Current activities

I am the Data Manager for the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub. My primary role is to support NESP researchers in publishing open-access data for use by the Department of the Environment and for exposure to other scientists, collaborators, and to the general public. I am responsible for producing guidelines and strategy documentation to facilitate the creation of metadata describing NESP research data collections, and to assist with publication of NESP data in the AODN Data Portal. This maximises exposure of the Hub's research efforts and provides feedback for ongoing performance monitoring of project deliverables. The Hub's primary goal is to assist partners to astablish autonomous data management processes within their organisations. As Data Manager, my role encompasses working with individual researchers and organisations to develop technical solutions and processes for the storage, curation, and online showcasing of Marine Biodiversity Hub data.
 

Background

I completed my honours with the Zoology Department of the University of Tasmania, where I investigated the impacts of grazing by the long-spined sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii on rocky reef communities in southeastern Australia. Through this work I developed an alternative model for barrens formation fundamentally different to globally established models which was used to inform management of temperate rocky reef fisheries. My PhD was completed through the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (also at UTAS) where I studied the impacts of climate change on habitat-forming macroalgae. I have a keen interest in algal ecophysiology and its relationship with key environmental drivers. I have also worked in both the MPA conservation and fisheries ecosystem management space, and have a particular interest in phase shift dynamics. I am an ADAS Part II Commercial Diver and am periodically involved with applied marine consulting work.

More recently I have moved into the data management space with my role as Research Data Coordinator with IMAS. In this role I offer support to researchers in contributing to open data stores to maximise exposure of their research efforts, and develop technical solutions to showcase the continually evolving range of spatial research data.
 

Academic qualifications

University of Tasmania
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Marine Ecology (2010 – 2015)
Bachelor of Marine Science (BMarSc, Hons), Marine Ecology (2006 – 2010)