Fields of Research

Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology)
Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation
Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology)
Fisheries management
Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology
Ecosystem function
Physical oceanography
Behavioural ecology
Pollution and contamination
Surveying (incl. hydrographic surveying)
Aquaculture and fisheries stock assessment
Ecological physiology
Fisheries sciences
Conservation and biodiversity
Wildlife and habitat management
Invertebrate biology
Other environmental sciences
Climate change processes
Aquaculture
Fish pests and diseases
Environmental rehabilitation and restoration
Ecology
Global change biology
Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine
Horticultural crop growth and development
Phycology (incl. marine grasses)

Research Objectives

Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems
Effects of climate change on Australia (excl. social impacts)
Marine biodiversity
Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in marine environments
Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in coastal and estuarine environments
Fisheries - wild caught
Ecosystem adaptation to climate change
Rehabilitation or conservation of coastal or estuarine environments
Marine systems and management
Assessment and management of benthic marine ecosystems
Coastal or estuarine biodiversity
Rehabilitation or conservation of marine environments
Climate variability (excl. social impacts)
Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems
Climate change adaptation measures (excl. ecosystem)
Terrestrial biodiversity
Fisheries - aquaculture
Assessment and management of coastal and estuarine ecosystems
Fisheries - recreational freshwater
Animal adaptation to climate change
Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences
Oceanic processes (excl. in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean)
Nutraceuticals and functional foods
Wine grapes

Career Best Publications

Climate-driven range extension of a sea urchin: inferring future trends by analysis of recent population dynamics; Global Change Biology
Global patterns of kelp forest change over the past half-century; National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America. Proceedings
Global regime shift dynamics of catastrophic sea urchin overgrazing; Royal Society of London. Philosophical Transactions. Biological Sciences
Hotspots of exotic free-spawning sex: man-made environment facilitates success of an invasive seastar; Journal of Applied Ecology
Marine reserves reduce risk of climate-driven phase shift by reinstating size- and habitat-specific trophic interactions; Ecological Applications
Overfishing reduces resilience of kelp beds to climate-driven catastrophic phase shift; National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America. Proceedings
Phase-shift dynamics of sea urchin overgrazing on nutrified reefs; PLoS One
Pushing boundaries of range and resilience: a review of range-extension by a barrens-forming sea urchin; Workshop: Responses of key sea urchin populations to climate change processes: From Larvae to Ecosystems
Range expansion of a habitat-modifying species leads to loss of taxonomic diversity: a new and impoverished reef state; Oecologia
Reproductive potential of a marine ecosystem engineer at the edge of a newly expanded range; Global Change Biology
Ubiquity of microplastics in coastal seafloor sediments; Marine Pollution Bulletin

