Biodiversity

  • Fernando Mejia Gonzalez

    Fernando is an Honours student in the Marine Omics research group at James Cook University in Townsville. His research focuses on assembling the first reference genome for an Antarctic octopus and for the family Megaleledonidae. This work will generate an important genomic resource for Antarctic and cephalopod research, enabling comparative analyses to explore how evolution…

  • Ilona Sinn

    Ilona is a PhD candidate committed to the conservation of marine megafauna, recognizing their vital role as predators and indicators of ecosystem health. She is particularly interested in using and developing statistical and modelling tools to explore how these species interact with their habitats and respond to environmental changes and human pressures. As part of…

  • Lachlan Gilchrist

    Lachlan is a Research Assistant at SAEF, with a Bachelor of Conservation Biology (Honours). He works in Sharon Robinson’s lab at the University of Wollongong, investigating changes in the abundance and health of moss species at Casey Station in East Antarctica. His research focuses on understanding how Antarctic vegetation responds to environmental change, using a…

  • Clarissa Hee

    Clarissa is a final semester Ecology, Conservation Biology and Earth Science undergraduate student at Monash University. Her previous research projects have been affiliated with the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP), King’s College London, University of the South Pacific and the University of Idaho, where her collaborative project on the environmental seismology of the Vaughan Lewis…

  • Nina Rothe

    Nina is a PhD candidate at the University of Wollongong with an interest in marine mammal ecology and how a changing climate influences species and their ecosystems. Her research focuses on assessing the health of the E3 humpback whale sub-stock, using non-invasive drone-based methods such as aerial photogrammetry and exhalant sampling. Humpback whales are a…

  • Lukas Lis

    Lukas is a PhD student from the University of Wollongong interested in remote sensing and vegetation ecology, investigating how standard visible spectrum camera imagery can help us map and model the moss and lichen communities of the Windmill Islands in the face of environmental change. His research seeks to investigate past changes in these communities…

  • Teddy Poole

    Teddy is an honours student at UOW studying conservation biology. For his honours project, he will study how spectral imaging can be used to indicate moss health. Teddy aims to do so by looking at pigment and water content from moss samples, and ground-truthing the visual indicators to site images. He is highly interested in…

  • Ethan Fuller

    Ethan Fuller is an honours student at UOW. His project will focus on map development for local vegetation types on the Windmill Islands as the pre-existing spatial layers are sparse. Through this project he hopes to conduct research that informs implementable strategies to improve conservation in Antarctica for cryptogamic species of high ecological value.

  • Katharina J Peters

    Katharina is a marine ecologist working towards a better understanding of the ecology of marine mammals to improve their conservation, particularly in regard to anthropogenic threats such as fisheries interactions and climate change. Her research combines fieldwork with ecological and spatial modelling to investigate how marine mammal populations respond to environmental change. Katharina is especially…

  • Nina Schaefer

    Nina is a marine scientist with a research focus on urban environments, invasive species management and ecological engineering. She will be part of a research team investigating benthic communities in Commonwealth Bay, using a variety of approaches, including surveys using ROVs and sediment sampling.