Science advisory committee
Dr Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is currently Foundation Professor and Director of the Centre for Marine Studies at The University of Queensland. Hoegh-Guldberg has held academic positions at UCLA, Stanford University, The University of Sydney and The University of Queensland and is currently a member of the Australian Climate Group; the Royal Society (London) Marine Advisory Network; and the Board of Editing Reviewers at Science Magazine. He also heads a large research laboratory (over 27 researchers & students) that focuses on how global warming and ocean acidification are affecting and will affect coral reefs now and into the future.
He completed his BSc Hons at the University of Sydney and PhD at UCLA in 1989, and has spent the past 20 years working on climate change issues within marine ecosystems. He was recognised in 1999 with the Eureka Prize in 1999 for "ground-breaking research into the physiological basis of coral bleaching". His published works include over 160 refereed publications and book chapters.
In his role as Deputy Director of theARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and as Coordinator for the Australasian Centre for Excellence and Chair of the Bleaching Working Group within the World Bank-Global Environment Facility Coral Reef Targeted Research project, Hoegh-Guldberg interacts with a wide array of national and international scientific networks that focus on the challenges that climate change poses to the health of the world's oceans. He also runs the topical blog site www.climateshifts.org, which is part of his firm commitment to communicating science beyond the walls of universities and academia in general.
In addition to his work as a university academic, Hoegh-Guldberg has been advisor to numerous organisations including the Royal Society (London), Greenpeace, World Fund for Nature, Rio Tinto Aluminium, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, The World Bank, UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, NOAA and the Australian Government on the issue of coral reefs and climate change.
Dr Hugh Sweatman
Dr Hugh Sweatman is a Senior Research Scientist, leader of the Australian Institute of Marine Science's long-term Monitoring Program on the Great Barrier Reef.
He completed his BA in Zoology at New College, Oxford University and PhD at Macquarie University, Sydney in 1985.
His prime interests are general reef ecology and the patterns of change on the Great Barrier reef and their underlying causes. Sweatman joined AIMS in 1995 following his research fellow ship at James Cook University from 1990 to 1995. Prior to this, he spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow and visiting scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panama.
With areas of expertise in Reef ecology and Ecology and behaviour of coral reef fishes, Sweatman is a member of the Australian Coral Reef Society, Ecological Society of Australia, Ecological Society of America and the International Society for Reef Studies.
He has published over 40 science and technical papers in international journals.
Dr Terry Done
Dr Terry Done is an internationally renowned marine biologist and coral reef researcher who made his first foray into coral reef studies on a part time basis in 1970 while a PhD student in Zoology at a small university in New South Wales, Australia.
In 1975 he obtained a post-doctoral fellowship in coral reef ecology at James Cook University. Then in 1980, he joined the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) where he progressed through the ranks of Research Scientist until his retirement in 2007. He has been an advisor to governments in Australia, US and Indonesia on coral reef science and management and he has written over 60 scientific papers and book chapters, with a focus on coral reefs. The scope of his work and interests also includes the geological history of coral reefs, the processes of reef growth, effects of fishing and pollution and the effects of global climate change. He is now an AIMS Research Associate and an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, positions that allow him to continue his studies and impart the benefit of his knowledge and experience to undergraduate and graduate students.
Dr Chris Roelfsema
Chris Roelfsema is scientist/lecturer at University of Queensland since 1998. His research focuses on integrating field and remote sensing satellite or airborne imagery to study coral reef and seagrass environments. As a result, he gained knowledge and skills in: marine biology; identification of coral, seagrass, algae, and inverts; and various marine surveying methods and developed techniques for gathering georeferenced photos of bottom types. For the research he mapped or monitored rocky reefs, seagrass and coral reefs in: Australia (e.g. Moreton Bay Marine Park, Wolf Rock, Heron Reef, Lizard, Swains, Coral Sea), and Asia Pacific (e.g. Fiji, Cook Island, Solomon's, Palau). Chris has various degrees: BsC hydrographic surveying, MsC Geodetic Engineer, PgDip Marine Science and PhD in coral reef remote sensing. Since 1981 he has been an active diver, and has trained people in all kinds of diving and first aid skills. He has trained people in various marine surveying methods, organised volunteer based marine monitoring projects, is active supporter of Reef Check and CoralWatch, and is Reef Check trainer since 2010.
Dr Clive Wilkinson
Clive Wilkinson is the Coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network that operates in more than 80 countries and publishes the 'Status of Coral Reefs of the World' reports every 2 years. These reports have appeared in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and the latest in 2008 reported that we have lost 19% of our reefs, due mostly to human damage; with a further 35% seriously threatened in the next few decades. These predictions do not consider climate change which looms as the greatest threat to the future of coral reefs. The GCRMN also published reports on the effects on coral reefs of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and the massive bleaching in the Caribbean in 2005. Clive was the co- author with Jos Hill on the compilation of coral reef monitoring methods, that was also published by the GCRMN in association with Reef Check Australia.
Before this he was the Chief Technical Advisor for a coastal resource research program in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand for 5 years. This program focused on training in coral reef and mangrove monitoring methods developed jointly by Asian scientists and those from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. This resulted in a book of monitoring methods that is still regarded as the 'bible' of methods.
He was the Chair of the United Nations Global Task Team on the Implications of Global Climate Change and Coral Reefs from 1991 to 1995 and co-authored the definitive report on climate change and reefs in 1994. The predictions proved to be conservative as 4 years later, the world experienced devastating El Nino and La Nina coral bleaching that effectively knocked out 16% of the world's coral reefs.
Clive worked as an active field scientist on the ecology of the Great Barrier Reef at the Australian Institute of Marine Science from 1980 to 2006. His research was principally on the nutrition of corals and sponges, and he has published more than 100 scientific articles. He received BSc and PhD training in marine microbiology and ecology from the University of Queensland, doing research on coral reef sponges at Heron Island. He is now based at the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre in Townsville Australia.
Jos Hill
Jos Hill served as Reef Check Australia's Managing Director until 2009. In partnership with Undersea Explorer and Andy Dunstan, Jos established the beginnings of Reef Check Australia as a volunteer with the flagship Great Barrier Reef Project in 2001. The aim was to help local communities monitor their coral reefs, and enhance public awareness of the threats to coral reefs. In 2004, Jos founded Reef Check Foundation Limited (Australia). Today, over 100 Reef Check Australia volunteers monitor more than sixty sites throughout Australia.
Jos has a Master of Applied Science in Natural Resource Management from James Cook University as well as a Bachelor of Science in Biology (International) from the University of Leeds in the UK, which included a minor project at Autonoma University in Madrid, Spain. Jos also holds a PADI open water scuba instructor and ADAS Level 1 certification.
This academic background compliments her comprehensive experience in coral reef conservation and monitoring in the Indo-Pacific. Jos has also been involved in a number of publications, and was the primary author of an international resource book for managers on coral reef monitoring.
She designed Reef Check Australia's Training Course and was a major contributor to Reef Check International's EcoAction program and standard Reef Check EcoDiver course. As a Reef Check Instructor Trainer, Jos has led a number of Reef Check training workshops in the Indo-Pacific and in Mexico.