Emma Kennedy is an early-career research scientist specialising in coral reef ecology. She currently holds a position as a Research Fellow at the Global Change Institute (UQ), where she coordinates the "50 reefs" initiative, a project aiming to use the best available science to prioritise protection efforts on those coral reefs that are least vulnerable to climate change and with a capacity to repopulate degraded reefs over time.
Before moving to Queensland she completed a PhD in coral reef ecology at the University of Exeter, where she modelled the future collapse of Caribbean reef ecosystems. Emma has diverse research interests: as well as expertise in climate change impacts on reef functioning, she has worked on bioerosion (measuring how fast reef is broken down by sponges and urchins), coralline algae (investigating calcification as a resilience indicator), Symbiodinium (employing molecular techniques to explore coral-symbiont biogeography), and reef bioacoustics (listening to the noise produced by reefs to understand reef condition).
Emma is a passionate advocate for volunteer-driven science and has spent five summers helping train volunteers in coral ID and in underwater survey techniques (including ReefCheck) in Mexico, Honduras and Cuba. She is also a PADI Instructor and enjoys introducing new divers to the underwater world on her weekends.