Shovonlal Roy
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+44 (0) 118 378 8944
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Professor
- Research Division Leader (RDL) for Environmental Science
- Marine Ecosystem Science Research Group (MarES) Lead at SAGES
- UG and PG teaching
- Research supervisor of PhD, PGT and UG students
- Academic tutor of UG and PG students
Areas of interest
- Satellite remote sensing and bio-optical modelling
- Satellite remote sensing applications to fish dynamics and fisheries
- Dynamical systems, ecological modelling, eco-evolutionary dynamics
- Biogeochemical modelling and remote sensing of ocean carbon and bio-diversity
- Data assimilation in ecosystem models
Postgraduate supervision
PhD Projects
- Climate change and harmful algal growth using laboratory experiments, satellite remote sensing and biogeochemical modelling. 2020- Lead supervisor (Ongoing)
- A model of ocean biogeochemistry with allelopathy as a driving force of phytoplankton dynamics and biodiversity. 2020- Lead supervisor (Ongoing)
- Assessing the evolution of supraglacial lakes and their effects on glacier melt in the High Mountain Asia using remote sensing, UoR International Studentship award, 2022- Co-supervisor (Ongoing)
- Energy transfer in marine ecosystems based on phytoplankton size structure from satellite remote sensing. NERC-SCENARIO DTP with CASE from CEFAS studentship 2018-2023 Lead Supervisor. (Completed)
- Marine biogeochemical model with explicit representation of phytoplankton functional types. Bakrie Centre Foundation International studentship 2015-2019. Lead supervisor. (Completed)
- Individual-based model of North Sea fish using satellite remote sensing. NERC-SCENARIO DTP with CASE from CEFAS studentship 2015-2018. Lead supervisor. (Completed)
- Predicting the numbers and location of seabass for sustainable management. NERC-SCENARIO DTP with CASE from CEFAS studentship 2017-2021. Co-supervisor. (Completed)
- Parameter estimation and inverse problem for reactive transport modes in bioirrigated sediments. NERC-SCENARIO DTP studentship 2015-2019. Co-supervisor. (Completed).
- Amazonia and the 6k Drought. University of Reading PhD Studentship 2014-2018. Co-supervisor. (Completed).
- Amazonia under mid-holocene drought. NERC-SCENARIO DTP - PhD studentship 2014-2018. Co-supervisor. (Completed).
- Assessment of the hydrological status of Iraq using a combination of remote sensing and drought indices. International PhD studentship 2014-2017. Co-supervisor. (Completed).
Post-doctoral Projects
- Phytoplankton Carbon from Space (2024-2025)
- Machine learning and satellite remote sensing of ocean (2023-2024)
- Lake water acidification and temperature effects on Aquatic quillworts (2015-2016)
- Alleopathic effects on Phytoplankton dynamics (2014-2015)
- Modelling alleopathic effects of phytoplankton (2018)
Teaching
Shovon has been teaching modules both as a convenor and a contributor at UG1, UG2, UG3 and PG levels. He also regularly supervises several undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation projects. In the current academic year, he is convening the following modules: (1) GVMQAES: Quantitative Analysis of Data in Environmental Science (PG module, 20 credits); (2) GV3ESM: Ecosystems Modelling (UG3 module, 20 credits); and he is contributing to: (1) GV2STP: Skills Training and Project Design (UG2 module, 20 credits); (2) GV1GC: Global Challenges: a Planet in Crisis (UG1 module, 20 credits).Research centres and groups
Environmental Science Research division
Marine Ecosystem Science Research Group
Research news and coverage
- “Why are animals the size they are?” Newstalk Futureproof (2024)
- “A new evolutionary theory could explain the mystery of shrinking animals”, Popular Science (2024)
- “Why big animals are getting smaller” Deutsche Welle (2024)
- “Une nouvelle théorie de l’évolution explique pourquoi les animaux rétrécissent” Sciences et Avenir (2024)
- “Island Lizards Shrink and Horses Get Bigger Because of These Evolutionary Patterns”, Discover Magazine (2024)
- “Shrinking Evolution: Ecology Influences Animal Size” Neuroscience News (2024)
- “Shrinking giants: Unraveling the evolution of animal size” Earth Dot Com (2024)
- “Measuring ocean biological carbon from space”, University of Reading (2023)
- “Sustainable underwater ecosystems supported by Reading research”, University of Reading (2021)
- “Why we should lift lockdown to help prepare for a more deadly winter second wave” Daily Mail (2020)
- “Nutrition study reveals instability in world’s most important fishing regions” Phys.org (2018)
Research projects
- Kasetsart University & Office of the Permanent Secretary for Higher Education, Science and Research and Innovation, “Mitigating the impact of climate change on coastal aquaculture: Capacity building collaboration for early warning of algal blooms and optimization of the integrated multitrophic aquaculture”, Collaborator and Visiting Professor, 2025-2026
- University of Philippines Visayas & BFAR, “Environmental genetic analysis of shellfish and digitization of harmful algal bloom (HAB) patterns in Western Visayas”, Collaborator and Visiting Professor, 2025-2026.
- Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (£2500), “Build research partnership in sustainable aquaculture systems in Thailand and Philippines” Principal Investigator, 2024.
- European Space Agency (€950K) “Satellite-based observations of Carbon in the Ocean: Pools, fluxes and Exchanges (SCOPE) ” Co-investigator and WP Lead on Phytoplankton Carbon, 2023-2025.
- RETF 2023 (£37K) “Tracking food quality at the bottom of marine food webs using machine learning and satellite remote-sensing”, Principal Investigator, 2023-2024.
- Space for Climate (£75K), “Opportunities for Earth Observation technology to assist the regulatory framework in UK industrial methane gas monitoring”, Academic co-lead in WPs, 2023-2024.
- London Mathematical Society (£5490) Conference Grant Award for the 8th Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution Conference (MMEE 2022), Principal Investigator, 2022.
- NERC and Innovate UK – Research Project (£220K): "Knowledge Transfer Partnership grant between The University of Reading & Armajaro Asset Management LLP", Co-Investigator, 2015–2018.
- Royal Society of London (£12K): “Marine autotrophic biodiversity combining ocean colour and molecular genetics”, Principal Investigator, 2017-2020
- European Space Agency (€250K) : "Pools of Carbon in the Ocean (POCO)", Co-Investigator, 2015-2017.
- UROP (3 x £1320) Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme at the University of Reading, Principal Investigator, 2016, 2017, 2023.
- HEFCE project 2016: "Data Driven Free-School Fishing", demonstration project jointly with the Institute for Environmental Analytics University of Reading and Sainsbury's.
Background
• Shovon is an ecosystem modeller, specialising in satellite remote sensing applications to ecosystems. His has been leading interdisciplinary research, funded nationally and internationally, by research councils and charities, e.g. the Royal Society of London, the European Space Agency, the Natural Environment Research Council UK, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Partnership of Observation of Global Oceans, the Nippon Foundation of Japan.• Shovon is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. He has been serving on the editorial board of several scientific journals: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution - Associate Editor (2022 -present); Remote Sensing in Earth Systems Sciences, Associate Editor (2016-present); Remote Sensing for Ecology and Conservation – Associate Editor (2014-2017); Frontiers in Marine Science, Review Editor (2014- present).
• Shovon has been actively leading and contributing to international collaborations, most recently as Visiting Professor at the Kasetsart University in Thailand (2025-26) and University of Philippines Visayas (2025-26); and previously, as a Visiting Academic at Princeton University (2017, 2019); as an Associate Researcher at Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (2016); and as invited member of the Scientific Committee for Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution (MMEE, 2022-present), GEO-BON WG on Ecosystem Function (2016-2018), GEO Blue Planet WG on EO for Water-Associated Diseases, (2018) and International Satellite Phytoplankton Functional Types (2012-2014) .
• Shovon received international awards and fellowships including the Royal Society International Exchanges Award, Wolfson College of Oxford Research Fellowship in Science, Royal Society Newton International Fellowship, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Visiting Fellowship, Royal Society International Incoming Fellowship, and POGO-IOC-SCOR Visiting Fellowship. Internally, he received the UROP Supervisor of the Award (2023), an Annual SAGES Teaching and Learning Award (2025), and was a runner-up for the UoR Research Awards for Openness in Research (2023). • Shovon obtained a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics, an MSc in Applied Mathematics and a PhD in ecological modelling using non-linear dynamics. Prior to joining the University of Reading, he worked at different research and academic institutes including the Indian Statistical Institute, International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Austria, the University of Manchester, UK, the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada, the University of Oxford and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK. Additionally, he has delivered over three dozen invited talks nationally and internationally at reputed institutes (e.g., Princeton, UPenn, Oxford, NUIST, Pushan National University) and international conferences (e.g. NASA-Giovanni, British Ecological Society, International Conference on Mathematical Analysis and Applications in Modeling, 1st Capiz Fisheries Summit).