ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Students

	Rene Abesamis - JCU PhD Student Contact : rene.abesamis@my.jcu.edu.au Coming from the Philippines, Rene’s interest in marine biology started quite early. In his youth he spent many summer vacations snorkelling in some of his country’s best known coral reef areas. Shortly after obtaining his BSc in Biology at the University of the Philippines (U.P.), Rene worked as a research assistant for the U.P. Marine Science Institute. His job as a marine biologist in U.P. brought him to hundreds of reefs all over the Philippines – from the least harmed by humans to some of the most severely damaged and overfished. It was during this time when he developed a keen interest in coral reef fish ecology and conservation. An AusAID scholarship eventually made it possible for Rene to obtain his MSc in Marine Biology at JCU. His master’s thesis dealt with net export of adult fish, or spillover, from no-take marine reserves, which he did in collaboration with Garry Russ and Angel Alcala, both Pew Fellows in Marine Conservation. Rene is now working on his PhD thesis on resolving patterns of population connectivity in reef fishes in an internal Philippine sea.
	Jorge Alvarez Romero - JCU PhD Student Contact : jorge.alvarezromero@my.jcu.edu.au Jorge was born and grew up in Mexico City. He completed his BSc in Biology at the National University of Mexico (UNAM) with a research on invasive alien species in Mexico and did a Master degree in Management, Conservation and International Trade of Species at the International University of Andalusia, Spain. Previous experiences include conservation, management, and sustainable use of wildlife in Mexico, as well as coordinating Mexico's Scientific Authority under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) within the National Biodiversity Commission (CONABIO). Jorge is currently a PhD candidate within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, under the supervision of Professor Bob Pressey, who leads Program 6 "Conservation Planning for a Sustainable Future" of the Centre. His project relates to systematic conservation planning for the Gulf of California and involves a review and further development of planning exercises already undertaken in the region with an integrated land-sea perspective. Novel approaches include explicit incorporation of cross-system threats and competing values in the prioritization of conservation areas in both the terrestrial and the marine realms.
	Shelley Anthony - JCU PhD Student Contact : shelleya@gbrmpa.gov.au Shelley is originally from the U.S.A., and most recently lived in Hawaii before emigrating to Australia in 2000. Her PhD project involves the environmental, microbial, and physiological cause(s) of tissue sloughing and its role in coral disease. She is supervised by Bette Willis at the JCU node of the Centre, as well as David Bourne from AIMS, and Kirsten Michalek-Wagner from ReefHQ Aquarium. Shelley enjoys salsa dancing, house renovation projects, and relaxing at the beach with her husband and 1-year old son.
	Andrew Bauman - JCU PhD Student Contact : andrew.bauman@my.jcu.edu.au Coming from Ohio (USA), Andrew's interest in marine biology came at an early age running away from the pounding surf on the beaches of North Carolina. Nevertheless, he developed a keen interest in tropical coral reef ecology after a summer internship in Palau. He completed his BSc at the University of South Carolina before joining the United States Peace Corps and moving to Micronesia. Little did he know that he would be living abroad the next 14 years in places such as Micronesia, Australia, United Arab Emirates and SE Asia. Andrew is currently writing up his PhD at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Australia. His current research interests focus on the ecology and dynamics of coral reef communities in marginal reef environments, specifically reef communities in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. He is most interested in the reproductive and recruitment processes of scleractinian corals, and how these processes will likely be impacted by climate change.
	Brian Beck - UQ PhD Student Contact : b.beck@uq.edu.au Brian is originally from the USA and completed his BSc in Geology at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He then went on to complete his MSc in Geology at the University of Iowa studying coral morphometrics in the Dominican Republic. He is currently enrolled as a PhD student at the University of Queensland under the supervision of Dr. John Pandolfi. Brian is studying the paleoecology of coral communities along a cyclone gradient in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
	Sandra Binning - ANU PhD Student Contact : sandra.binning@anu.edu.au Sandra was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, where activities involving skiing and snow were far more common than surf and sun. Nevertheless, she developed an interest in tropical ecology early on, and completed her BSc Honours degree in biology at McGill University studying seagrass communities in Barbados. Craving a study system with slightly more personality, Sandra switched her interests to freshwater fish, completing her MSc at McGill exploring intraspecific variation and ecomorphology in East African cichlids. Having cemented her love of fish, Sandra dreamed of returning to the marine realm, and moved halfway across the world to Australia to do it! Under the supervision of Dr. Chris Fulton at ANU, Sandra's PhD will use techniques in ecomorphology and physiology to explore intraspecific phenotypic variation in coral reef fishes in response to environmental gradients.
	Chico Birrell - UQ PhD Student Contact : chico.birrell@uq.edu.au Chico first experienced coral reefs as a "beche de mer" collector from Cairns in 1993. As an Ecological Science undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh he became involved in initiatives for conservation of coral reefs in Central America. Following work in the tourism and dive industry in Spain, Portugal and Morocco he moved to Townsville and undertook an MSc to investigate the impacts of macroalgae on coral reproduction at James Cook University. Since 2003 Chico has worked as an independent marine consultant, a dive instructor and biologist on the Great Barrier Reef and in the Coral Sea for Undersea Explorer, as a research assistant at James Cook University, as a benthic ecologist for the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Western Australia (Scott Reef, Ningaloo Reef and Kimberley Region), as a translator and interpreter (Portuguese, Spanish), as a scientific commercial diver and for coral health and fecundity monitoring projects as a consultant in Western Australia.. In 2011 Chico joined ARC Laureate Prof. Peter Mumby at the University of Queensland, for a PhD to explore the ecology and dynamics of macroalgae and provide insights for conservation measures to boost coral reef resilience. He also dedicates spare time to the Australian Coral Reef Society (www.australiancoralreefsociety.org)
	Teressa Bobeszko - JCU PhD Student Contact: teressa.bobeszko@my.jcu.edu.au Teressa grew up in Brisbane and completed both her undergraduate and BSc Hon degree in marine biology at the University of Queensland. Currently, Teressa is a PhD student within the School of Pharmacy and Molecular Sciences at James Cook University. Under the supervision of Dr Bill Leggat and Professor David Yellowlees her PhD research focuses on the effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations on the inorganic carbon supply in the coral-Symbiodinium symbiosis. In her spare time Teressa enjoys camping, spending time at the beach, dancing and painting.
