The University of Queensland’s Dr Nur Arafeh-Dalmau has been awarded a prestigious international fellowship to map the ocean’s last remaining climate refugia — places where kelp forests continue to survive despite rising ocean temperatures.
Dr Arafeh-Dalmau has been named one of seven recipients of the 2026 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation, awarded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
He will receive US$150,000 over three years to identify and protect resilient kelp forest ecosystems across California, Mexico, Peru, and Argentina.
Kelp forests line more than 30 per cent of the world’s rocky coastlines, supporting vast marine biodiversity and the coastal communities that depend on it.
Yet warming oceans are driving widespread losses, with marine heatwaves wiping out entire ecosystems in a matter of months.
“Imagine your favourite forest — now imagine it under the ocean,” Dr Arafeh-Dalmau said.
“These underwater forests are being lost due to climate extremes, but some places persist.
“My research focuses on finding and understanding these climate refugia so we can better protect the ocean as the climate continues to change.”
Dr Arafeh-Dalmau’s path to this research was shaped by personal experience.
Growing up in the Mediterranean, he heard stories of a sea already severely depleted.
Later, working in Mexico, he witnessed the loss of more than half of the country’s kelp forests in the wake of marine heatwaves.
The Pew Fellowship will allow him to expand that work using satellite imagery, ecological surveys, and environmental DNA to analyse biodiversity patterns in persistent kelp forests.
He will also test how these ecosystems withstand marine heatwaves and assess how governance strategies — from marine protected areas to community-led management — influence their resilience.
“The fellowship allows me to develop a deeper understanding of where and why marine climate refugia emerge and how they help sustain biodiversity,” Dr Arafeh-Dalmau said.
“Its flexibility enables me to integrate multiple lines of evidence and translate this knowledge into guidance to inform climate adaptation at meaningful scales.”
The ultimate goal is practical: equipping communities and decision-makers with the knowledge to prioritise these refugia for conservation as ocean warming intensifies.
“I’m inspired by the idea that even under severe climate stress, some ecosystems continue to function and recover, and that conservation can strengthen those places,” he said.
“It gives me hope.”
Dr Arafeh-Dalmau joins a community of more than 200 Pew Marine Fellow alumni working to advance ocean science worldwide.
The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation supports mid-career scientists and experts selected by an international panel of leaders in marine science and conservation.
Learn more about Dr Arafeh-Dalmau’s research at pew.org/marine-fellows.
