Professor Shubha Sathyendranath MBE

Professor Shubha Sathyendranath MBE has some 40 years’ experience in the field of marine optics and remote sensing of ocean colour. Her interests include bio-optical properties of phytoplankton, marine primary production, biological-physical feedbacks in the ocean, phytoplankton phenology, ecological provinces in the ocean, development of algorithms for remote-sensing of phytoplankton and the use of ocean-colour data in climate studies. She has also been pioneering research on water-borne infectious diseases, focusing on the ecology of microbial pathogens in water, notably Vibrio cholerae and Escherichia coli, using field observations, models and proxies amenable to remote sensing, mostly with partners from India and Brazil.

Her many scientific contributions have been recognized in the Grande Médaille Albert 1er of Monaco and A.G. Huntsman Award for Excellence in the Marine Sciences. She has devoted considerable effort to capacity building in developing countries, for which she has received the UNESCO/IOC Pannikkar Memorial Medal. She has been a Fellow of the Marine Biological Association of UK since 2020,and she is the current chair of the IOCCG. She has received national honours and is a Chevalier of the Order of Cultural Merit, Monaco (2022) and Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (2023).

Notable achievements

2023: Dr Shubha Sathyendranath appointed MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours
2022: Dr Sathyendranath awarded the Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit
2021: A.G. Huntsman Medal for Dr Shubha Sathyendranath

Key Projects

• Primary Production Parameters from Space (ESA Project)
• PAR for Primary Production (ESA Project)