Our team tackles the science, management and communication of coastal conservation. Our strengths are in marine ecosystem modelling, automated monitoring, and integrated management.
Experienced
International
GLOW is truly global in scope. Key partner investigators are working closely with researchers based at Griffith University, Australia to produce and trial the science behind better wetland care.
Diverse
Our diverse team includes scientists with field, lab and management expertise in coastal wetlands all over the world. This includes broad experience across different methods, cultures and ecosystems.
Team members
Hours of Work
Elements
Followers
Research Capacity
GLOW was established at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia in March 2018. Professor Rod Connolly directs GLOW, with Professor Brendan Mackey and Dr Chris Brown providing leadership support to newly recruited research and support personnel.
GLOW has also partnered with a range of trial locations worldwide. This includes direct collaborations with key researchers at each site, and their host institutions. The international, interdisciplinary team will advance research under three themes: Measuring Health, Improving Action, and Engaging Authentically.
The group has previously worked on resilience, connectivity, multiple stressors, planning and biodiversity. Our researchers have:
- prioritised actions for wetland conservation;
- predicted impacts of multiple stressors to coastal ecosystems;
- developed adaptive management frameworks for ecological assets;
- contributed to global ecosystem assessments for impacts of fisheries;
- informed international whaling policy; and,
- led and communicated large research programs.
Future research
In August 2021, Dr Chris Brown was awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship for the project Predicting coastal ecological futures in an era of unprecedented change. It will show how we can predict the future for coastal habitats, fisheries and biodiversity and validate the reliability of those predictions.
Dr Michael Sievers also received an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for the project Redefining success in marine ecosystem restoration. It will look at restored seagrass and measure various relationships between animal health, seagrass health and ecological functions, ultimately aiming to enhance restoration outcomes for wildlife and people.
Researchers
Professor Rod Connolly
Director | Griffith University, Australia
Marine scientist using automated monitoring to help improve conservation outcomes for coastal ecosystems.
Professor Brendan Mackey
Research Leader | Griffith University, Australia
Director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program, interested in science-based policy formation. Leads GLOW work in Vanuatu.
Dr Christina Beulow
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Quantitative ecologist interested in establishing confidence in coastal ecosystem conservation.
Associate Professor Chris Brown
Research Leader | Griffith University, Australia
Marine ecosystem modeller (including multiple stressors). Interested in numbers that shake up the politics of saving nature.
Dr Fernanda Adame
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Studies ecosystem services provided by coastal wetlands, including carbon sequestration and coastal protection, with active projects in Mexico.
Sebastian Lopez-Marcano
Research Fellow (Data Science) | Griffith University, Australia
Project Manager of the Australian Research Data Commons FishID platform. Developing and applying AI solutions to AgTech, conservation and education.
Dr Michael Sievers
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Experimental and field biologist with a focus on vertebrate ecology, interested in ecosystem assessment frameworks.
Dr Mischa Turschwell
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Statistical ecologist in spatial modelling. Background in freshwater systems, thermal regimes and Bayesian models.
César Herrera
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Studies biodiversity and ecosystem functioning relationship using novel technologies. Developing hardware and software that reduces epistemic and aleatory uncertainty in ecological data.
Partner Researchers
Dr Mahua Roy Chowdhury
Research Scholar | University of Calcutta, India
Expert in mangrove growth and ecosystem health, including phytoremediation.
Dr Paul Maxwell
Principal Scientist | Healthy Land & Water, Australia
Marine ecologist working on the stability and health of coastal ecosystems.
Dr Anusha Rajkaran
Senior Lecturer | Western Cape, South Africa
Estuarine ecologist studying macrophyte dynamics and coastal management.
Professor Shing-Yip (Joe) Lee
Professor | Chinese University of Hong Kong
Director of the Simon F S Li Marine Science Laboratory and Chair of the IUCN Mangrove Specialist Group.
Dr Ana Sousa
Researcher | University of Aveiro, Portugal
Marine ecologist focused on wetlands dynamics, vulnerability, biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Students
Alyssa Giffin
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Coral-seagrass connections for fisheries and their role in Ecosystem Based Adaptation.
Sebastian Lopez-Marcano
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Machine learning for wetland conservation: tracking fish abundance and movement.
Andria Ostrowski
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Stressors in the real world: evaluating impacts of multiple stressors in coastal ecosystems.
Laura Griffiths
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Managing vulnerable coastal environments for interactions among multiple threats.
Ellen Ditria
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Automated data analysis using machine and deep learning for ecosystem services and marine conservation.
Kristin Jinks
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Valuing seagrass ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – their role in food webs.
Olivia King
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Assessing the interactive effects of multiple stressors in coastal ecosystems.
Research Assistants
Alexandra White
Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia
Data processing, administration and digital content for the GLOW project.
alexandra.white@griffith.edu.au
Jasmine Hall
Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia
Conservation biologist working with Dr Fernanda and her PhD students in wetland ecology in the field and laboratory. Website editor and blog writer for GLOW.GLOW project.
jasmine.hall@griffith.edu.au
Adam Shand
Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia
Field and laboratory support for the GLOW program.
Briana Holgate
GIS Analyst | Griffith University, Australia
Spatial ecologist with previous research in ecoacoustics and soundscape modelling.
Michaela Kitchingman
Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia
Field, laboratory and administration support for the GLOW program.
Natasha Watson
Science Communicator | Griffith University, Australia
Communication, engagement and digital content for the GLOW project.
Eric Jinks
Senior Software Engineer | Griffith University, Australia
Digital tools for conservation management, including machine learning and web-based apps.
Alumni
Dr Tom Rayner
Science Communicator | Griffith University, Australia
Stakeholder engagement, facilitation, comms strategy and digital content. Now at NSW DPI Fisheries.
Yota Harada
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Food-web consequences of the world’s largest mangrove forest die-off.
Zoë Carnahan
Undergraduate | Griffith University, Australia
Work Integrated Learning placement with GLOW. Now at University of Tasmania.
Marina Richardson
Science Communicator | Griffith University, Australia
Science Communicator. Now a PhD Candidate at Griffith University researching shellfish reef restoration and the diversity of reef building bivalves.
Tyler Hoffman
Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia
Field, lab and admin support for the GLOW program. Now at University of the Sunshine Coast.
Dale Bryan-Brown
PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia
Marine connectivity and dispersal in habitat-forming species. Now teaching in Northern Territory.
Zoë Carey
Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia
Field, lab and admin support for the GLOW program.
Dr Jodie Haig
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Marine ecologist interested in linking conservation science to policy outcomes. Now at Qld Gov.
Dr Viv Tulloch
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Conservation decision-maker and modeller interested in how natural and human disturbances affect biodiversity and natural resources. Now at University of British Columbia.
Dr Eva McClure
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Marine ecologist interested in informing conservation by understanding species responses to environmental drivers.
Alumni
Dr Ryan Pearson
Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia
Community and population ecologist. Background in sea turtles, isotopes, and broad ecological concepts for management.