Thai student named best in the UK
University of Southampton PhD student Dr Amonsak Sawusdee has been named as Best Thai Student in the UK (Environment Category) by the Anglo-Thai Society.
Amonsak, from Ocean and Earth Science (OES) at the University, was presented with the award for his study to help return native oysters to UK waters. He joined nine other winners and highly commended students in a ceremony sponsored by the Royal Thai Embassy, and were joined by Sir John Madejski OBE as keynote speaker.
The Anglo-Thai Society Educational Awards for Excellence were launched in 2005 and are designed to ‘acknowledge the achievement and excellence of Thai postgraduate students carrying out research at British Universities’.
For his thesis ‘Restoration of European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) using elevated broodstock reefs’, sponsored by the Royal Thai Government and Natural England, Amonsak worked with Drs Antony Jensen and Chris Hauton and other colleagues in OES to establish evidence for the benefits of culturing oysters in reef structures raised off the sea bed. His work identified seasonal benefits to oyster physiological performance (Sawusdee et al. (2015) Aquaculture 444: 41-48) as well as improvements to ecosystem diversity. It is hoped that this research will assist Natural England in their goal of restoring the native oyster in UK waters.
Amonsak commented on his award; "This award would not have been possible without the kind contributions of my excellent supervisors, Dr. Antony Jensen and Dr. Chris Hauton. It was great conducting my research with them at NOCS. This award has motivated me to continue marine research with the aim of improving fishery production and biodiversity in Thailand".
Having successfully defended his thesis Amonsak will now return to his family and career in Thailand as an Assistant Professor at Walailak University, taking his expertise in shellfish restoration ecology with him.
Photo: Dr Amonsak Sawusdee (front row, 3rd from left) with other awardees at the evening reception held at the Office for Educational Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in London (27 November 2015).