	Lynda Boldt - JCU PhD Student Contact: lynda.boldt@my.jcu.edu.au Born in New Zealand, Lynda initially started her professional career as a Physical and Outdoor Educator before returning to University to pursue her interest in Marine Science. Based at JCU Townsville, her PhD work focuses on isolating photosynthetic genes from the unicellular algae Symbiodinium sp. and determining how and through what mechanisms changing environmental factors effect photosynthetic processes. Lynda's research interests include aquatic photosynthesis, symbiotic relationships between marine organisms and how environmental stresses can effect these associations.
	Roberta Bonaldo - JCU PhD Student Contact: Roberta.Bonaldo@my.jcu.edu.au Roberta is originally from Brazil, where has studied reef fishes during six years. She has gained her Bachelor and Master degree at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil, studying feeding ecology of parrotfish species endemic from Southwestern Atlantic. Currently she is doing her PhD at James Cook University under the supervision of Dr David Bellwood. She is interested in the role of herbivorous reef fishes on the benthic community structure of the Great Barrier Reef, focusing on the importance of these fishes to the benthic composition of the Great Barrier Reef.
	Mary Catherine Bonin - JCU PhD Student Contact: mary.bonin@my.jcu.edu.au Despite growing up far from the ocean in Minneapolis, Minnnesota, Mary's interest in fish began at a young age while fishing on freshwater lakes with her father. After completing a BA in Biology at The Colorado College, she pursued her interest in marine ecology by applying to JCU's postgraduate program. Mary's current PhD work, supervised by Prof. Geoff Jones and Dr. Glenn Almany, examines patterns and consequences of habitat specialization in coral-dwelling damselfishes in Kimbe Bay, Papau New Guinea. One of the main objectives of the project is to better understand how habitat specialists will respond to coral loss and habitat degradation.
	Tom Brewer - JCU PhD Student Contact: tom.brewer@my.jcu.edu.au Tom spent most of his youth on the beaches of southern New South Wales, before moving to Brisbane to complete his BSc at UQ. He completed his BSc with Honours under the supervision of John Pandolfi and Josh Cinner, investigating relationships between reef resource/ecological state and coastal human demography and socioeconomics in Melanesia. This work was being greatly enhanced through assistance from The Nature Conservancy. Tom is continuing this line of study with a PhD, working on predictive human/ecology modelling throughout the Pacific. When not working, Tom enjoys good company, cheese, wine, dancing and freediving.
	Paulina Cetina Heredia - JCU PhD Student Contact: paulina.cetinaheredia@my.jcu.edu.au Paulina studied Oceanography at the Autonomous University of Baja California and obtained a masters degree in Physical Oceanography from CICESE, Ensenada, Mexico. Her masters research project on the Circulation Dynamics along the Mexican Caribbean took her exploring Reef Systems and motivated her to further investigate this ecosystem. She pursued coming to Australia to study the Great Barrier Reef and got the opportunity to enroll for a PhD at JCU with a scholarship given by the Mexican Government. As an oceanographer Paulina is curious of various marine science aspects and developed an interdisciplinary project that deals with larval transport in reef systems. She works under the supervision of Dr. Sean Connolly, Dr. Peter Ridd and Dr. Richard Brinkman. She uses a hydrodynamic model to simulate circulation along the GBR and will be implementing coral and reef fish larval life traits and behaviour to accurately model their transport. Apart studying marine science she enjoys sharing good time with friends, being at sea, dancing and reading a book before falling sleep.
	Karen Chong-Seng - JCU PhD Student Contact: karen.chongseng@my.jcu.edu.au Karen comes from the Seychelles and did her BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology at JCU. Her honours thesis investigated coral reef fishes and their consumption of coral disease. She is now returning to her home country for her PhD project to try and understand the ecological processes aiding and abetting the recovery of Seychelles coral reefs after being hit by the 98 bleaching. She is supervised by Dr. Morgan Pratchett, Dr. Nick Graham and Prof. David Bellwood.
	Chia Miin Chua - JCU PhD Student Contact: chiamiin.chua@my.jcu.edu.au Miin grew up in Terengganu, a small state in the east coast of Malaysia. After completion of her Bachelor of Science (Marine Biology) and Honors in University Malaysia Terengganu Miin moved to Townsville to undertake her PhD with supervision of Dr. Andrew Baird, Dr. Bill Leggat and Prof. Terry Hughes. Her PhD project 'Effects of climate change and ocean acidification on the early life history of corals', aims to investigate high temperature and CO2 stress on fertilization, larval development, survivorship, settlement and growth of juvenile corals and her research focuses on the synergistic effects of high water temperature and low pH on coral larval and juvenile ecology and how such stresses mediate interaction with other organisms.
	Darren Coker - JCU PhD Student Contact: darren.coker@my.jcu.edu.au Darren grew up in New Zealand until the urge to do something different convinced him to make the move across the ditch. He completed a degree in Marine Biology at James Cook University and then continued on to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in Research Methods. Darren is currently enrolled in a PhD investigating the effects of climate-induced coral loss on coral reef fishes. More specifically, this project will elucidate the major processes (e.g., predation, competitive exclusion, and/or re-location) responsible for localised declines in the abundance of fishes following live coral loss. Darren is supervised by Dr Morgan Pratchett, Dr Philip Munday and Dr Shaun Wilson.
	Andrew Cole - JCU PhD Student Contact: andrew.cole3@my.jcu.edu.au Andrew Cole is currently enrolled in a Doctor of Philosophy program at James Cook University. Originally from the south coast of NSW, Andrew migrated to the warmer waters of the Great Barrier Reef in 2003. His research investigates the role of chronic fish predation on the population dynamics and life-histories of reef-building corals. It also explores the potential for chronic predation to exacerbate the effects of global environmental change. This research is being carried out under the supervision of Dr Morgan Pratchett, Prof Geoff Jones and Dr Shaun Wilson.
	Melissa Cowlishaw - JCU PhD Student Contact : melissa.cowlishaw@my.jcu.edu.au Mel grew up in Brisbane and completed her BSc hons in marine biology at the Centre for Marine Studies, at the University of Queensland and moved to Townsville to undertake a PhD at James Cook University under the supervision of Dr Geoff Jones and Dr Mark McCormick. Her PhD investigates the interrelationships between individual living space, habitat quality and abundance in coral reef fishes, with most of her research being carried out at the Lizard Island Research Station. When she's not out on the reef Mel enjoys surfing (when there's waves around), outdoor adventures and surf lifesaving.
