Visiting Indian academic Shiba Shankar Giri has travelled across the world to Warrnambool to research Atlantic salmon.

Dr Giri is the head of the fish nutrition and physiology division of the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (Bhubaneswar, India), one of the world’s largest freshwater aquaculture research centres, and is spending six months undertaking sabbatical research leave at the Warrnambool campus.

While in Warrnambool he is working with Dr Giovanni Turchini from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences to research rather complicated biochemical and philological processes involved in the fatty acid metabolism in Atlantic salmon.

Dr Turchini said the research was looking at the capabilities of farm fish to produce their own omega three fatty acids.

He said farm fish were fed fish oil and they were seeing if other diluted oil, such as canola or vegetable, enabled the fish to produce the same levels of omega three.

“We’re still in the understanding phase,” he said.

“There has been some good data in increasing their production capabilities but we have a long way to go.”

Dr Giri said visiting Warrnambool was a great opportunity to undertake further research.

“It has been a very nice experience so far,” he said. Dr Giri was selected under the prestigious Endeavour Awards Program by the federal government to visit Australia for six months. He has been accompanied to Warrnambool by his wife and eight-year-old daughter.

His visit emphasises the university’s new slogan ‘worldly’ with students and staff recently involved in a series of conferences and research projects which have taken them to all corners of the world.

Deakin’s Professor Greg Wood described the busy overseas schedule as confirmation of the university’s world class reputation.

cquirk@standard.fairfax.com.au