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My research career began when I recognised that the marine world has a history and pattern that can explain the past, understand the present, and predict the future. I started studying beaches and coral reefs since they are iconic and complex systems where marine, ecological, geological and human processes interact to produce the ecosystems we see today. My goal, and that of my lab (The BeachLab), is to develop tools, gather data, and provide analyses to help coastlines and coral reefs navigate a warmer world. Our projects are focused on fundamental research questions about how coasts and coral reefs change through time. We also have applied research objectives to support the future management of coastal and coral reef systems.

I am now a teacher and researcher in Geography at the School of the Environment at UQ. Prior to my appointment at UQ, I was a teacher and researcher at The University of Sydney (where I completed my Undergraduate and PhD degrees) and in a combined post at The University of Bremen (MARUM) and the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT). Perhaps equally importantly I grew up on the east coast of Australia and I have a personal and professional passion for beaches, coral reefs, surf, and the ocean.

I use geochemistry to investigate the roles of fluids and volatiles in geological processes stretching from the Earth's surface to the deep mantle. I am particularly interested in hydrothermal alteration, metasomatism/metamorphism and magmatism. The common link between these areas, and the aim of my recent research, has been to investigate the longterm exchange of volatiles between the Earth's surface and mantle reservoirs, stretching from the seafloor, through subduction zones and into the mantle. I participated in Expedition 360 of the International Ocean Discovery Program in 2016, to the slow-spreading Atlantis Bank core complex on the SW Indian Ridge, where I acted as shipboard geochemist and crossed the equator by boat for the first time. I have long standing interests in fluid inclusions as tiny recorders of past fluid activity and special interests in the halogen and noble gas groups of elements.

I moved to UQ in 2019 from the Australian National University where I was a continuing Fellow and had held an ARC Future Fellowship. Prior to that I had an ARC QEII Fellowship at the University of Melbourne (2008-2013) and postdoctoral appointments at the University of Melbourne (2004-2008) and the Geological Survey of Norway (2001-2003). I did my PhD at the University of Manchester (2001) and undergraduate studies in Geology at the University of Edinburgh (1996).

Research interest: Monitoring ecosystem health of coral reefs and seagrass habitats, integrating field and remote sensing image datasets, and the developing applied cost-effective mapping and monitoring approaches. Developed approaches have been adopted as standard practice globally, making a difference in conservation of these valuable habitats. The long term monitoring studies at Heron and Moreton Bay formed the basis for the development of mapping and monitoring over time and space at local to global scale. See here major research impact

Major projects:

• Long term monitoring of benthic composition at Heron Reef (2002-ongoing).
• Long term monitoring of seagrass composition and abundance in Moreton bay Marine Park (2000-ongoing).
• Smart Sat CRC Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Seagrass and Coral Reefs 2023-2027.
• Developement of Underwater Field Spectrometry and Benthic Photo Collection and Analysis
• 3D GBR Habitat Mapping Project 2015 - ongoing:
• Global habitat mapping project 2019-2023 Allen Coral Atlas .

Current position: Associate Professior in Marine Remote Sensing leading the Marine Ecosystem Monitoring Lab. . Academic Director Heron Island Research Station and affiliated researchers with Centre for Marine Science and Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science

Capacity Building and Citizen Science: Capacity: under/post graduate courses; Msc/PhD supervision, workshops/courses; Remote Sensing Educational Toolkit, and online courses (e.g. TNC).Strong supporter of citizen science based projects, as trainer, organiser and advisor for Reef Check Australia, CoralWatch, Great Reef Census and UniDive.