Redmap Australia Steering Committee
Chair
Prof Gretta Pecl
Gretta Pecl is a Professor of marine ecology at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), and the Director of the Centre for Marine Socioecology (CMS http://marinesocioecology.org/) at UTAS. She has many years of experience working on life history, fisheries ecology and population connectivity, and has a strong interest in exploring the impact of climate change on natural systems, and developing adaptation options for conservation, fisheries and aquaculture. She is a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an Australian Research Council 'Future Fellow', and an associate editor for several leading international journals. Gretta has also been prominent in UN Decade of Ocean Science programmes, actions and working groups, including Future Seas 2030 (https://futureseas2030.org/) and other major international initiatives. She has a strong passion for science communication and engagement with the public (eg https://curiousclimate.org.au/) and loves taking her teenage kids fishing for squid. Gretta is also the regional Redmap Steering Committee representative for Redmap Tasmania. Gretta.Pecl@utas.edu.au
Regional representatives
Dr John R. Morrongiello (VIC)
Dr. John R. Morrongiello is interested in fish ecology and evolution and is currently investigating how fish respond to environmental changes on contemporary and evolutionary timesclaes. Additional to this John is a passionate university teacher and is involved in many community engagement activities. John is the regional Redmap Steering Committee representative for Redmap Victoria. john.morrongiello@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Gary Jackson (WA)
Dr Gary Jackson is a fisheries scientist with the Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development based at the WA Fisheries & Marine Research Laboratories. Gary has 30+ years’ research experience working in a range of freshwater, estuarine and marine environments. His current role is a Senior Principal Research Scientist in the Offshore Group that is responsible for monitoring and assessment of a wide range of WA’s fishery resources including: tropical and temperate demersal scalefish, sharks & rays, small (sardines) and large pelagics (Spanish mackerel) and invertebrate trawl fisheries (prawns, scallops, crabs). He is also leading the Department’s Westport research team that is working on the WAMSI Marine Science Program in Cockburn Sound. He has been a Redmap Steering Committee representative for Redmap Western Australia since 2012. Gary.Jackson@dpird.wa.gov.au
Associate Professor Troy Gaston (NSW)
Troy Gaston is an Associate Professor of Coastal and Marine Science at the University of Newcastle. Troy has over 25 years experience as a marine ecologist and his area of expertise is ecosystem function and assessment with a focus on understanding habitat-productivity linkages to strategically inform rehabilitation priorities for estuarine coastal ecosystems. Associate Professor Gaston has been involved with Redmap for 10 years. Troy is the regional Redmap Steering Committee representative for Redmap NSW. troy.gaston@newcastle.edu.au
Kate Rodda (SA)
Kate has had an interest in the ocean from a young age and for the last 40 years has spent her time playing, studying and wokring in the sea. She completed her PhD on the physiology of sharks at the Univeristy of Adelaide and have worked with the South Australian Government as a research scientist for the last 28 years on abalone, lobster, crabs, prawns and sharks. Since 2010 Kate has been working as an environmental assessment officer for aquaculture. To see her full profile, here. Kate is the regional Redmap Steering Committee representative for Redmap NSW. Kate.Rodda@sa.gov.au
Daniel Easton (SA)
Daniel is a marine scientist working in South Australia, who specialises in monitoring ecological communities on South Australias beautiful temperate subtidal rocky reefs.Daniel loves diving and being on the water and exploring marine environments and uses Underwater Visual Census / RLS and Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems to help monitor these habitats. His main interests are fish, ecology, adaption and evolution and also has a soft spot for sea stars and birdwatching. Daniel is particularly interested in how species which are relocating or moving their home ranges are monitored and believes Redmap is a great project for this. To see his full profile, here. Daniel is the regional Redmap Steering Committee representative for Redmap SA. Daniel.Easton@sa.gov.au
Jan Strugnell (Queensland)
Jan Strugnell is a Professor of Marine Biology and Aquaculture at James Cook University (JCU), and the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA https://www.jcu.edu.au/tropical-fisheries-and-aquaculture) at JCU. She investigates the evolution and function of marine organisms using genomic and proteomic techniques. Her research encompasses both applied and blue skies questions. Jan applies next generation sequencing tools to help solve bottlenecks in fisheries and aquaculture industries. Supported by the ARC, her laboratory group is investigating population differentiation, recruitment and adaptation in a range of species and are investigating the genetic basis for resilience and susceptibility to temperature stress in abalone. Jan also works on marine species that are shifting range in response to climate change and employs eDNA techniques to detect rare and invasive aquatic and marine organisms. She also investigates population and species level molecular evolution in Antarctic and deep-sea taxa in the context of past climatic and geological change. Jan is also the regional Redmap Steering Committee representative for Redmap Queensland. Jan.strugnell@jcu.edu.au
Technical Project Manager
Peter Walsh
Peter Walsh is data manager at IMAS. His main interests include managing data integrity in large research datasets and managing data as part of a project lifecycle and communications protocols used for industrial site and equipment monitoring. Peter.Walsh@utas.edu.au
Regional Administrators
(listed if different from Regional Steering Committee representative)
Joshua Brown (Western Australia)
Joshua Brown has been working at the Western Australian Department of Fisheries for over 18 years. The majority of this time has been within the Research Division, where he primarily focused on temperate and tropical nearshore and estuarine fish species. He has also worked on the State’s key invertebrate fishery species of rock lobster, prawn, scallop and crabs, as well as environmental impact assessment and fisheries policy. Josh now applies his scientific knowledge and research experience to community education and engagement. He is currently the Coordinator of Community Education and Volunteers, coordinating and developing community and school based education and engagement programs, as well as supporting the Department’s Citizen Science projects. Josh is the regional administrator for Redmap Western Australia.