	Peter Cowman - JCU PhD Student Contact : peter.cowman@my.jcu.edu.au Peter is originally from Ireland were he completed a BSc (Hon) degree in Marine Science at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). During his 4th year he studied the use of molecular tools to identify interspecific variation in marine sponges. He enrolled in the Masters of Applied Science program at JCU Townsville in 2007 and promptly upgraded to the Graduate Diploma in Research Methods. For a minor project he used molecular methods and fossil data to date the evolutionary origins of wrasses (Family Labridae). His current PhD research investigates the origins of trophic novelty in coral reef fish families and the underlying patterns in trophic evolution on coral reefs
	Alicia Crawley - UQ PhD Student Contact : alicia_crawley@hotmail.com Alicia grew up in Sydney and began her studies at Macquarie University before transferring to James Cook University in Townsville. She briefly worked at GBRMPA before commencing honours at the University of Queensland in Brisbane with supervisors, Sophie Dove and Ken Anthony. Alicia is interested in coral photobiology and ocean acidification. Her honours research utilised physiological measurements and molecular tools to establish the role of photorespiration in Scleractinian corals. In 2008, Alicia will be continuing her research and beginning her PhD. When Alicia is not on the reef she heads to the Sunshine Coast and of course starts planning her next trip to the reef.
	Chris Cvitanovic - ANU PhD Student Contact : christopher.cvitanovic@anu.edu.au Chris grew up in Canberra but escaped the cold in 2004 to complete his Bachelor of Science with Honours in Marine Biology at James Cook University. At the end of his Honours Chris took a full time position with the Australian Government as the Science Manager for the Commonwealth Marine Protected Areas program. After three years working in management Chris is returning to Science, undertaking a PhD looking at the ecological energetics of butterflyfishes under the supervision of Dr. Chris Fulton (ANU) and Dr. Morgan Pratchett (JCU). Using study sites along Australia's east coast including Lizard Island and Lord Howe Island, Chris will also investigate how energy acquisition and expenditure within butterflyfishes varies under different environmental conditions.
	Ayax Diaz-Ruiz - UQ PhD Student Contact: a.diaz-ruiz@cms.uq.edu.au Born and educated in Mexico, Ayax finished his honours project in coral-associated crabs (genus Trapezia) in the Sea of Cortez by 1999 and then switched into Information Technology for his Master's project, where he explored the use of mobile internet technology in ecological studies. Keen on returning to work on the effect of climate change on invertebrates associated to Pocillopora damicornis, he has been working under the supervision of Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Greg Skilleter and John Pandolfi at UQ to analyse the effects of bleaching in the biodiversity of invertebrate fauna associated to pocilloporid corals. Additional objectives of his work are also studying food webs within this particular symbiosis (coral-invertebrates) and tracking recovery of biodiversity after stressful periods within coral colonies. He looks forward to increase his knowledge of ecosystem functioning in any model system as part of his career development. In his free time, he likes to relax practicing some T'ai Chi Ch'uan.
	Danielle Dixson - JCU PhD Student Contact: danielle.dixson@my.jcu.edu.au Danielle is originally from Minnesota in the USA. She received her BSc degree in Marine Science and General Biology from the University of Tampa, FL. Her undergraduate degree focused on the monitoring of seagrass health through a mark recapture study using a species of seahorse as the indicator species. Since completing her degree she moved to Townsville and has been working towards the completion of her PhD. She is currently enrolled in the Masters of Science by Research program but is looking to upgrade to the PhD program in August. Currently she is working on larval settlement site selection through olfactory cues, and self recruitment mechanisms supervised by Dr. Geoffrey Jones, Dr. Philip Munday and Dr. Morgan Pratchett
	Juan Pablo D'Olivo Cordero - ANU PhD Student Contact: juan.dolivo@anu.edu.au Despite of growing in the urban area of Mexico City, since Juan Pablo had a memory, he has been interested and amaze by the ocean. His passion for the ocean was originated during the frequent family trips to the Mexican coast and thanks to Cousteau's documentaries about the ocean life. This interest took him to study Oceanography at the Autonomous University of Baja California where later obtained a masters degree in Coastal Oceanography (2008). During his masters research Juan Pablo worked in paleoceanography, using a coral core from Fiji to reconstruct climate conditions in the tropical region, specifically the sea surface temperature, of the last six centuries. Juan Pablo started his PhD in March 2008 at RSES - ANU under the supervision of Prof. Malcolm McCulloch. The aim of his current research is to reconstruct the pH changes in the tropical ocean using coral records from the Pacific, and to establish the relationship of these changes in the tropical Pacific with the CO2 atmospheric variability. In his spare time Juan Pablo likes drawing (especially over his notes), playing soccer, diving and surfing although not being a very good at it.
	Jennifer Donelson - JCU PhD Student Contact: jennifer.donelson@my.jcu.edu.au Jenni grew up in Melbourne before moving to Townsville to complete a BSc (Hons) at JCU in 2006. Her honours research investigated how parental and environmental conditions influence the early life history of a reef fish. Currently she is completing a PhD with the supervision of Dr. Philip Munday and Dr. Mark McCormick from JCU, and collaborations with Dr. Roland Pitcher of CSIRO. Her research investigates the effects of climate change on the reproductive performance and early life history traits of reef fishes and whether these species have to potential to acclimate or adapt to changes in sea water temperature over multiple generations.
	Christopher Doropoulos - UQ PhD Student Contact: christopher.doropoulos@uqconnect.edu.au Christopher completed his BSc (Honours) in 2007 studying trophic connectivity in temperate marine ecology at Edith Cowan University, WA. In 2008, he was employed as a Research Assistant and spent a fair amount of time at Ningaloo Reef investigating patterns of herbivory in coral reef ecosystems. This time as an RA sparked an interest to further investigate coral-algal interactions, directing him towards a PhD researching the effects of climate change on the early life history of corals, with a focus on algal interactions. Christopher is supervised by Dr Selina Ward (UQ) and Dr Guillermo Diaz-Pulido (UQ).
	Pepito (Sonny) Fernandez - ANU PhD Student Contact: sonny.fernandez@gmail.com Sonny is an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV), teaching political science and general education courses to undergraduates. He has a bachelors degree in political science from the University of the Philippines and a masters degree in geography at McGill University, Canada. His interest on governance and co-management issues in tropical coastal areas peaked in the late 1990s after a stint as a long-term exchange scientist to the College of Fisheries, Kagoshima University, Japan. He began his PhD studies at the Department of Human Geography-Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University in July 2004. He is finalizing the writeup of his PhD thesis on the politics of marine protected area management across scale in northern Iloilo Province, Philippines.
