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Chair professor, The University of Queensland

The aim of my research is to provide solutions to coral reef management problems. Through research, I have studied a number of applied problems including the impact of losing mangroves on Caribbean reef fish populations and coral reef resilience. My work also provided the first evidence that protecting parrotfishes in Caribbean marine reserves can lead to a dramatic reduction in seaweed and a concomitant rise in the recruitment and recovery of corals.

I have worked with policy-makers in Belize and Bonaire to develop fisheries regulations that ban parrotfish exploitation. This was a great experience for me because before the regulations were ratified, it provided the opportunity to share with fishermen the science and economics of parrotfish exploitation. I also currently work with the Bahamas National Trust on the design of marine reserve networks, funded, in large part by a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation.

I have chaired an interdisciplinary Remote Sensing Working Group of The World Bank since 2001. I sit on the editorial boards of Phil Transactions B, Ecology Letters, and Marine Ecology Progress Series and I was the Ecology Editor of Coral Reefs for the last 4 years. Presently, I am an Australia Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellow at the University of Queensland.

Experience

  • 2010–present
    ARC Laureate Professorial Fellow, University of Queensland
  • 2002–2010
    Professor & Royal Society Research Fellow, University of Exeter (UK)
  • 1997–2002
    NERC Post-doctoral Research Fellow, University of Newcastle (UK)

Education

  • 1997 
    University of Sheffield, PhD (Coral reef remote sensing)
  • 1992 
    University of Liverpool, BSc (Hons) Marine Biology

Research Areas

  • Ecological Impacts Of Climate Change (050101)
  • Community Ecology (Excl. Invasive Species Ecology) (060202)
  • Conservation And Biodiversity (050202)
  • Marine And Estuarine Ecology (Incl. Marine Ichthyology) (060205)

Honours

Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation2011 Rosenstiel Award for Outstanding contributions to marine science 2010 Marsh Award for marine conservation