Stephen is a Research Assistant Professor working with Professor Benjamin Horton on past sea level, climate and coastal change in Singapore and the region, using geological archives for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. He is also the Principal Investigator of a project that uses a multiproxy approach (i.e., geophysics, water quality, sediment coring and analysis) to understand climate change impacts on Singapore's offshore water resources. His work will have implications for climate mitigation/adaptation and coastal protection efforts in Singapore and the region.

Stephen Chua received his B.A. (Hons) in Geography in 2003 and MSc (Environmental Science) in 2010 from NIE/NTU. His undergraduate dissertation focused on reconstructing palaeoenvironmental changes to the Sungei Buloh-Kranji mangrove coast, while his Master’s work involved monitoring and predicting potential impacts of sea level rise on the Pasir Ris mangroves.

Stephen joined the Interdisciplinary Graduate School NTU as a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Associate Professor Adam Switzer and Professor Benjamin Horton in 2014. He received an Endeavour Research Fellowship in 2017 to conduct isotopic analysis of sediments at the Advanced Analytical Centre, James Cook University, Cairns. During his Ph.D., he used borehole data to conduct geological modelling of the Kallang River Basin, and used sedimentological and geochemical records from sediment cores in Singapore to reconstruct past sea level, morphological and environmental changes.

As a Research Fellow working under Professor Benjamin Horton, he then looked at past sea level and coastal change in Singapore and the region, using sea level proxies (e.g. mangrove peat) found predominantly in sediment cores.

Stephen was a recipient of the Outstanding Student Poster Award at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in 2018.