Current activities

Dr McLeod is the Project leader for Project E5 'The role of restoration in conserving matters of national environmental significance'. Previously he led Project B4 'Underpinning the repair and conservation of Australia's threatened coastal-marine habitats' with Dr Chris Gillies (The Nature Conservancy) and Colin Creighton (TropWATER, JCU). Ian also leads the NESP Tropical Water Quality Hub project 'Best practice coral restoration for the Great Barrier Reef' and is a theme leader in the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program and is part of the core team for the Reef Restoration and Adaption Program.  

Background

Ian has 20 years experience as a leader in the fields of environmental management, scientific research, communications and outreach. He has worked on every continent with reaseach focused on coastal habitat restoration, sportsfishing and ecotourism, coral reef ecology, climate change impacts on the marine environment and land-based effects on coastal waters. Ian is passonate about science communication. He was a Communications Manager at James Cook University for five years and is a Founder and Director of Cinematic Science, a media company that focusses on science stories. In 2016 Ian was named as a James Cook University Rising Star, and an Advance Queensland Digital Champion, followed by a Queensland Tall Poppy award in 2017. 

Academic qualifications

PhD (2015) - James Cook University 
MSc (1st Class Honours) - The University of Auckland 
Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Management - The University of Auckland 
Postgraduate Certificate in Water Quality  - The University of Auckland 
BSc in Biology - The University of Auckland 

Membership of key national committees

• Australian Marine Science Society
• Australian Coastal Restoration Network
• Australian Shellfish Restoration Network

James Cook University Profile