	Rebecca Fox - JCU PhD Student Contact: rebecca.fox@my.jcu.edu.au Originally from the UK, Becky completed her BSc(Hons) in Marine Biology at James Cook University (JCU) in 2006. Her Honours research project focused on quantifying the impact of herbivorous fishes on an inshore reef of the Great Barrier Reef. Becky is now undertaking her PhD at JCU under the supervision of David Bellwood, where she is examining aspects of the ecology of one particular family of herbivorous reef fishes, the rabbitfishes (f: Siganidae). Her research aims to expand our knowledge of the trophic ecology, habitat associations and movement patterns of individual species of siganid, with a view to better understanding their functional impact on reef ecosystem processes.
	Christopher Goatley - JCU PhD Student Contact: christopher.goatley@my.jcu.edu.au Christopher is from the UK where he undertook a BSc (Honours) degree in marine biology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Since completion of this degree he stayed in Newcastle upon Tyne for a short period helping the university to coordinate field trips for visiting school groups and then worked as a freelance scuba instructor in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. He is currently enrolled at JCU Townsville and is conducting a research project on the trophic ecomorphology of reef fish assemblages, supervised by Prof David Bellwood.
	Erin Graham - JCU PhD Student Contact: erin.graham@my.jcu.edu.au Originally from Colorado, USA, Erin completed a BSc(Hons) in Marine Biology at James Cook University in 2007. She is currently enrolled in a PhD under the supervision of Bette Willis, Andrew Baird, and Sean Connolly. Her research focuses on factors affecting the dispersal potential of coral larvae, including energetics, settlement competence, and survival.
	Melanie Hamel - JCU PhD Student Contact: melanie.hamel@my.jcu.edu.au Mel grew up in a fishing town situated between limestone cliffs in upper Normandy in France. She undertook her MSc (Ecology) at Paris 11 University and did her research project at Charles Darwin University, where she examined the diving behaviour of nesting Olive Ridley Turtles in northern Australia. The extraordinary diversity of people, landscapes and species in the Pacific led her to spend more than four years in the region to expand her knowledge and gain experience in conservation science. She worked on various research projects in terrestrial and marine science in Australia for the School for Environmental Research (Charles Darwin University), in New Zealand for the Leigh Marine Laboratory (Auckland University), and in New Caledonia for the French Research Institute for Development (IRD) before she felt ready for the next step. Mel is currently undertaking a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Bob Pressey (JCU) and Dr. Serge Andrefouet (IRD). She will be evaluating, for Solomon Islands, the potential of coral reef habitat maps to serve as proxies for information on socio-economic variables and biodiversity, for use in conservation planning.
	Jessica Haapkyla - JCU PhD Student Contact: jessica.haapkyla@my.jcu.edu.au Jessica is originally from Finland. After having finished her MSc in hydrobiology at the University of Jyvaskyla, Jessica got an internship with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Honolulu, Hawaii and visited the pristine reefs of Palmyra Atoll. Ever since she has visited various reefs in the world and developed a great enthusiasm in the coral reef environment. Jessica's PhD is on the impacts and drivers of coral diseases in the Indo-Pacific. Her supervisors are Professor Bette Willis from the Centre of Excellence and David Bourne and Britta Schaffelke from AIMS.
	Hugo Harrison - JCU PhD Student Contact: hugo.harrison@my.jcu.edu.au Originally from central France, Hugo grew up more in tune with the mountains and rocks than oceans and reefs. Nevertheless, Hugo developed an interest in marine sciences whilst doing a BSc Hon degree in Evolutionary and Ecological Genetics at the University of Edinburgh. In 2006, he joined Dr Stephen Simpson on an expedition to the Arabian Sea that would spark a passion for coral reef ecology. Hugo pursued this interest in Townsville where he undertook a Graduate Certificate of Science in Marine Ecology at James Cook University in 2007 and went on to do a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Geoffrey Jones, Prof. Garry Russ, Dr. Lynne van Herwerden and Dr. Serge Planes (France). His research explores concepts of population connectivity and larval dispersal that will develop our understanding of fish and fisheries ecology as well as the effectiveness of marine reserves in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Hugo has kept ties with his French roots through a co-tutelle agreement since 2009 between James Cook University and the University of Perpignan (France).
	Fraser Hartley - JCU PhD Student Contact: Fraser.Hartley@my.jcu.edu.au Born in Edinburgh, Fraser grew up in the UK and Malawi. Having completed both his BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology and an MSc in Tropical Coastal Management at Newcastle University, he departed for Papau New Guinea. During his three years working for the Wildlife Conservation Society in PNG, he helped establish a network of locally managed marine protected areas in New Ireland, a sustainable coral farming project on Andra Island and learned to chew betelnut without turning green. Supervised by Nick Graham, Joshua Cinner and Garry Russ, his PhD will see him return to some of the communities he has previously worked with in PNG; investigating the effects of traditional fishing and marine management on fish behaviour, and how changes in this impinge on fishery and conservation goals.
	Christina Hicks - JCU PhD Student Contact: christina.hicks@my.jcu.edu.au After starting life out as an environmental chemist (joined to a lab bench) Christina travelled home to Kenya to experience the real world. Working for Dr TR McClanahan, she discovered the wonders of corals and fish, developing a particular interest in the management of these ecosystems. This work led her to a Masters degree at Newcastle University where her research took an ecological economics focus in assessing coral-reef social ecological systems. Prior to joining the Centre Christina was involved in mapping the extent of interdisciplinary research in the Environmental Sciences with Prof Polunin. Currently supervised by Terry Hughes, Bob Pressey and Josh Cinner, her research on ecosystem services has two key focuses; 1) understanding the links between biodiversity change and ecosystem service provision and 2) improving the integration of cultural services into planning for conservation.
	Vera Horigue - JCU PhD Student Contact: vera.horigue@my.jcu.edu.au Vera was in art school on the slopes of Mt. Makiling, when she fell in love with the sea and coral reefs. She has a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of the Philippines (UP). An Erasmus Mundus Studentship made it possible for her to earn a joint M.Sc. degree in Water and Coastal Management from Universidad de Cadiz, Spain and University of Plymouth, UK. As a research assistant for various NGOs and the UP Marine Science Institute (MSI), she was able to see how rich her country is in terms of natural resources and how much it is also exploited because of high resource dependence. Vera is supervised by Prof. Bob Pressey, Dr. Simon Foale and Dr. Porfirio Aliño of the MSI. Her research aims to examine governance systems and processes that contribute to effective local government coordination and collaboration when scaling up to form MPA networks in the Philippines.
