People

Ciemon completed his BSc in Biology at Silliman University in the Philippines. He proceeded to work with the Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation after his undergraduate studies and was involved in several coral reef management projects throughout the Philippines. He received his MSc in Biology degree from the University of Guam in 2009, where he studied the role of chemical cues on the feeding ecology and distribution of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) populations around Guam. After finishing his MSc, he continued to study and monitor chronic COTS outbreaks on Micronesian reefs and collaborated with JCU on developing novel techniques to control COTS populations. His PhD research explored environmental influences on the reproductive biology and early life history of COTS. After his PhD, he worked as a research scientist at Ultra Coral Australia as part of the Advance Queensland Knowledge Transfer Partnership with JCU. He is currently a research fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, working with Prof. Morgan Pratchett to assess the sustainability of coral aquarium fisheries in Australia and to develop an early warning system for crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks.