Introduction | Forum Program | Presenters | Public Discussion | Registration

Invited Speakers and Session Chairs

	*Jon Brodie* Jon Brodie is a Principal Research Officer in the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research specialising in water quality. Former roles include lecturer in chemistry at Queensland University of Technology and the University of the South Pacific, analytical chemist with CRA and manager of the Water Quality Research and Management Program of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. For the last 20 years his interests have been in environmental research and consultancy and the management of marine and freshwater pollution. He has recently involved in a number of environmental projects overseas in the Middle East and the Pacific islands. Jon's research interests are in the sources of pollutants in catchments; transport of pollutants to the marine environment; the dispersal of land-based pollutants in coastal and marine environments; and the effects of terrestrial pollutants on marine ecosystems.
	*Emeritus Professor Howard Choat* Howard Choat has a major interest in the population dynamics of reef fishes including groupers, parrot fishes surgeon fishes and sharks. He presently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Marine Biology within the School of Marine and Tropical Biology, JCU. From 1986 until 2000 he was Head of the Department of Marine Biology until his retirement in December 2000. During this period he supervised over 30 PhD students on a variety of topics including age-based population dynamics of squid and reef fishes and reproductive biology of aggregate-spawning species such as groupers and parrot fishes. Since retirement he has continued research and supervision, most recently on the population dynamics and abundance patterns of reef sharks in association with WA Fisheries and the Smithsonian Institution. The work described in this forum was carried out in association with Dr.W.D.Robbins presently with NSW Fisheries.
	*Associate Professor Sean Connolly* A/Professor Sean Connolly is a Chief Investigator and Program Leader with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and an Associate Professor at James Cook University. He held a Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Research Training Group in the Analysis of Biological Diversification, University of Arizona, USA (1999-2000). His research interests include marine community ecology, theoretical & statistical modelling, biogeography/macroecology, physiological ecology and paleobiology. Examples of ongoing research includes investigating the causes of patterns in coral reef biodiversity, the effects of no-take zones on fisheries productivity, and the population viability of reef sharks. He has recently been awarded a 5-year Australian Professorial Fellowship by the Australian Research Council, for a project that will use mathematical modelling to understand coral reef biodiversity.
	*Professor Rocky de Nys* Professor Rocky de Nys is the Head of Aquaculture at James Cook University. His research, and that of the team within aquaculture, focuses on the sustainable development of aquaculture in the tropics. This includes the increased productivity of developed aquaculture industries, the development of new industries, and the implementation and extension of industries into developing countries, so that they can be economically and socially profitable, as well as environmentally responsible. Rocky has an extensive research background across a range of aquaculture and marine biotechnology fields with both academic and industry experience.
	*Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg* Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is a Deputy Director in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He is the Director of the Centre for Marine Studies at University of Queensland, and Director of the Stanford-Australia Program at UQ. His research interests span a broad range of topics including marine biology, evolution, physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology of plant-animal symbioses, co-evolution, coral bleaching and climate change. Ove is Chair of the GEF/World Bank Working Group on Coral Bleaching and Related Ecological disturbances, one of six expert groups within the IOC and World Bank Coastal Program’s Global Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building Project. Ove has published over 90 papers, including 6 in Science or Nature.
	*Professor Terry Hughes* Professor Terry Hughes is the inaugural Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and a Federation Fellow (2002-2012). He has broad research interests in ecology, marine biology and the dynamics of coral reefs and in the past year, he has worked closely on the socio-ecological resilience of coral reefs. He has published over 70 influential scientific papers on the biology of coral reefs, including 17 papers in Science and Nature. Terry was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences in 2001 in recognition of "a career which has significantly advanced the world's store of scientific knowledge". Terry recently won the 2007 Sherman Eureka Prize for Environmental Research for "science for sustainable management of coral reefs".
	*Professor Malcolm McCulloch* Professor Malcolm McCulloch is a Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He is the Professor of Earth Environment, Research School of Earth Sciences, at The Australian National University, Canberra. His research interests focus on the modern part of the geologic record using isotopic and trace element geochemical methods to determine how climate and anthropogenic processes have influenced both past and present environments. Malcolm has received a number of awards including Fellowships of the Australian Academy of Science (2004) and the American Geophysical Union (2002). His 185 scientific papers have been published in leading international journals including 18 in Science and Nature.