Dr Barrett Wolfe (Tasmania)
Core project team
The core project team is based in Tasmania and deals with the website and day-to-day running of the overall project.
Emma Hamasaki (social media communicator)
Emma is an emerging scientist and an early career science communicator with a background in music, arts, social media management and community outreach. Emma is interested in the impact of different forms of science communication, such as knowledge sharing through creative mediums, interactive and interpersonal conversations.
Tyson Johnson (Redmap sighitngs manager)
Tyson is the Redmap Australia sightings manager and a PhD candidate at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). His research explores nocturnal reef ecology across both temperate and tropical reefs, and studies the impacts of diver disturbance on fish behaviour. With a primary interest in reef associated fishes and invertebrates, Tyson has accumulated over 500 scientific dives assessing reef biodiversity across all major reef networks surrounding Australia. Beyond studying reefs, Tyson has extensive experience studying estuarine ecosystems, conducting complimentary habitat and fish assemblage surveys to prioritise restoration efforts for threatened estuarine habitats.
- Dr Barrett Wolfe
Redmap Advisory Committees
Engagement
Ms Lowri Pryce (Oceanwatch)
- Emma Hamasaki (social media communicator)
- Mr Neil Stump (commercial fishing representative)
- Mr Russell Conway (recreational fishing representative)
- Mr Steve Reynolds
- Dr Gretta Pecl
Science and Data
- Dr Barrett Wolfe
- Prof Natalie Moltschaniwskyj
- Peter Walsh
- Dr Gretta Pecl
Redmap's Voice on social media
- Emma Hamasaki (science communicator)
Pats Contributors to Redmap:
Andrew Pender (Tasmania)
Andrew is a technical officer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) and played a large role in the sighting verification of Redmap Tasmania.
Marcus Sheaves (Former Redmap Australia Steering Committee representitive Queensland)
Marcus Sheaves is interested in the dynamics of tropical estuaries and coastal wetland ecosystems, their roles in food security, and relationships between them and anthropogenic modification and climate change. He grew up by the beach where his father fostered a strong love of fishing from an early age, a tradition which he has passed on to my children. His career in estuarine research has meant that he often get to head out on hisboat and catches fish to try to solve problems about the dynamics of ecosystem processes.
Assoc Prof Natalie Moltschaniwskyj (former Redmap Australia Steering Committee representitive NSW)
Assoc Prof Natalie Moltschaniwskyj is a marine ecologist/biologist and the Director of Fisheries Research at NSW DPI. She has worked in a diversity of Australia’s marine environments from the tropics to Antarctica. Natalie worked for many years in the Marine Science Group at the University of Newcastle, Ourimbah campus on the NSW Central Coast with a focus on molluscs and cephalopods.
Beck Brown (former Redmap Project Officer)
Beck developed the initial pilot of Redmap in Tasmania and assisted on the national project in several capacities - including the development of the Redmap smartphone app!
Elsa Gärtner (former Estuaries and Coasts program Support, IMAS)
Elsa had various roles within the group, including all areas of administration and organisation, GIS skills, handling finances... (the list is long!). Her artistic ability was also demonstrated by many of the images she created for Redmap in her spare time (see here).
Carolina Zagal (former Redmap Project officer)
Carolina has been involved in species information collation (species and habitat characteristics, distribution etc) for the national project.