	Emily Howells - JCU PhD Student Contact: emily.howells@my.jcu.edu.au Emily's favourite childhood memories include playing with marine life in rock pools on the Australian south coast and a mind-blowing first-time snorkelling trip on the Great Barrier Reef. Yet it wasn't until boredom set in after years of working in hospitality and retail jobs that pursuing a career in Marine Biology made sense. Emily moved to Townsville and completed her undergarduate degree with honours in Marine Biology at James Cook University in 2006. Her PhD research focusses on the genetics of populations of coral endosymbionts (dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium) to understand their role in the potential of coral reefs to adapt to climate change. Current research activities are directed at identifying genes involved in heat stress in Symbiodinium and how these differ (DNA sequence and gene expression) among different types of Symbiodinium, over natural thermal gradients, and under heat stress experiments.
	Jacob Johansen - JCU PhD Student Contact: jacob.johansen@my.jcu.edu.au Jacob is originally from Denmark where he gained his Bachelor at Copenhagen University studying fish ecophysiology. Jacob decided to escape the cold and move to Australia in 2005 where he gained his Masters of Science at James Cook University, Queensland, Australia in 2007. In his masters project Jacob examined the effects of swimming ability and refuging behaviour on coral reef fish ecology and distribution. Jacob was awarded a PhD scholarship by JCU in September 2007 and is currently studying the resilience of planktivorous coral reef fishes to environmental disturbance such as global climate change and terrestrial run-off. He is interested in the ability of reef fishes to tolerate adverse or extreme environmental conditions on coral reefs.
	Charlotte Johansson - JCU PhD Student Contact: charlotte.johansson@my.jcu.edu.au Charlotte grew up in Sweden where she undertook her MSc at Stockholm University. Since the completion of her degree, Charlotte has been working for the Australian Institute of Marine Science examining the effects of the re-zoning of the Great Barrier Reef on fish populations. She is currently undertaking a PhD under the supervision of Prof David Bellwood (JCU) and Dr. Martial Depczynski (AIMS). The project is focusing on identifying herbivorous key processes that contribute to coral reef resilience on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia.
	David Jones - PhD Student Contact: david.jones@my.jcu.edu.au Born in Atherton and growing up in Townsville, David has completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology focusing on genetics. He is currently undertaking Honours in the population genetics of a coral reef fish, Pomacentrus amboinensis, looking at connectivity between populations in both the spatial and temporal scale including comparisons between adult and recruitment populations, under the supervision of Dr Line Bay, Dr Mark McCormick and Dr Dean Jerry. Intending to continue with a PhD Project in the coming years.
	Jung Ok Kang - ANU PhD Student Contact: jung.kang@anu.edu.au Jung grew up in South Korea where she majored in economic geology and geochemistry at Korea University and for her master's thesis, she worked on the effect of agrochemicals on the shallow groundwater quality and natural processes in South Korea. She also has been studying on determination of oxygen isotope fractionations between rhodochrosite (MnCO3) and water at low temperatures. Having worked in stable isotope laboratory at Korea University, she is quite knowledgeable about a Finnigan MAT 252 isotope ratio mass spectrometer and its automated peripherals, such as a CO2-H2O Equilibrium Device and the H/device. She is currently working for a PhD at the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian University supervised by prof. Malcolm Mcculloch. Her research topic is indentifying the impact of anthropogenic increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide and Ocean acidifying and global warming to examine implications for long-term changes in the calcification rate of coral reefs.
	Angela Lawton - UQ PhD Student Contact: a.lawton@cms.uq.edu.au Angela grew up in Boston, and moved to Wisconsin to complete a BA in Science and BMusic in Education. During her time at Lawrence, she participated in the Lawrence University Coral Reef Semester, spending a month in the Cayman Islands learning about the biology and ecology of the Cayman Islands. This experience inspired her to return to Grand Cayman to complete her honours on the ecology of the reefs of Grand Cayman and eventually to start her PhD in Ove Hoegh-Gulberg's lab studying the metabolic relationship of the coral host and the symbiotic dinoflagellate using microsensors.
	Rebecca Lawton - JCU PhD Student Contact: rebecca.lawton@my.jcu.edu.au Originally from New Zealand, Rebecca completed her BSc Honours in Zoology and Ecology at the University of Otago in 2005. Following several years working in the Fisheries Science team at the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries and as a research assistant for the Cairo office of the WorldFish Center, she decided to begin a PhD at James Cook University. Supervised by Morgan Prachett and Line Bay, her research investigates the role of ecological specialization on population genetic structure and extinction risk in butterflyfishes.
	Anne Leitch - JCU PhD Student Contact : anne.leitch@csiro.au Anne Leitch has a background in marine ecology but these days spends more time as a social scientist. During her PhD, Anne will work with two communities adjacent to, and dependent on, the Great Barrier Reef to develop an integrated assessment of their adaptive capacity and planned response options to climate change. Anne has a BSc (Hons) from University of Sydney and Masters in Communication from QUT.
	Tove Lemberget - JCU PhD Student Contact: tove.lemberget@my.jcu.edu.au Tove grew up in Norway. She completed her undergraduate degree in aquaculture there prior to postgraduate studies in Australia. Today, she is undertaking a PhD at the JCU node of the Centre, supervised by Mark McCormick. Her research focuses on the link between early life history characteristics and replenishment of tropical reef fish populations. Upon completion of her PhD, she would like to pursue her research interests in population dynamics and recruitment processes in fish.
	Raechel Littman - JCU PhD Student Contact: raechel.littman@my.jcu.edu.au Raechel is originally from Seattle (USA) and is currently working on a PhD at JCU under the supervision of Prof. Bette Willis and Dr. David Bourne. After completing a BSc in biotechnology at WPI (MA, USA) she earned a Masters in environmental policy at George Washington University and worked at several environmental policy institutions in Washington DC. Raeche'’s research is examining the natural variability in microbial communities associated with corals and the effects of climate change on the dynamics of microbial associations.
	Adrian Lutz - JCU PhD Student Contact: adrian.lutz@my.jcu.edu.au Adrian grew up in Switzerland and completed his MSc in biology at the University of Basel. He first came to Townsville in 2005 to work with Madeleine van Oppen for his thesis on the genetic connectivity of Seriatopora hystrix. He returned to Switzerland to finish his degree and worked for the Institute of Zoology of the University of Basel. Thanks to an AIMS@JCU scholarship he's back in Townsville working with Madeleine van Oppen, David Miller and Walt Dunlap. His PhD investigates the potential antioxidant role of Coenzyme Q and Plastoquinone in coral symbiosis.