	*Dr Ian Poiner* Dr Ian Poiner is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Dr Poiner has significant experience in strategic development and planning of science, both as a practicing scientist and at the organisational level. This is reflected in his successful large-scale, multi-disciplinary research projects and his establishment of national and international research programs to support the sustainable use, conservation and management of marine ecosystems. Dr Poiner’s scientific background is research into tropical fisheries and ecological systems, including in Australia’s northern Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait and the Gulf of Carpentaria. He has also worked in Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Southeast Asia. Dr Poiner serves on a number of national and international committees.
	*Associate Professor John Quiggin* A/Professor John Quiggin is an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in Economics and Political Science at the University of Queensland. Professor Quiggin is prominent both as a research economist and as a commentator on Australian economic policy. He has published over 750 research articles, books and reports in fields including risk analysis, production economics, and environmental economics. He has also written on policy topics including unemployment policy, micro-economic reform, privatisation, competitive tendering, and sustainable management of the Murray–Darling system. He was awarded the Thomson ISI Australian Citation Laureate for Economics in 2004. He is a Fellow of the Australian Social Science Academy, the American Agricultural Economics Association, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
	*Dr Russell Reichelt* Dr Russell Reichelt is Managing Director of the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, a Director of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. He serves on a number of advisory roles including Chairman of CSIRO's Flagship Advisory Committee for Wealth from the Oceans. Former roles include Director/CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Chairman of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation Board. In November 2007 he will take up the position of Chairman and Chief Executive of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
	*Professor Bob Steneck* (Ph.D. 1982, The Johns Hopkins University, USA) is a Professor of Oceanography, Marine Biology and Marine Policy in the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences. He is a marine ecologist who studies subarctic kelp forest ecosystems and coral reefs of the Tropical Caribbean Sea and Indopacific Ocean. His research sites include the Gulf of Maine, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, the Caribbean, the Great Barrier Reef, and coastal ecosystems of Brazil, Chile, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Guam and Palau. Bob’s field-oriented research has resulted in more than 85 peer-reviewed publications. His current efforts are focused on improving the resilience of Mesoamerican coral reef ecosystems.
	*John Tanzer* John Tanzer is currently an Executive Director at The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority based in Townsville. He has responsibility for two of the Authority’s key policy and management groups: Fisheries and Conservation, Heritage & Indigenous Partnerships. He also has responsibility for the Field Management, Legal, Ministerial Liaison Office, International Affairs, Community Partnerships and Corporate Services Group of the Authority. In recent times he has overseen the development of the rezoning of the Park, which has seen the highly protected area increased from 4.5% to around 33%. Prior to joining the Authority, early in 1998, he was the Chair of the Queensland Fisheries Management Authority. He has worked in natural resource management and policy since graduating with an honours degree in Geography in 1980. He also has a Masters of Environmental Law degree from Australian National University.
	*Dennis Trewin* Dennis Trewin, former Australian Statistician, was head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics from July 2000 until January 2007. He is now working as a statistical consultant and has undertaken contracts for the United Nations, World Bank, OECD and the Governments of Brazil, Korea and New Zealand. He holds other senior appointments in Australia such as an Australian Electoral Commissioner and a member of the Australian State of the Environment Committee for the last 9 years. He is currently Chairman of the Advisory Board of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He has recently been appointed as a member of the Board of the Australian Reward and Investment Alliance. Internationally, he has been President of the International Statistical Institute having previously been Vice-President and President of the International Association of Survey Statisticians. He is a past Editor of the International Statistical Review. He was also a past President of the Statistical Society of Australia. He is Chairman of the Global Executive Board of the World Bank's International Comparison Program. He has been awarded an AO for his contribution to Australian and international statistics.
	*Dr Diana Wright* Dr Wright is First Assistant Secretary and Executive Policy Adviser to the Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Water Resources. She has over 25 years experience in government in policy and program delivery ranging from the Health and Agriculture portfolios to Finance and Environment Dr Wright has a background in Applied Science and is a Fellow Certified Practising Accountant. Dr Wright headed up the Secretariat for the 2006 Review of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 and is currently responsible for the implementation of the Government’s response.