Research Publications

2013 Tasmanian Tall Poppy Award Winners
Establishment of the Long-Spined Sea Urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii in Tasmania: First Assessment of Potential Threats to Fisheries
A holistic view of marine regime shifts; Royal Society of London. Philosophical Transactions. Biological Sciences
A management support framework for subtidal rocky-reef communities on the east coast of Tasmania; MODSIM
Alarming discovery in Tasmania: the impact of fisheries in climate change-affected marine ecosystems
Apparent stability of a low-density Diadema antillarum regime for Puerto Rican coral reefs; ICES Journal of Marine Science
Assessing multidecadal climate-driven shifts for Tasmanian marine species, 1992-2019
Assessing national biodiversity trends for rocky and coral reefs through the integration of citizen science and scientific monitoring programs; Bioscience
Assessment of management options to minimize formation of 'barrens'habitat by the long-spined sea urchin
Australien Saga Teil 2 (Australian Saga Part 2)
Barrens-forming urchins
Baseline surveys of the subtidal reef biota of the Kent Group Marine Nature Reserve 2004-2007
Biological assessment of proposals for marine procted areas in the Twofold Shelf bioregion
Birth control plan for port pest
Biting back
Body size and substrate type modulate movement by the western Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster solaris; PLoS One
Can commercial harvest of the long-spined sea urchin, Centrostephanus rodgersii, reduce the impact of destructive urchin grazing on macroalgae communities and associated fisheries?; Australian Society of FIsheries Biology
Climate Change and a Range-extending Sea Urchin: Catastrophic-shifts and Resilience in a Temperate Reef Ecosystem
Climate change cascades: Shifts in oceanography, species' ranges and subtidal marine community dynamics in eastern Tasmania; Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Climate change taking its toll in Australia
Climate change, ecological overfishing and regime shift to a highly novel alternative stable state; IMBER IMBIZO IV
Climate change, overfishing and recent phase shift in a temperate reef ecosystem; Australian Society for Fish Biology 2006 Conference
Climate change, overfishing and recent phase shift in a temperate reef ecosystem; 7th International Temperate Reef Symposium
Climate change, overfishing: together catastrophic for shallow reefs
Climate focus for award-winning young scientists
Climate-driven range extension of a sea urchin leads to a new and impoverished reef state; 13th International Echinoderm Conference 2009
Climate-driven range extension of a sea urchin: altered dynamics of a rapidly warming temperate reef system; 8th International Temperate Reef Symposium
Climate-driven range extension of a sea urchin: inferring future trends by analysis of recent population dynamics; Global Change Biology
Collapse of kelp beds to turf-dominance is mediated by urchin overgrazing not water quality alone; Aquatic Biodiversity & Ecosystems: Evolution, Interactions & Global Change
Connecting to the oceans: supporting ocean literacy and public engagement; Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries
Crown-of-thorns starfish larvae are vulnerable to predation even in the presence of alternative prey; Coral Reefs
Decadal resurvey of long-term lobster experimental sites to inform Centrostephanus control
Density-dependent feedbacks, hysteresis, and demography of overgrazing sea urchins; Ecology
Diver Control of Long-spined Sea Urchin in Tasmania; Kelp Restoration Guidebook: Lessons Learned from Kelp Projects Around the World
Drift-kelp suppresses foraging movement of overgrazing sea urchins; Oecologia
Drift-kelp suppresses sea urchin appetite for destruction; Aquatic Biodiversity & Ecosystems: Evolution, Interactions & Global Change
Drift-kelp suppresses sea urchin appetite for destruction; Australian Marine Sciences Association 2015 Conference
East Coast sea urchin march can be halted
Eastern Tasmania marine heatwave atlas
Ecological risk assessment for the effects of fishing; Fisheries Research
Ecological risk assessment for the effects of fishing: skipjack fishery - purse seine sub-fishery
Ecological risk assessment for the effects of fishing: small pelagic fishery - midwater trawl
Ecological risk assessment for the effects of fishing: small pelagic fishery - purse seine
Ecological risk assessment for the effects of fishing: southern bluefin tuna purse seine sub-fishery
Exceeding the tipping point of range-extension meltdown; Species on the Move: Detection, Impacts, Prediction, & Adaptation
Facilitation of Australia’s southernmost reef-building coral by sea urchin herbivory; Coral Reefs
Feature interview for the episode 'Tasmania' of the Foxtel's History Channel's program 'Coast Australia'
Fishing for climate: establishing a harvest industry on a range-extender to protect a reef ecosystem; The 2023 International Temperate Reefs Symposium
Forming sea urchin barrens from the inside out: an alternative pattern of overgrazing; Marine Ecology Progress Series
From Tasmania to the world: long and strong traditions in seaweed use, research, and development; Botanica Marina
Genetic structure of a recent climate change-driven range extension; Molecular Ecology
Global change, phase-shifts and recovery potential of Tasmania’s rapidly warming reef ecosystems; The 2023 International Temperate Reefs Symposium
Global patterns of kelp forest change over the past half-century; National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America. Proceedings
Global phase-shift dynamics of catastrophic sea urchin overgrazing; 10th International Temperate Reefs Symposium 2014
Global regime shift dynamics of catastrophic sea urchin overgrazing; Royal Society of London. Philosophical Transactions. Biological Sciences
High biomass and productivity of epifaunal invertebrates living amongst dead coral; Marine Biology
Homing behaviour by destructive crown-of-thorns starfish is triggered by local availability of coral prey; Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences
Hotspots of exotic free-spawning sex: man-made environment facilitates success of an invasive seastar; Journal of Applied Ecology
How to avoid turning kelp forests into barren wastelands
Human-facilitated reproductive hotspots of an introduced seastar; 13th International Echinoderm Conference 2009
Impacts of climate change in a global hotspot for temperate marine biodiversity and ocean warming; Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Increasing resilience against climate driven changes; Public Symposium and Panel Discussion: Showcasing the latest science in Marine Protected Areas
Integrating electronic technologies in ecological field studies: assessing movement, habitat use, and behaviour of lobsters as key predators of sea urchins in eastern Tasmania; 13th International Echinoderm Conference 2009
Interspecific variation in potential importance of planktivorous damselfishes as predators of Acanthaster sp. eggs; Coral Reefs
Is 'barrens' habitat good for sea urchins?; 13th International Echinoderm Conference 2009
Is climate change impacting on lobster stocks in Tasmania?; 8th International Conference and Workshop Lobster Biology and Management
ITRS Travel Award
Kelp bed overgrazing by sea urchins
Kelp habitat fragmentation reduces resistance to overgrazing, invasion and collapse to turf dominance; Journal of Applied Ecology
Keynote address for the ‘Regime Shifts’ workshop; IMBER IMBIZO IV
Knowledge gaps in the biology, ecology, and management of the Pacific crown-of-thorns sea star, Acanthaster sp., on Australia's Great Barrier Reef; Biological Bulletin
Known predators of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster spp.) and their role in mitigating, if not preventing, population outbreaks; Diversity
Lack of large lobsters lets urchins run wild
Larval settlement in echinoderms: a review of processes and patterns; Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review
Limited effectiveness of divers to mitigate ‘barrens’ formation by culling sea urchins while fishing for abalone; Marine and Freshwater Research
Linking global patterns of kelp forest change and variation in climate over the past half-century; 11th International Temperate Reefs Symposium
Lobsters to fight urchin overgrazing?
