Daniel Dunn leads AMBL. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and the director of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science. His research focuses on applying ecological and biogeographical theory to develop applied solutions to natural resource management and conservation problems in the ocean across a range of scales.  He is the former co-chair of the Biology and Ecosystems Panel of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), sits on the Convention on Migratory Species' Scientific Council Working Group on Connectivity, the Scientific Committee of the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI), and IUCN Specialist Groups.  He has directly informed policy development by the Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Seabed Authority and the new High Seas Treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).

Diego is an interdisciplinary marine ecologist interested in understanding the ecological mechanisms that drive ecosystem health. He foremost focuses on delivering scientific information to improve marine protected areas' conservation outcomes. He is currently investigating elasmobranch migratory connectivity across reefs, and multispecies network models in conservation planning. He is also researching elasmobranch movement using network analysis as a tool to estimate population structures. Finally, his project aims to provide a baseline for shark migratory movement in Australia, strengthening understanding of connectivity within and beyond national jurisdictions.  

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Harris Heng completed his Master of Philosophy in Marine Science at Universiti Malaya, Malaysia in 2021. His research focused on identifying the spatial structure of seagrass and dugong feeding trails in Johor, Malaysia and evaluating the factors that influence dugong feeding preferences. Harris then worked for two years as a research assistant at Academia Sinica, Taiwan, where he studied the population and community ecology of coral reef organisms. For his PhD, Harris aims to understand the role of seagrass connectivity on the population structure of megaherbivores, by applying biophysical modelling and eDNA analysis, and to use this knowledge to develop an optimised protected area design to enhance the conservation planning for seagrasses and megaherbivores in the Gulf of Thailand.

Lily is a movement ecologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Applied Marine Biogeography Lab. She is interested in how and where highly mobile predators travel, what their journeys can teach us about their evolutionary histories, and how to translate research findings into effective conservation policies. In AMBL, she is working on using animal tracking data and network models to understand migratory connectivity in the oceans. She received her BSc (Hons) from the University of Queensland, studying the thermal physiology and behaviour of wild saltwater crocodiles. In her PhD, at the University of Cambridge, she investigated the foraging ecology of albatrosses and petrels across the Southern Ocean.

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Kristine, better known as Tin, is a quantitative marine ecologist from the Philippines. Although most of her colleagues in her undergraduate degree chose to go into medicine, she took the road less travelled — a path in research... and while most of her colleagues in marine science studied coastal ecosystems, she was more interested in the high seas. Tin has a Master’s degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems (TROPIMUNDO), an Eramus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree program, where she finished first in her batch (Plus Grande Distinction). Tin has developed methods used by conservation practitioners to transition to more climate-smart spatial planning approaches. She’s done this by prioritising protection on climate refugia. In her PhD research, Tin wishes to continue her work on climate change and spatial planning by taking it a step further and developing ways of designing more connected, climate-smart protected area networks.

Jaime Restrepo completed his masters in Wildlife Management and Conservation at National University of Costa Rica in 2016. He developed his thesis on habitat evaluation and density estimations of critically endangered great green macaws in north-east Costa Rica. Since then he has focused his work on the research and conservation of sea turtles populations in the Caribbean. Jaime will be working on green sea turtle connectivity in the Caribbean, based on satellite telemetry and stable isotopes analysis, he is looking to identify primary migration routes and foraging grounds for the largest green turtle nesting population in the region.

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Dina Nisthar is research associate with AMBL supporting the work of Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MICO) system. She has a masters degree in Biodiversity and Conservation and 6 years work experience on research projects studying animal behaviour, conservation issues and propagating conservation education in the biodiversity hot-spots of India. The realization of the big gap that exists between research outcomes and practical application of information for conservation problem-solving has shifted her focus to explore ways to bridge this gap. She is keen to translate existing research publications into usable tools for decision makers and stakeholders. She wants to engage in building bridges between the scientific community and the rest of society to disseminate scientific information to derive actionable conservation outcomes.

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Aharon Fleury completed his Master of Science Biology (Fisheries) program at University of Victoria, Canada in 2016 where he evaluated the reproductive ecology of hagfish off the coast of Vancouver Island. He has since worked five years as an environmental consultant performing ecological and human health risk assessments and modelling the movement of contaminants to humans, plants, and animals via biotic transport pathways. The aim of Aharon’s PhD research is to develop and apply a framework, built on an individual-based model, for environmental impact assessments of marine species that explicitly incorporates connectivity across a migratory cycle and facilitates decision-making by incorporating stakeholder values.  

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Sandra is a marine data scientist with an interest in marine spatial planning and ecosystem modelling. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology from the University of Plymouth and a MSc in Bioinformatics from the University of Leipzig. Sandra previous experience includes writing R packages and Shiny apps to facilitate stakeholder engagement with time-efficient and reproducible marine spatial planning apps. Her research focuses on designing marine protected areas and assessing their costs and benefits from an ecological and economic perspective. Her PhD will address multiple-use spatial planning in the Global South in a joint project by the University of Queensland and the University of Exeter.