Current activities

My research intends to develop remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) as a robust survey tool for marine life in south-eastern Australia. Multibeam sonar, collected as part of a larger ongoing research initiative to map the Australian seafloor, was used to identify habitat features off the coast of the Tasman Peninsula, Governor Island Marine Reserve and Butler’s Point, Tasmania. Based on these habitat features, a spatially-balanced sampling approach called Balanced Adaptive Sampling (BAS) was used to provide efficient and representative cover of benthic marine life. High-definition video footage collected on these surveys was then used to assess the effectiveness of ROV surveys using a BAS approach to survey key fish species, as well as the range expansion of the long-spined urchin, Centrostephanus rodgersii.

Background

I moved from my hometown of Golden Valley, Minnesota in 2008 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in marine biology at Texas A&M University in Galveston. I then continued onto my master’s degree in marine biology and ecology in 2014 at James Cook University in Townsville, where my research focused on using baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) to survey rays on One Tree Island. This introduction into video survey methods led to my interest in developing remotely operated vehicles as a monitoring tool for my PhD thesis at the University of Tasmania.

Academic qualifications

B.S. Texas A&M University - Galveston, M.S. James Cook University - Townsville, PhD candidate at University of Tasmania - Hobart

Membership of key national committees