Supporting Research in Vanuatu and the Pacific Islands

This presentation is aimed at exploring the potential for collaborative research opportunities within the South Pacific region and in particular, Vanuatu. It will showcase the various support services being offered for incoming researchers to do their research in the region, starting from the development of the research topic through to the publication of result. As the premiere academic institution in the South Pacific, The University of the South Pacific (USP) has a variety of resources available to enable research in the region.

Dr. Krishna Kumar Kotra is currently a Senior Lecturer at USP. He is from India and has a Masters in Environmental Chemistry and PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Andhra University, Andhra Pradesh, India. He received the “Gold Medal” for his doctoral studies on Groundwater quality along the Bay of Bengal. Dr. Kotra was also a Mary Sears Award recipient (2019) from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, USA. After teaching at various institutions in India, in 2015 he joined The University of the South Pacific’s (USP) Emalus Campus in Port Vila, Vanuatu. He was later appointed “Science Program Coordinator” to oversee the delivery of science courses in Vanuatu. Since then, he had established a wide range of collaborations with reputable universities (ETH, Oxford, UNSW, UTS, UNM, Griffith, University Texas etc.) and research organizations (CEFAS, WHOI, ESR, The Ocean Foundation etc.) around the world to work in Vanuatu and the Pacific. His research interests include water quality, marine studies, and climate change. However, he is committed to applying his expertise to a very broad range of research projects to be carried out in Vanuatu and the Pacific.