Chico Birrell
PhD graduate
University of Queensland
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.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)
For the first time, scientists have assessed how many corals there are in the Pacific Ocean—and evaluated their risk of extinction. While the answer to “how many coral species are there?” is
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Abstract: Oceanic shark populations have declined 77% over the past 60 years as a result of overexploitation in fisheries. However, sustainable shark management is limited to a few developed nations
Abstract: Vertigo3 is a new class of small, fast and agile ‘true-flight’ underwater glider, purposely designed for robotic, artificial intelligence-assisted broadscale marine surveys, and capable
Abstract: Recurrent marine heat waves are leading to widespread coral bleaching, transforming the structure and function of tropical coral reefs. Past bleaching events have highlighted large variatio
Abstract: Shallow-water tropical seascapes typically include a range of habitat types such as coral reefs, mangroves, macroalgal and seagrass beds. These habitats can occur in close proximity and are
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au