	Matt Lybolt - UQ PhD Student Contact: m.lybolt@uq.edu.au Originally from Chicago, Matt first learned about corals in Florida and was hooked. He got a taste of life as a government employee while completing a University of South Florida Masters thesis on octocoral community dynamics in the Florida Keys. Vowing never again to be a full-time employee and full-time student simultaneously, Matt went off to work as a consultant for Coastal Planning & Engineering. Life as a consultant was a happy and productive time for Matt but after four years he returned to school, this time as an IPRS winner at the University of Queensland. His wife Karen bravely moved to Brisbane without having seen it first! Matt's PhD project, under John Pandolfi, will examine the historical ecology of Moreton Bay with emphasis on the Bay's coral assemblages. Though he enjoys playing soccer, traveling, and relaxing with his wife, Matt is otherwise spectacularly boring.

	Dominique McCowan - JCU PhD Student Contact: dmmccowa@gmail.com Dominique grew up in southern Indiana, where she observed fossilized Devonian reefs. She went to a local college while working full-time and graduated with a BS in Biology with a minor in Geology and an AA in Chemistry. During her undergraduate studies, she was part of a field biology club, through which she experienced coral reef ecology and the ocean (for her first time when she was 18). She did research on mosquitoes and West Nile Virus for three years during her undergraduate course work, so Dominique is absolutely ecstatic about working with corals. She came to Townsville as soon as they accepted her for postgraduate work, and has completed her graduate diploma in marine biology. She is now undertaking her PhD, which focuses on the ecological and evolutionary vulnerabilities of scleractinian corals to mass bleaching events. Her supervisors are Dr. Morgan Pratchett, Dr. Andrew Baird, and Dr. Terry Hughes. In her free time, Dominique likes to be in or near water or doing something artistic.
	Rachael Middlebrook - UQ PhD Student Contact: r.middlebrook@uq.edu.au Rachael grew up in Sydney and completed a Bachelor of Marine Science at Macquarie University. In between Sydney and Brisbane, Rachael spent time in Fiji researching traditional fisheries and reef management in Fijian communities before moving to Brisbane to complete an Honours degree at the Centre for Marine studies, University of Queensland. Rachael began her PhD at CMS in 2007 under the supervision of Dr Sophie Dove, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Dr Ken Anthony and Dr Bill Leggat (JCU). Her research focuses on determining thermal threshold dynamics and variability in reef building corals between reefs and at sub-reef scales. Information provided by this research will be utilized by NOAA towards predicting coral bleaching and mortality and subsequent impacts on coral reef environments. In her spare time Rachael enjoys surfing and painting.
	Gabrielle Miller - JCU PhD Student Contact: gabrielle.miller1@my.jcu.edu.au Gabrielle grew up close to the beach in Melbourne, where she would spend her summers harassing creatures in rock pools. Her love of the marine environment was cemented during a field trip in high school to Orpheus Island. Since then she has worked towards a career in marine biology, completing her BSc(Hons) in zoology and marine and freshwater biology at Monash University before moving to JCU to complete a PhD under the supervision of Dr Philip Munday and Dr Mark McCormick. Gabrielle's PhD project investigates the combined effects of ocean acidification and temperature on the life history of a common coral reef fish, Amphiprion melanopus. Specially, she will be examining the effects on growth, development, swimming performance and metabolism of juveniles and the reproductive output of adults exposed to decreased pH and increased temperatures.
	Y. Roshni Narayan - UQ PhD Student Contact: r.narayan@uq.edu.au Roshni was born in Suva, Fiji but grew up in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. She completed her BSc in Zoology at the University of Alberta (1998) and her MSc in Earth Sciences at the University of Victoria, Canada (2003). Roshni arrived in Brisbane, Australia in February 2007 and started her PhD project, within the Earth Sciences and Centre for Marine Studies, UQ, under the supervision of John Pandolfi. Some of her objectives are to assess historical (Holocene) and modern Foraminifera diversity and distributions across MB (from most to least anthropogenically impacted sites). She aims to: 1) survey and assess changes in faunal distribution and diversity, over the last forty years (incorporating existing samples), since the Holocene (~6000 ybp) and since pre-European colonization 2) identify modern/historical foram-coral community and foram-seagrass associations 3)correlate with shifts in the coral communities, overtime (in collaboration with concurrent coral community studies by another Ph.D student) and 4) chronologically constrain timing of ecological changes by determining radiocarbon age dates. In her spare time Roshni enjoys painting/drawing, learning new languages swimming and belly-dancing. She would like to do more scuba-diving in Australia and learn photography: http://www.earth.uq.edu.au/2006/Students/Student_Profiles2006.html
	Kirsty Nash - JCU PhD Student Contact: kirsty.nash@my.jcu.edu.au Kirsty is originally from the UK, where she studied Oceanography with Marine Biology (BSc Hons). She moved to Townsville in 2002 and completed a MAppSci in Tropical Marine Ecology at James Cook University. She spent a number of years doing field research and teaching field techniques in association with the Marine Park Authority in the Seychelles, and teaching college level courses in marine biology and oceanography in the Caribbean. In 2009 she returned to Australia, completing a Masters of Education at Charles Sturt University, and began working as a research assistant at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. She recently began a PhD looking at the scales at which fish are functioning on the reef and how this contributes to resilience. Kirsty is supervised by Nick Graham and David Bellwood.
	Allison Paley - JCU PhD Student Contact: allison.paley@my.jcu.edu.au Allison, originally from Washington, D.C., began her University education at the University of California, Santa Barbara where she studied Dance and Aquatic Biology. Initially a study abroad student at James Cook University, Allison transferred and graduated from JCU with a BSc in Marine Biology in 2005. She is currently pursuing a MSc in coral reef ecology supervised by Professor Bette Willis, Dr. Madeleine van Oppen (of AIMS), and Dr. Line K. Bay. Her research interests are focused on the genetic structuring and diversity of coral populations in relation to bleaching sensitivity and colour morph variation. In particular, she is interested in developing a clearer understanding of the importance of coral fluorescence in thermal resilience.
	Caroline Palmer - JCU PhD Student Contact: caroline.palmer@my.jcu.edu.au Caroline is a first year PhD student in a conjoint arrangement between JCU and Newcastle University, U.K, with Prof. Bette Willis and Dr John Bythell. Caroline graduated from JCU with a BSc in Marine Biology, and undertook a Graduate Certificate of Research Methods with Prof. Bette Willis at JCU, which she completed in 2006. Caroline's research interests include the biological mechanisms behind coral disease and immune defences of scleractinians. Her work currently focuses on the visible pigmentation responses of coral to localised stressors, and innate responses involved in wound healing. Caroline has completed studies in Indonesia, Orpheus and Heron islands on the GBR and in Hawai'i in association with the Pauley Program at HIMB. In her spare time Caroline enjoys swimming, sailing, hiking and skiing.