Dr Lucy Robinson (former Redmap scientist)
Lucy’s research involves predicting how the distribution of marine fish species are responding to climate change. She is currently developing a qualitative report card using the Redmap Tas data.
Nina McLean (former Queensland administrator)
I have always been interested in the outdoors, but in particular I have always loved the ocean. I grew up snorkeling and swimming around Sydney. I moved to Townsville after highschool to learn more about marine biology and zoology at James Cook University, and have been there ever since. I am now working with the Estuary and Tidal Wetland Ecosystems Research Group at James Cook University. This has developed my interests in marine and estuarine connectivity, monitoring the health of these systems and how these ecosystems will be influenced by climate change. I have been coordinating the expansion of Redmap into Queensland. This has been a great experience.
Dianne Bray (former regional Redmap Steering Committee representative Victoria)
Dianne Bray is a keen SCUBA diver and ichthyologist, she’s been interested in the marine environment for most of my life – and love telling people about Australia’s diverse and often unique fishes. As Senior Collections Manager at Museum Victoria, and previously at the Australian Museum, she has been fortunate to have surveyed fishes throughout much of Australia and elsewhere in the Southwest and Eastern Pacific. Along with Dr Martin Gomon and members of the OzFishNet consortium, she is currently working on Fishes of Australia, an online resource for anyone interested in Australian fishes. She is also updating information on the Australia’s fish species for the Australian Faunal Directory, and is an author and editor of Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast, published in 2008.
Keith Rowling (former regional Redmap Steering Committee representative South Australia)
Keith Rowling is a Senior Research Officer in Marine Environment and Ecology at PIRSA- SARDI. His research has primarily been focussed in the field of ecology and benthic assessment methodology, particularly in the context of assessing environmental impacts in marine benthic systems and the impact and eradication of exotic marine pests. He has extensive experience in scientific diving and the operation of small boats for research purposes. He also has experience in habitat mapping using GIS based information software. Currently he is chief investigator of a project trialling the national Marine Pest Monitoring Manual, providing research support for the Adelaide Coastal Waters Project, aquaculture and dredging environmental assessment projects, and chief investigator of the Caulerpa eradication project.
Mr Daniel Gledhill (former R
edmap Advisory Committees Science & Data)
Dr Melissa Nursey-Bray (former Redmap Advisory Committees Engagement)
Dr Melissa Nursey-Bray is a Senior Lecturer in Geography, Environment and Population (GEP), and the Coordinator of the GEP Masters Dissertation Program. Melissa obtained her PhD from James Cook University, and now has over 40 publications including 2 books, and many chapters and articles on climate change and Indigenous resource management respectively.
Martha Brians (former regional administrator Queensland)
I am the regional administrator for Redmap in Queensland. I am a research officer in the Estuary and Tidal Wetland Ecosystems Research Group within the Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research at James Cook University. I have had a love for the ocean and its inhabitants since I was very young. During my undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech, I assisted in research projects ranging from reptile and amphibian studies to aquatic toxicology and coral reef ecology. I completed my master’s research in 2012 on green sea turtle diet for the central Great Barrier Reef region. Currently I am working on coastal ecosystem and wetland habitat studies, which I will continue to explore in the future.
Jemina Stuart-Smith (former project coordinator)
Jemina is a research fellow within the Estuaries and Coasts Program at IMAS. Her current position at IMAS involves coordinating the development of Redmap Australia. She is interested in all aspects of ecology and appreciates community engagement as a valuable tool for allowing broadscale monitoring and generating interest in the marine environment.
Yvette Barry (former Redmap media and communications officer)
Yvette enjoys her mission at Redmap: to translate marine climate science for Redmap’s audience of fishers, divers and the public. But also to learn from the knowledge and experience of thousands of Australians out on the water who are observing - and reporting to Redmap - the impacts of changing seas firsthand.Yvette started her career as a wetland ecologist in Victoria but jumped ship - and states - into the world of media in Tasmania (in radio, online and freelancing). Yvette soon found herself drawn back to science: but this time with her communication-cap firmly in place.
Mike Burgess (former Twitter manager and Redmap administrator)
I worked previously for the Department of Fisheries in WA for over ten years leading community education and involvement initiatives. I am passionate about engaging with the community to better understand our marine environment and how to deal with future challenges. I am now the Manager of Student Services and Support at the South West Institute of Technology in Dunsborough. I am based in the south west of WA and have seen my fair share of fish "on the move" so I am very enthusiastic to continue to promote Redmap at events and via Twitter in WA.
Melissa Joyce (Queensland)
David Mossop
