About Us
The Environment Research Group (ERG) is part of the School of Science and Technology at The University of Fiji. It is a multidisciplinary group that brings together members from a range of background including computer science, biology, climate change, geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS), chemistry and marine science.
The vision of ERG is to transform the level of scientific research at The University of Fiji through collaborations. ERG also aims to have its research materials published in renowned peer review journals so that the group can significantly contribute to wealth of knowledge on the environment which may lead to the improvement of human life.
The Team
A B M Shawkat Ali
Professor and Dean of the School of Science & Technology
Professor Ali enjoyed his school life at Rajapore Primary School, Bharuakhali M N A High School at Jamalpur, Bangladesh. Then he moved to the largest district in Bangladesh Mymenshing to complete his year 12 education at well known Nasirabad college. He graduated from the Rajshahi University in 1994 with Honours degree from the Department of Applied Physics and Electronics Engineering. He has received his master’s degree from the same department in 1995. After that he received his Master’s in Philosophy from same university in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in 1998. He completed his post-graduate research under in International Post Graduate Scholarship and awarded PhD at Monash University, Australia from Clayton School of Information Technology in 2005. During his PhD study at Monash University he warded Monash Post Graduation Publication Award in 2004. Professor Ali is a Senior Member of the world largest professional organisation IEEE.
Ashneel Ajay Singh
Lecturer
Population dynamics, population ecology, fisheries stock management, catch forecasting, mechanisms of fish population fluctuation, climate change, Food and environmental microbiology
Priyatma Singh
Co-Director Foundation Science & Information Technology and Lecturer
Researcher, Climate Change Adaptation, Project Management
Anish Maharaj
Project Manager – PACAM Project
GIS and Remote Sensing, Research and Project Management.
Kelera Railoa
Researcher
Reserach, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management.
Lionel Joseph
Researcher
Research, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management.
Edwin Liava’a
Manager IT Services
20+ years of experience in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) within the Pacific Islands region. Specialist in both fields undertaking tasks ranging from office automation, systems development, systems support, web design and programming. Network administration proficiency with Linux and Windows Sever. Database administration using Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and Open Source Databases such as PostGIS/PostgreSQL and MySQL. Corporate system backup and recovery solutions. Design and development of MIS/GIS solutions for Utilities. Advocator of Linux, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo), Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) and “Geo for All” the Open Source Geospatial Foundation’s Open Educational outreach. He provides solutions with technology transfer through training students at tertiary level, workshops and in-house training.
The ERG Current Projects
| Manuscript No. | Manuscrip Topic | Principal author | Co-authors |
| 1 | Life and Death of Corals: Climate Change or Land Use – a GIS Based Study of a Coastal Village in Fiji. | A. Ajay Singh | Maharaj. A., Singh. P., Joseph. L., Chand. R., Kumar. M., Ali. A.B.M.S., McCarthy. M |
| 2 | Seagrass Ecosystem Degradation: A threat to food security for Komave village, VitiLevu, Fiji | Lionel Joseph | Maharaj. A., Singh. P., Singh. A. A., Ali. A.B.M.S |
| 3 | An Analysis of Algal Cover in the Near-Shore Reefs of Komave, Nadroga, Fiji Islands. | Kelera Railoa | Singh. A.A., Maharaj. A., Singh. P., Joseph. L., Kumar. M., Ali. A.B.M.S., Liava’a. E., McCarthy. M |
| 4 | Socioeconomic studies as a tool for determining the socioeconomic status, Fisheries resource time series and Climate Change perception of Komave Village in Fiji | A. Ajay Singh | Pal. S., Maharaj. A., Singh. P., Joseph. L., Ali. A.B.M.S |
| 5 | Spatial Distribution of the South Pacific Albacore tuna and Sea Surface Temperature Variability | A. Ajay Singh | Sakuramoto. K., Suzuki., N., Roshni. S., Maharaj. A |
| 6 | comparative study of image analysis project | needs to be decided | Ali. A.B.M.S., Liava’a. E., Maharaj., A., Kumar. J |
| Other projects with UniFiji Affiliation | |||
| 1 | Climate-related variability and stock-recruitment relationship of the North Pacific albacore tuna | A. Ajay Singh | Sakuramoto. K., Suzuki., Alok. K |
| Further Project ideas | |||
| 1 | Blue Carbon project | Maharaj., A | Ali. A.B.M.S., Liava’a. E., Maharaj., A., Kumar. J |
| 2 | The GeoForAll Project | Liava’a E. | Ali. A.B.M.S., Liava’a. E., Maharaj., A., Kumar. J |
| 3 | The CrimeStopper App | Liava’a E. | Ali. A.B.M.S., Liava’a. E, Railoa. K |
ERG Projects