	Eneour Puill-Stephan - JCU PhD Student Contact: eneour.puillstephan@my.jcu.edu.au Eneour says "After spending a year sailing around the Atlantic Ocean on a sailing boat and exploring coral reefs, I always kept in my mind this dream to study coral biology. Subsequently, I completed my undergraduate and masters degree in Marine Biology in France, at the University of Western Brittany in Brest. In June 2005, I finished my Masters by research on fish physiology, from which I got associated to three publications. Now, I am into this exciting project for my PhD with Bette Willis and Lynne van Herwerden from JCU and Madeleine van Oppen from AIMS thanks to the AIMS@JCU scholarship. The project will explore the potential of corals to form genetic chimeras and the extent of chimerism in natural coral populations (e.g., Acropora millepora) on the Great Barrier Reef. The role these genetically diverse chimeras might play in the resistance to different stress such as invading pathogens will be investigated. I also kept contact with my previous French University through the signature of a co-tutelle agreement in early 2007 between the University of Western Brittany (Brest, France) and the James Cook University."
	Paola Rachello Dolmen - UQ PhD Student Contact: paola.rachellodolmen@uqconnect.edu.au Paola was born in Bogota (Colombia) and raised by Italian parents. In 2003 she completed her Bachelor degree in Biology at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota). The final work was a taxonomical revision of molluscs from Colombian Caribbean Sea at INVEMAR, Colombia. In 2004 she moved to Amsterdam, Netherland to follow a Master Degree in Biological Science at the University of Amsterdam (2005-2007). During my Masters studies she conducted two extensive research projects. One project examined the relation between coral species traits and environmental conditions in an Indonesian reef complex. The second project focused on the phylogenetic relationships of marine sponge morphotypes (Cliona celata) using mitochondrial and nuclear markers. In May 2009, she and her partner Alberto moved to Brisbane and in June she started her PhD at Centre for Marine Studies (UQ) under the supervision of John Pandolfi. She is studying the historical ecology of marine gastropods and bivalves communities from Great Barrier Reef and Moreton Bay."
	Claire Reymond - JCU PhD Student Contact: c.reymond@uq.edu.au For the most part Sydney has been home for Claire. After completing her BSc in conservation and biodiversity at Macquarie University she's now taken residence in Brisbane. It's still early days however Claire intends to fulfil her ABRS scholarship by collecting taxonomy and ecology data on foraminiferal communities to address two priority goals of the Environmentally Sustainable Australia initiative; in particular, the sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity and preparing for environmental variability. Claire is currently a PhD candidate at the centre of marine studies, UQ and is supervised by A/Prof. John Pandolfi, Prof. Hugh Possingham, Dr. Willem Renema and Dr. Sven Uthicke (AIMS). When not working, you'll often find Claire in a bookstore, at the art gallery or lying under a tree looking at the sky.
	Alma Ridep-Morris - JCU MSc Student Contact : alma.ridepmorris@my.jcu.edu.au Alma is a Pacific Islander from the beautiful islands of Palau, and she gained her BSc from the Australian National University in Canberra, and she went back to Palau to work as the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Program Manager for the Bureau of Marine Resources, Ministry of Resources and Development for the past few years. She is currently doing her Master of Science by Research at James Cook University, and hopefully if funding permits, she wants to pursue her PhD in the near future. Alma is doing her Masters on the dynamics of coral disease (particularly on Black Band Disease) outbreak in Nikko Bay, Palau. Her supervisors are Professor Bette Willis and Professor Geoff Jones from JCU.
	Jairo Rivera Posada - JCU PhD Student Contact : jairo.riveraposada@my.jcu.edu.au Jairo was born in Medellin-Colombia. He completed his BSc Hons in Veterinary Science at The University of Caldas (Colombia) with a thesis on "Determination and typification of gastrointestinal helmints of buffalos". After that he did 3 Diplomas in Radiology, Ultrasound and Diagnostic images (CT, MR). Then travel to Europe for his first Doctorate in Veterinary Science with emphasis on Animal Surgery and Medicine at the University of Leon (Spain) awarding a Summa Cum Laude for his research in Orthopedic Grafts. Jairo worked as a professor of animal surgery, radiology and internal medicine for several years and enrolled in the Masters of Applied Science program at JCU Townsville in 2008 and promptly upgraded to PhD. He is currently undertaking his PhD within the ARC Centre of Excellence, under the supervision of Drs Morgan Pratchett, Terry Hughes and David Bourne (AIMS). The primary focus of his research is the Pathogenesis of Crown of Thorns (Acanthaster Planci). He is interested in clinical diagnosis of marine diseases.
	Dominique Roche - ANU PhD Student Contact : dominique.roche@anu.edu.au Dom is from Montreal, Canada, where he completed a BSc in biology at McGill University. Determined to work on marine fishes, he spent part of his undergraduate years in Barbados at the Bellairs Research Institute studying the home range size and time-budget of small piscivores. Later, he completed his MSc in a joint program between McGill and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama under the supervision of Drs. Brian Leung and Mark Torchin. Here, he went from predators to parasites comparing the effects of parasites on competing species of native and introduced cichlid fishes in the Panama Canal watershed. Currently, he is studying his PhD at ANU under the supervision of Chris Fulton. His research examines the influence of water flow and swimming behaviour on predator-prey interactions in reef fishes.
	Yui Sato - JCU PhD Student Contact: yui.sato1@my.jcu.edu.au Yui grew up at Tokyo in Japan, where he has done his Bachelor in Biology. Today he enjoys his Master's on coral disease, supervised by Dr Bette Willis and David Bourne (AIMS), after his Minor Project on dynamics of a black band disease outbreak at Pelorus Island. He, recently accepted as a member of AIMS@JCU student, focuses on environmental drivers and potential trigger of black band disease and undertakes monitoring of the disease in the field and laboratory work using molecular techniques. Yui keenly intends to expand his studies into a PhD.
	Jessica Stella - JCU PhD Student Contact: jessica.stella@my.jcu.edu.au Jessica grew up near Boston in the USA and became passionate about marine science after she began diving in the chilly waters of the Eastern US. She spent a year living in Bermuda undertaking a double internship as an aquarist for the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo and conducting seagrass and coral baseline surveys as part of the BREAM Programme with the Bermuda Zoological Society. She also volunteered with the Bermuda Turtle Project tagging and collecting DNA from juvenile green turtles. She then moved to Townsville to complete a BSc (Honours) at JCU in 2008 and began her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Geoffrey Jones, Dr. Morgan Pratchett and Dr. Philip Munday from JCU, and collaborations with Dr. Pat Hutchings of the Australian Museum and Dr. Elvira Poloczanska of CSIRO. Her research aims to expand our taxonomic knowledge of reef invertebrate species, examine the level of habitat specialisation exhibited by many coral associated invertebrates and also to determine ! the effects that climate change may have on invertebrate biodiversity.
