Dr. Chiu has a broad interest in marine environmental science. Her current research focuses on the responses of marine microbes and invertebrates to environmental stress, with the aim of predicting ecological changes in their natural habitats. Recently, she started looking into how environmental stress (climate change, hypoxia and ubiquitous contaminants) may affect the marine microbial communities, invertebrates and their interactions, which may subsequently alter the structure and function of marine benthic communities.
Some of her original research has had a global impact on marine sciences and attracted worldwide attention. For example, one of her research findings has been reported in BBC Wildlife Magazine (August 2011, Volume 29, Issue 4) and another recent discovery from her research was highlighted in the European Commission: Science for Environment Policy (October 30, 2014, Issue 391).
She has been invited by the United Nations (UN) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct an international training program for scientists from Asia and Africa as well as by the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) of the UN to present her work at the Regional Workshop on Tools and Instruments for Implementation of Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia.
More recently, Dr. Chiu has been invited to serve on the working group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop national ecosystem indices for China. She is also a member of the Regional Centre of Excellence in Marine Pollution of UN’s PEMSEA and a member of the State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution.
