Team

our researchers, partners, students & support staff

Experienced

Our team tackles the science, management and communication of coastal conservation. Our strengths are in marine ecosystem modelling, automated monitoring, and integrated management.

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

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Professor Rod Connolly

Director | Griffith University, Australia

Marine scientist using automated monitoring to help improve conservation outcomes for coastal ecosystems.

r.connolly@griffith.edu.au

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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.

b.mackey@griffith.edu.au

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Dr Christina Beulow

Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia

Quantitative ecologist interested in establishing confidence in coastal ecosystem conservation.

c.buelow@griffith.edu.au

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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.

chris.brown@griffith.edu.au

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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.

f.adame@griffith.edu.au

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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.

s.lopez-marcano@griffith.edu.au

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Dr Michael Sievers

Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia

Experimental and field biologist with a focus on vertebrate ecology, interested in ecosystem assessment frameworks.

m.sievers@griffith.edu.au

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Dr Mischa Turschwell

Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia

Statistical ecologist in spatial modelling. Background in freshwater systems, thermal regimes and Bayesian models.

m.turschwell@griffith.edu.au

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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.

c.herrera@griffith.edu.au

Partner Researchers

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Dr Mahua Roy Chowdhury

Research Scholar | University of Calcutta, India

Expert in mangrove growth and ecosystem health, including phytoremediation.

mahuarishra@gmail.com

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Dr Paul Maxwell

Principal Scientist | Healthy Land & Water, Australia

Marine ecologist working on the stability and health of coastal ecosystems.

paul.m@hlw.org.au

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Dr Anusha Rajkaran

Senior Lecturer | Western Cape, South Africa

Estuarine ecologist studying macrophyte dynamics and coastal management.

arajkaran@uwc.ac.za

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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.

joesylee@cuhk.edu.hk

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Dr Ana Sousa

Researcher | University of Aveiro, Portugal

Marine ecologist focused on wetlands dynamics, vulnerability, biodiversity and ecosystem services.

anaisousa@ua.pt

Students

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Alyssa Giffin

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Coral-seagrass connections for fisheries and their role in Ecosystem Based Adaptation.

a.giffin@griffith.edu.au

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Sebastian Lopez-Marcano

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Machine learning for wetland conservation: tracking fish abundance and movement.

s.lopez-marcano@griffith.edu.au

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Andria Ostrowski

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Stressors in the real world: evaluating impacts of multiple stressors in coastal ecosystems.

andria.ostrowski@griffith.edu.au

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Laura Griffiths

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Managing vulnerable coastal environments for interactions among multiple threats.

laura.griffiths2@griffithuni.edu.au

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Ellen Ditria

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Automated data analysis using machine and deep learning for ecosystem services and marine conservation.

ellen.ditria@griffithuni.edu.au

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Kristin Jinks

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Valuing seagrass ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – their role in food webs.

kristin.jinks@griffithuni.edu.au

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Olivia King

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Assessing the interactive effects of multiple stressors in coastal ecosystems.

o.king@griffith.edu.au

Research Assistants

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Alexandra White

Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia

Data processing, administration and digital content for the GLOW project.

alexandra.white@griffith.edu.au

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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

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Adam Shand

Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia

Field and laboratory support for the GLOW program.

a.shand@griffith.edu.au

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Briana Holgate

GIS Analyst | Griffith University, Australia

Spatial ecologist with previous research in ecoacoustics and soundscape modelling.

b.holgate@griffith.edu.au

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Michaela Kitchingman

Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia

Field, laboratory and administration support for the GLOW program.

m.kitchingman@griffith.edu.au

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Natasha Watson

Science Communicator | Griffith University, Australia

Communication, engagement and digital content for the GLOW project.

n.watson@griffith.edu.au

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Eric Jinks

Senior Software Engineer | Griffith University, Australia

Digital tools for conservation management, including machine learning and web-based apps.

e.jinks@griffith.edu.au

Alumni

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Dr Tom Rayner

Science Communicator | Griffith University, Australia

Stakeholder engagement, facilitation, comms strategy and digital content. Now at NSW DPI Fisheries.

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Yota Harada

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Food-web consequences of the world’s largest mangrove forest die-off.

 

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Zoë Carnahan

Undergraduate | Griffith University, Australia

Work Integrated Learning placement with GLOW. Now at University of Tasmania.

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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.

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Tyler Hoffman

Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia

Field, lab and admin support for the GLOW program. Now at University of the Sunshine Coast.

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Dale Bryan-Brown

PhD Candidate | Griffith University, Australia

Marine connectivity and dispersal in habitat-forming species. Now teaching in Northern Territory.

 

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Zoë Carey

Research Assistant | Griffith University, Australia

Field, lab and admin support for the GLOW program.

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Dr Jodie Haig

Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia

Marine ecologist interested in linking conservation science to policy outcomes. Now at Qld Gov.

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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.

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Dr Eva McClure

Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia

Marine ecologist interested in informing conservation by understanding species responses to environmental drivers.

Alumni

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Dr Ryan Pearson

Research Fellow | Griffith University, Australia

Community and population ecologist. Background in sea turtles, isotopes, and broad ecological concepts for management.

r.pearson@griffith.edu.au