Macroalgae and temperate rocky reefs; Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia 2012
Managing the risk of sea urchin barrens in eastern Tasmania; 10th International Temperate Reefs Symposium 2014
Mapping abalone habitat impacted by Centrostephanus on the east coast of Tasmania: Final contracted report for the Abalone Industry Reinvestment Fund (AIRF Project 2021) and Tasmanian Climate Change Office (Climate Research Grants Program 2021)
Mapping the Australian ballast water uptake and deballasting contingency zones
Marine heatwaves off eastern Tasmania: trends, interannual variability, and predictability; Progress in Oceanography
Marine reserves reduce risk of climate-driven phase shift by reinstating size- and habitat-specific trophic interactions; Ecological Applications
Marine teens
Mechanisms of kelp bed resilience and recovery on urbanised coasts; SER 2015 World Conference on Ecological Restoration
Mechanisms of kelp bed resilience and recovery on urbanised coasts; Australian Marine Sciences Association 2015 Conference
Monitoring of reef biota at Bunurong - marine performance assessment program, survey 3
Monitoring of reef biota at Phillip Island - marine performance assessment program, survey 3
Monitoring of reef biota at Port Phillip Heads - marine performance assessment program, survey 6
Monitoring of reef biota at Wilsons Promontory - marine performance assessment program
MPAs increase resilience against climate-driven phase shift: prevention is far better than cure; Australian Marine Sciences Association Conference 2012
National Climate Change Adaptation Research Plan: Marine Biodiversity - Consultation Draft for review
National research planning accelerates relevance and immediacy of climate-adaptation science; Marine and Freshwater Research
Native spider crab causes high incidence of sub-lethal injury to the introduced seastar Asterias amurensis; 13th International Echinoderm Conference
Octocoral barrier to grazing sea urchins allows macroalgal recovery on barrens ground; Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Overfishing reduces macroalgal bed resilience against grazing by the range expanding sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii; 12th International Echinoderms Conference
Overfishing reduces resilience of kelp beds to climate-driven catastrophic phase shift; National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America. Proceedings
Overfishing reduces resilience of temperate reef ecosystems against climate change catastrophe; 45th Annual Conference for the Australian Marine Sciences Association
Perceptions of system-identity and regime shift for marine ecosystems; ICES Journal of Marine Science
Phase shifts and stressor-driven dynamics in kelp beds; 10th International Temperate Reefs Symposium 2014
Phase-shift dynamics of sea urchin overgrazing on nutrified reefs; PLoS One
Poleward bound: adapting to climate-driven species redistribution; Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries
Pollution signature for temperate reef biodiversity is short and simple; Marine Pollution Bulletin
Population dynamics of an ecologically important range-extender: kelp beds versus sea urchin barrens; Marine Ecology - Progress Series
Ports are hotspots for seastar orgies
Ports host invasive seastar orgies
Prioritising conservation actions for extremely data-poor species: a risk assessment for one of the world's rarest marine fishes; Biological Conservation
Production of mobile invertebrate communities on shallow reefs from temperate to tropical seas; Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Pursuing predator-driven habitat recovery on a warming coast; 9th International Temperate Reef Symposium
Pushing boundaries of range and resilience: a review of range-extension by a barrens-forming sea urchin; Workshop: Responses of key sea urchin populations to climate change processes: From Larvae to Ecosystems
Pushing boundaries of range and resilience: a review of range-extension by a barrens-forming sea urchin; Climate Change Perspectives from the Atlantic: Past, Present and Future
Pushing boundaries of range and resilience: a review of range-extension by a barrens-forming sea urchin; Responses of Key Sea Urchin Populations to Climate Change Processes: From Larvae to Ecosystems
Range expansion of a habitat-modifying species leads to loss of taxonomic diversity: a new and impoverished reef state; Oecologia
Range extension of the long spined sea urchin - Centrostephanus rodgersii; SE Australia MCIA symposium
Rebuilding ecosystem resilience: assessment of management options to minimise formation of 'barrens' habitat by the long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii in Tasmania
Recovery of canopy-forming macroalgae following removal of the enigmatic grazing sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma; Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Reduced resistance to sediment-trapping turfs with decline of native kelp and establishment of an exotic kelp; Oecologia
Reef Life Survey: establishing the ecological basis for conservation of shallow marine life; Biological Conservation
Relationships between invertebrate benthos, environmental drivers and pollutants at a subcontinental scale; Marine Pollution Bulletin
Remnant kelp bed refugia and future phase-shifts under ocean acidification; PLoS ONE
Repeated AUV surveying of urchin barrens in North Eastern Tasmania; IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Reproductive potential of a marine ecosystem engineer at the edge of a newly expanded range; Global Change Biology
Research priorities for natural ecosystems in a changing global climate; Global Change Biology
Resurvey of the longspined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) and associated barren reef in Tasmania
Reverse-fishing to reduce the resilience of an undesirable climate-driven stable state; Australian National Network in Marine Science
Roe v weed: urchinomics turns pest to gourmet gold
Sea urchin control of macroalgal communities across a productivity gradient; Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Sea urchins
Sensitivity analysis and pattern-oriented validation of TRITON, a model with alternative community states: insights on temperate rocky reefs dynamics; Ecological Modelling
Small invertebrate consumers produce consistent size spectra across reef habitats and climatic zones; Oikos
Species richness and identity both determine the biomass of global reef fish communities; Nature Communications
Stereo-imaging AUV detects trends in sea urchin abundance on deep overgrazed reefs; Limnology and Oceanography: Methods
Study of overgrazed kelp-beds shows how to avoid ecosystem ‘tipping points’
Subtidal reef monitoring and community awareness project: data report on the long-spined sea urchin
Surveys of the Subtidal Reef Biota of the Cradle Coast 1992-2018
Systematic culling controls a climate driven, habitat modifying invader; Biological Invasions
Taxonomic composition of mobile epifaunal invertebrate assemblages on diverse benthic microhabitats from temperate to tropical reefs; Marine Ecology - Progress Series
The Centrostephanus project - update on long-spined sea urchin research
The Reef Ecosystem Evaluation Framework: Managing for Resilience in Temperate Environments
Top-down sea urchin overgrazing overwhelms bottom-up stimulation of kelp beds despite sediment enhancement; Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Tracking widespread climate-driven change on temperate and tropical reefs; Current Biology
Trial of an industry implemented, spatially discrete eradication/control program for Centrostephanus rodgersii in Tasmania
Ubiquity of microplastics in coastal seafloor sediments; Marine Pollution Bulletin
Understanding interactions between plasticity, adaptation and range shifts in response to marine environmental change; Royal Society of London. Philosophical Transactions. Biological Sciences
Understanding reef resilience: prevention is far better than cure; Climate Adaptation in Action 2012
Urchin invasion
Urchins turn kelp forests into barrens wasteland
Using molecular prey detection to quantify rock lobster predation on barrens-forming sea urchins; Molecular Ecology
Vice-Chancellor's Team Award for Outstanding Contribution to Enhancement for the Student Experience
Victorian marine performance assessment program: status report

