Rate My Professor Kath Sloman

Professor Kath Sloman is Professor of Aquatic Biology in the School of Health and Life Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland. She earned a degree in Marine Biology from the University of Wales, Swansea, and a PhD from the University of Glasgow. Before joining UWS as Senior Lecturer in 2010, she held positions as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Plymouth. Promoted to Reader in 2017, she was elected an academic member of the University Court in the same year and awarded Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2015. Her accolades include the Fisheries Society of the British Isles Medal in 2013, the Centre for Sustainable Futures Fellowship from the University of Plymouth in 2008, the David Huxtable Prize for the most meritorious work in Marine Biology in 1997, and finalist status for the University of Plymouth Vice Chancellor's Student Experience Award in 2009.

Sloman's research specializes in the interaction between behaviour and physiology in fish, investigating the integrated impacts of environmental factors—natural and anthropogenic—on aquatic organisms. Her academic interests encompass aquatic toxicology, animal welfare, aquaculture, ornamental fish trade, conservation, and forecasting responses to environmental change. She leads significant projects, including a £3 million initiative to equip small-scale shrimp farmers in Southeast Asia with affordable stress-monitoring tools and efforts to enhance welfare in Amazonian ornamental fish supply chains. As Senior Editor for the Journal of Fish Biology, she has produced over 98 peer-reviewed articles, such as 'Embracing complexity at the physiology and behaviour interface will benefit conservation science' (2026), 'The effects of cannabidiol (CBD) in transport water on the behaviour of ornamental fishes' (2026), 'Current disease treatments for the ornamental pet fish trade and their associated problems' (2025), and 'Influence of turbidity on group level responses to feeding in the Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)' (2025). Her contributions support UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and 14 (Life Below Water), advancing global standards in fish welfare and aquaculture sustainability. Sloman delivered her inaugural lecture, 'International Travels of an Aquatic Biologist', and participates in public engagement on fish welfare.