Sivajyodee Sannassy Pilly

Jyodee is a coral reef ecologist, currently doing her PhD at Bangor University.

Her research concerns the growth, cover and populations of benthic communities of remote reefs in the Central Indian Ocean. These reefs have been monitored since 1978 and assessing the changes in coral reef benthic communities have proved to be a key component in understanding the future condition and trajectory of the marine environment in the present warming world.

A video archive of coral reef benthic community structure has been developed across depths at permanent monitoring sites throughout the atolls and allows for detailed analysis of the changes in communities. Isolated reefs fits the ocean observatory model in the sense that its remoteness from direct human impacts provides a bench mark against which the performance of other reefs can be assessed.

This insight into how undisturbed reefs function can improve reef management of degraded reefs in many other areas in the Indian Ocean and beyond. Her PhD is also part of of a collaborative wider programme, the Bertarelli Foundation Marine Science & Protection Programme.