in the international 2022 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
We have to work out how to share our oceans between a mounting number of stakeholders in a manner that values and conserves our rich marine resources. Professor Mandy Lombard is finding a way, Heather Dugmore reports.
Reasons to be Proud - #R2bP: Dr Lorien Pichegru, a marine biologist at Mandela University and Acting Director of the Coastal and Marine Research Institute, has received the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Merite (Knight of the Order of Merit) award from the ambassador of France in SA.
Nelson Mandela University’s Institute for Coastal and Marine Research (CMR), together with Visual Arts student Mr Luke Rudman had the opportunity to be involved in the international artistic initiative the MaskBook Project, which recently formed part of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
The Institute for Coastal and Marine Research (CMR) recently hosted the Ocean Race team for a session of presentations around the research being done at the Ocean Sciences Campus and the University’s strategy regarding ocean science. The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three years.
Human pressures on the ocean are projected to more than double, and possibly triple, by 2050, putting marine life, coastal livelihoods and food security at grave risk. This is a warning from a landmark international study published recently in the prestigious journal Science.
Each artwork tells a story — of motion, discovery, and connection — inviting the viewer to see the ocean not as a distant entity but as a living, breathing system intertwined with human life.
“The Institute for Coastal Marine Research (CMR) exemplifies what Nelson Mandela University means when we speak of being a university in service of society,” said Professor Azwinndini Muronga, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Internationalisation.
Two different aspects of research on Spheniscus demersus, commonly known as African penguins, were presented at Nelson Mandela University’s recent 2025 Institute of Coastal and Marine Research Symposium.
Protecting oceans and coastal communities as the planetary polycrisis takes hold requires more than scientific expertise alone. It demands collaboration across disciplines, sectors and knowledge systems, according to participants at a recent Transdisciplinary Ocean Sciences and Ocean Sustainability Activism Symposium hosted by Nelson Mandela University and the University of South Africa’s (UNISA) Centre for Black Planetary Studies.
Nelson Mandela University’s Institute for Coastal and Marine Research recently presented an accredited Management of Estuaries in South Africa Training Course in Hermanus.
Two Nelson Mandela University academics are finalists in the prestigious National Science and Technology Forum South32 (NSTF-South32) Awards.
Through her expertise in the protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems Nelson Mandela University’s Professor Janine Adams has contributed to the Starfish Barometer 2026.
Reasons to be Proud - #R2bP: Nelson Mandela University scientist, Professor Janine Adams, has been awarded the prestigious Southern African Society for Aquatic Scientists (SASAqS) Gold Medal at the society’s recent conference in Port Alfred.