FIU’s sustainability research focuses on both its unique local surroundings, such as the Florida wetlands, and a diverse range of international collaborations. “We’re working across the natural environment and the built environment, from cities to rural areas,” says Michael Heithaus, executive dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Education at FIU.

As such, FIU’s research aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, a key metric for Times Higher Education’s Impact Rankings. FIU’s strong performance in the Impact Rankings has further enabled its drive toward becoming a global leader in conducting innovative and pioneering sustainability research that gets real-world results.

“The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings have really helped us engage with other universities in a couple of ways,” Heithaus explains. “We’ve gotten calls because people saw us there and said, ‘Oh my gosh, look at all this amazing stuff going on!’ For a young university like us, that matters, because we don’t want to be the best kept secret, we want to find those collaborators.” Similarly, the rankings have enabled FIU to benchmark its own performance against its peers. “It’s helped in looking at who the other top institutions are and what they’re doing. What are the practices that they’re using that we could implement?” says Heithaus. “It helps to create a community and learn from one another.” 

“International leadership is so important to make sure that we’re working with the right partners, whether it’s NGOs, governments, local communities and scientists around the world,” says Heithaus. “In our work in the Pacific and the Caribbean, working with these small island states is critical because they are so threatened by sea level rise in overfishing. We’re working with those local communities and governments. But we also need to be providing data so that international treaties and local national management plans are getting it right.”

One data-based source that helps enable FIU’s mission is the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. FIU’s perfect scores for SDG 14 evidence indicators in the 2023 rankings confirm its status as a world-leader in life below water research. “I think that the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings have been important in waking universities up to the idea that it’s more about what you do, rather than how much money you bring in, or how many papers you write,” adds Heithaus. “It’s really about impact on the ground. That’s something that we’ve been doing for a lot of years, but I think the Impact Rankings really help get everybody on the same page.” 

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Florida International University achieved a score of 95.9 for its work on SDG 14 in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023, placing it at number two in the world for this SDG.

Several weighted metrics comprise the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings’ evidence indicators for each university’s work on different SDGs.

FIU recorded a perfect score for all of the evidence indicators for SDG 14 – a selection of which can be seen in the above graphic – which is adapted from Times Higher Eduction’s SDG Impact Dashboard, a tool for providing insight into best practice from around the world. 

FIU’s ongoing commitment to making sustainability a core component of the research conducted across the institution involves a deep dive – literally and figuratively – into making the planet a healthier place. From its coastal location in South Florida to its academic network of collaborators around the world, FIU is ideally based to conduct world-leading research into life below water, or the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14. 

“Life below water is a huge research priority for FIU because, put simply, we just can’t have a healthy planet without healthy oceans,” explains Michael Heithaus, executive dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Education at FIU. “We know that more than just about anyone, here in South Florida where we have so much at risk from sea level rise and the degradation to oceans. So, for decades, we've been investing in finding ways to help make our oceans healthier and to ensure that we have sustainable oceans that support the human communities around them.” 

FIU’s research into life below water is comprehensive, multi-faceted and ongoing. More than 200 researchers at FIU work on SDG 14 alone, addressing critical issues such as environmental restoration, pinpointing pollution zones and preserving native wildlife. The real-world impact has benefits beyond the natural world, such as protecting local economies that rely on fishing for food and tourism.

“The next step is to work in-country and internationally to make sure we’re putting the protections in place,” says Heithaus. “We’re working on all aspects to make sure we have amazing, awesome oceans, here locally in the US and also around the world.” Managing the partnerships necessary to achieve and promote this type of best practice is another complex task. By working with governments, local communities and other organisations, FIU builds robust networks of diverse stakeholders who are fully aligned in their sustainability goals.