	Chun Hong Tan - JCU PhD Student Contact: chunhong.tan@my.jcu.edu.au Chun Hong (James) was born and bred in Penang, the "Pearl of the Orient" off the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. His interest in corals and everything-underwater began when he was doing his Bachelor's degree in Marine Biology some 8 years ago. Throughout the duration of the degree, he developed a passion in studying the biology of corals, which led him to a Master's degree, also in Marine Biology, where he studied the gametogenesis cycle of hard corals in South China Sea in the past 3 years. James is still pursuing his passion in corals and is currently doing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Baird, Dr. Line Bay and Dr. Morgan Pratchett; exploring the correlation between environmental cues and growth and reproduction, as well as investigating the effects of stress on trade-off between these vital functions. When not working on his research project, he enjoys underwater photography, diving and socializing.
	Loic Thibaut - JCU and Pierre & Marie Curie PhD Student Contact: loic.thibaut@my.jcu.edu.au Loic was born and raised in France. After completing a Master degree in theoretical computer science at the University of Nancy, he worked as an IT for more than 10 years, mainly overseas. He developed a strong interest in marine ecology while working in Africa on a European Union funded fisheries management project and decided to go back to university. Today he is a PhD student at JCU and University Pierre & Marie Curie, supervised by Prof. Terry Hughes, A.Prof. Sean Connolly and Prof. Rene Galzin. His research focuses on modelling approaches to reef fish assemblages resilience using data from long term monitoring programs.
	Melanie Trapon - JCU PhD Student Contact: melanie.trapon@my.jcu.edu.au Melanie grew up in France where her interests for marine animals started when she began scuba diving at 12 years old in the Mediterranean Sea. Subsequently, she graduated from the University of La Rochelle with a Bachelor of Science specialised in Marine Biology, and then decided it was time to “migrate” to the tropics and study coral reefs. She spent two years in Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean where she went to uni and wrote her thesis on artificial coral reefs. She then moved to Townsville in 2008 to start a Master by Applied Science at JCU, and studied the effects of a crown-of-thorn outbreak on coral population in Moorea, French Polynesia. She enrolled in the Master by Research program in 2009 and upgraded into the PhD program in 2010 under the supervision of Dr. Morgan Pratchett and Dr. Andrew Baird. Her PhD project focuses on variation in population dynamics of reef-building corals along the Great Barrier Reef latitudinal gradient. Specifically, she will compare juvenile corals growth and mortality rates at different latitudes of the GBR to understand how these post-settlement processes contribute to the abundance and distribution patterns of adult corals.
	Lubna Ukani - JCU PhD student Contact: lubna.ukani@my.jcu.edu.au Lubna was born and brought up in Bombay, India. She completed her BSc Honors degree in Biology at the University of Houston in the United States where she developed an interest for molecular genetics. Before moving to Australia she worked for 2 years with the Department of Molecular & Human Genetics at the Baylor college of Medicine in Houston, Texas. As a research assistant she was investigating genetic control of normal development and the mechanisms of pathogenesis involved in human neurodegenerative disease using Drosophila as a model system. Lubna then decided to pursue her interest for molecular genetics in marine organisms at James Cook University where she is currently a PhD student as a part of the Coral Genomics Group, supervised by Prof. David Miller. Her research focuses on the Characterization of DNA Methylation Systems in Acropora and other Lower Animals during development.
	Annamieke Van Den Heuvel - UQ PhD Student Contact: a.vandenheuvel@uq.edu.au Annamieke was raised in Darwin, before moving to Brisbane to further her education. Annamieke completed a Diploma in Horticulture before starting a Bachelor of Science at UQ, majoring in both marine biology and genetics. She went on to do her honours at the Centre for Marine Studies and is currently undertaking her PhD there. She is supervised by Sophie Dove (UQ), Bill Leggat (JCU) and David Yellowlees (JCU). Annamieke’s project examines the effect of elevated nitrogen on gene expression in coral and its’ symbiotic dinoflagellate. When not at university Annamieke enjoys taking long walks with her dogs on the beach.
	Marcelo Visentini Kitahara - JCU PhD Student Contact: marcelo.visentinikitahara@my.jcu.edu.au Marcelo is originally from Brazil and has gained Bachelor in Oceanography (UNIVALI) and Masters degree in Geography (UFSC), studying the systematic, distribution, biogeography and threats among southern Brazilian deep-sea corals. Currently, he is doing PhD at James Cook University under the supervision of Dr David Miller (James Cook University) and Dr Stephen Cairns (Smithsonian Institution). The primary focus of the study is phylogeny of the Scleractinia using molecular and classical taxonimy data.
	Patricia Warner - JCU PhD Student Contact: patricia.warner@my.jcu.edu.au Patricia grew up fishing and diving on the east coast of Florida (USA), where she was born and raised in Stuart. After completing a dual BSc in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans, she spent a year teaching field marine science in the Florida Keys. She later worked for an environmental consultant, involved in a diverse range of marine projects from sea turtle nesting surveys to plankton community studies. In February 2007, Patricia started postgraduate coursework at James Cook University and was soon wooed into the world of corals. She began research with Professor Bette Willis in September, and will officially commence her PhD in 2008. Patricia's current work under the supervision of Prof. Willis and Dr. Madeleine van Oppen (AIMS) employs molecular techniques to investigate the reproductive ecology and population connectivity of the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix.
	Erika Woolsey- JCU PhD Student Contact: erika.woolsey@my.jcu.edu.au Erika grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to North Carolina to attend Duke University, where she majored in biology and minored in art history. While at Duke, she studied abroad in Australia and Bermuda, where her interest in coral reefs began. She moved to Australia after graduation and received her Masters of Applied Science from the University of Sydney. After living in Sydney for over three years, she moved to Townsville to begin her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Baird (Prof. Maria Byrne of the University of Sydney is a co-supervisor). She is interested in how climate change will affect patterns of coral biogeography. Specifically, she wants to know how temperature and life history influence latitudinal distribution of corals on the Great Barrier Reef and whether thermo-tolerance of early life stages varies between thermally distinct regions.
	Huibin Zou - JCU PhD Student Contact: huibin.zou@my.jcu.edu.au Completing his master degree in genetics at Ocean University of China, Huibin is undertaking research at David Miller's lab. His research focuses on screening immune related genes in coral and recording their expression model under microorganism stress.