Sri Lanka

Taiwan and Sri Lanka belong to subtropical and tropical island countries. The recent global warming, ocean acidification, and extreme weather heavily impact marine resources and ecosystems. The NSYSU has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with three universities in Sri Lanka, with the ocean being the focus of our collaboration. Supported by the National Science and Technology Council, we have established “Taiwan and Sri Lanka Environmental Change Sciences and Technology Innovation Center (TS/ECSTIC)” and “(TS/MRS)” with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and the University of Ruhuna, respectively (SDG4, SDG17).

Recently, our team has recruited some Sri Lankan students to pursue Masters’ and Doctorates degrees in Taiwan and has conducted several sample collections in Sri Lanka. The followings are some research collaborations:

(1) In 2019-2020, the team collected water samples from the Negombo Lagoon during the wet and dry seasons in Sri Lanka. The data revealed that the most hypoxic zones could be directly linked to a growing population and increased industrial and tourism activities. Long-term programming for the water quality database can help with managing water resources and formulating pollution prevention strategies. Our collaborative study with Sri Lankan scholars was published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

(2) Our Sri Lankan students worked in the research team to observe the occurrence of microplastic in small dried fish. The plastic polymers were examined under a microscope and identified using Micro-Raman spectroscopy. In this case, about 80% were microplastic fibers and polyethylene (PE). The microplastic found likely originated from the breakdown of mesoplastic debris or anthropogenic wastewater runoff. Among the 14 dried fish products collected from seven Asian countries (China, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan), only two were without microplastic particles. This study publishes in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

Tuvalu

In 2022, the NSYSU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tuvalu to jointly establish the “Taiwan and Tuvalu Center on Marine Science and Engineering (TTCMSE).” This Center aims to facilitate research and educational collaboration in marine biodiversity, geochemistry, and engineering. Tuvalu consists of nine coral reef islands totaling 26 square kilometers. Yet, with its 750,000 square kilometers exclusive economic zone, Tuvalu owns ample marine resources, especially coral reefs, which are the base of the ecosystem. Tuvalu and Taiwan are under the stress of conserving marine ecosystems and coastal environments to face challenges by global warming, ocean acidification, and sea level rise. Our team has brilliant experiences and research for tropical oceans to share with Tuvalu. The new cooperative team can build research capacity to study the carbon cycle and coastal line erosion. Moreover, our team can build fish/plant species/DNA databases, develop marine natural products for medical-related applications, create a Tsunami warning system, and conduct coral reef surveys in Tuvalu. Our action will directly implement the Sustainable Development Goals in this cooperation (SDG13, SDG14, SDG17).

Palau

The President of Palau (Surangel S. Whipps, Jr.) and the Government (including Ministers, Senators, and the ambassador of the Embassy of the Republic of Palau), met with Prof. Chin-Chang Hung, the Dean of the College of Marine Sciences, to discuss the issue of blue carbon and the future outlook for potential investigation in the seas around Palau on Oct 10, 2022. Dr. Hung will visit Palau in January 2023, and the meeting will explore the research potentials in ocean blue carbon and acidification. With an exclusive economic zone of 600,000 square kilometers and the right to evoke for the marine environment in the United Nations, Palau will vocalize for the blue carbon in the ocean and line up these island countries (SDG13, SDG14, SDG17).

Lithuania

Aiming to conserve biodiversity, our university joined the 2022 Biodiversa+: European Biodiversity Partnership by the European Commission with the Nature Research Centre of Lithuania, the University of Latvia, and the Estonian University of Life Sciences. The program promotes interdisciplinary collaboration in social economy and biology and hopes to alleviate the extinction pressure on the endangered river mussel, Unio crassus. Our team also assisted in examining the composition of the seasonal algal blooms in the ponds of Lithuania and studying its potential in extracting active pharmaceutical ingredients, allowing an alternative solution to the algal bloom problem (SDG13, SDG14, SDG17).

Dongsha Atoll

In the decade of establishment and management of “Dongsha Atoll Research Station,” the NSYSU has served researchers from over 25 countries to conduct surveys in Dongsha Atoll, publishing over 80 journals. Still, most of the research was on coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems in shallow waters. In contrast, the marine environment and resources in the seas with a depth of 350m around the atoll are still unknown. Therefore, we partnered with Marine National Park Headquarters, NARLabs Taiwan Ocean Research Institute, and NSYSU Frontier Center for Ocean Science and Technology to expand the research scale around the atoll. R/V New Ocean Researcher 3 and R/V Legend are equipped with devices, including a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), seabed imaging and surveying device, underwater photography equipment, and samplers to obtain data of various parameters for more holistic research combining different techniques and specialties. The research outcome will facilitate the management of Marine National Park Headquarters and alleviate the impact of extreme weather. Also, Dongsha Atoll Research Station acts as a platform to connect international scholars for sharing findings in the waters around Sri Lanka, Tuvalu, Palau, Dongsha Atoll, and Taiwan. Further strengthening of international academic collaboration by the visiting researchers between institutes paves the way for a joint effort in meeting the goals of conserving and sustaining the ocean (SDG13, SDG14, SDG17).