{"id":2456,"date":"2026-09-16T15:04:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T13:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/?page_id=2456"},"modified":"2026-09-21T09:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:48:55","slug":"michael-roberts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/fellows\/fellows-visiting-scientists\/michael-roberts\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Professor Roberts obtained a BSc at the University of Natal in chemistry, applied chemistry and physics. At postgraduate level he did a BSc (hons) in analytical marine chemistry at UCT and a research MSc on nearshore oceanography of Algoa Bay at the University of Port Elizabeth.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He returned to UCT to complete a PhD in physical oceanography. He received the DTi-NRF award for Scientific Excellence in Innovative Technology Development and the DEA: Oceans & Coasts “Award for Individual Excellence” both in 2010. He has been chief scientist on more than 30 cruises and Principal Investigator (PI) of over 36 research projects ranging from national NRF, fishing industry and government projects to large international projects including the ASCLME (Agulhas Somali Currents Large Marine Ecosystem), MESOBIO (In\ufb02uence of mesoscale dynamics on biological productivity at multiple trophic levels in the Mozambique Channel), SAMOC (South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) and the Agulhas System Climate Array (ASCA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 32 national\/international committees he previously\/presently resided on \u2500 possibly the most significant are the IIOE2 SCOR Science Development Committee and the Sustained Indian Ocean Biogeochemical Ecosystem Research (SIBER) \u2013 the latter of which he is co-chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has established 3 research groups\/schools: Physical and Applied Oceanography Group (MCM); Centre for Operational and Observational Oceanography (www.cfoo.com<\/a>) (DEA), and recently the Regional School of Technical Oceanography (SOTO) at the V&A Waterfront (CPUP). Academic experience includes the publication of over 90 articles and reports, lecturing physical oceanography and ecosystem functioning at UPE, RU, and UCT, and supervising 55 postgraduate students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current research investigates the underpinning processes that sustain food security (i.e. ecosystem functioning) with a strong focus on how climate change and a changing global ocean will impact marine upwelling systems in the western Indian Ocean. Investigation of these upwelling systems and their links to food security requires a full multidisciplinary approach from physics to fish to forecasts (security), and encompasses and couples the fields of physical oceanography, biogeochemistry, plankton, trophic ecology, fisheries and food resources \u2500 all quantified by end to end ecosystem and socio-economic modelling. Prof Roberts\u2019 research program called the Western Indian Ocean Upwelling Research Initiative (WIOURI) totally embraces this approach and moreover uses modelling not only to understand, couple and quantify processes, but also to streamline the avenues of multidisciplinary investigation making the research program more focused on the ultimate deliverable \u2500 how and by how much is climate change and a changing ocean going to impact food resources in the WIO. Great emphasis is placed on linking and transferring these research outputs into ocean governance and food security structures including national governmental departments, SAPHIRE, ESPA, Nairobi Convention and the FAO. Indeed, the FAO is thoroughly involved in WIOURI as its EAF\u2212Nansen program is a core partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his MAK\u2019IT fellowship, he will explore how the climate change poses a significant threat to the sustainability of marine ecosystems, particularly in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), where ocean warming and fishing pressures are escalating. Marine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protected Areas (MPAs), while effective for conserving biodiversity and harvested species, were not originally designed to enhance resilience against climate change. This project aims to determine whether MPAs can buffer genetic, phenotypic, and community diversity to improve ecosystem sustainability. Connectivity is central to this effort, as it enables repopulation of impacted areas from climate or fishing refugia.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor Roberts obtained a BSc at the University of Natal in chemistry, applied chemistry and physics. At postgraduate level he did a BSc (hons) in analytical marine chemistry at UCT and a research MSc on nearshore oceanography of Algoa Bay at the University of Port Elizabeth. He returned to UCT to complete a PhD in…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1400,"featured_media":0,"parent":912,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"2212,2161,1168,1998,1047,1169","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2456","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1400"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2456\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/makit.edu.umontpellier.fr\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}