Research Projects

Assessing multidecadal climate-driven shifts for Tasmanian marine species; Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC)
Comparative effects of ocean warming on kelp-herbivore interactions across Australian temperate reefs; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (HWRE)
Determining the effect of food availability on foraging behaviour of barrens-forming sea urchins; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (HWRE)
Effects of urchin fishing on urchin populations and recovery; Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas)
Facilitating the resilience and restoration of kelp forests; The Hermon Slade Foundation (HSF)
Fisheries biology of short-spined sea urchins (Heliocidaris erythrogramma) in Tasmania: supporting a profitable harvest and appropriate management; Fisheries Research & Development Corporation (FRDC)
Identifying historical marine heatwaves off eastern Tasmania; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Lobster predation re-survey; Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas)
Mapping warming reefs for management strategy evaluation; Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC)
May 2011: 9th International Temperate Reefs Symposium; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Microchemistry of sea urchin jaws as a tool for reconstructing dynamics of reef climate; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Reef health tipping-points: triage for threatened/collapsed reef ecosystems; Australian Research Council (ARC)
The contribution of human/marine herbivore interactions to reef degradation; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Traits of detectability: towards unbiased density estimates of reef fishes and invertebrates.; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (HWRE)
Understanding patch dynamics to inform mechanisms of kelp bed resilience on urbanised coasts; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (HWRE)
CSIRO top up scholarship - Traits of detectability: Towards unbiased density estimates of reef fishes and invertebrates
Upscaling the restoration of endangered giant kelp forests in Tasmania
Urchin Re-survey

Research Candidate Supervision

Managing Rocky Reefs for Resilience in Port Phillip Bay
Managing Seaweed Bed Communities for Resilience in Port Phillip Bay