Theme Leader
A/Prof Neil Holbrook is Convenor of the Adaptation Research Network for Marine Biodiversity and Resources; Associate Professor of Climatology and Climate Change at the University of Tasmania; Associate Editor of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal and past Associate Editor of Journal of Climate [2006-2008] and Executive Secretary of the International Commission on Climate of IAMAS/IUGG. Neil is an international expert in the regional- to large-scale ocean and climate dynamics of the South Pacific, oceanic Rossby waves, climate predictability, extremes and climate change risks. He is interested in the complex feedbacks in climate change science, impacts and adaptation.


Co-theme Leader
Dr Paul Marshall is Director of the Climate Change Group in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. He leads national and international initiatives to understand climate vulnerability of coral reef systems and provide adaptation guidance for conservation practitioners and resource-dependent industries and communities. He is particularly interested in integrating knowledge to support practical adaptation measures in tropical marine systems.

Theme Leader
Dr Alistair Hobday is a Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. His research spans a range of topics, including spatial management and migration of large pelagic species, environmental influences on marine species, and the impacts of climate change on marine resources. He leads the Marine Climate Impacts area within the CSIRO Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, and has been co-editor of two recent reports on the impacts of climate change on (i) fisheries and aquaculture, and (ii) Australian marine life. He is interested in developing methods to enhance human and biological adaptation as a partial solution to climate change.

Co-theme Leader
A/Prof Stewart Frusher is the program leader of Sustainable Fisheries at the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute.  His research interests have lead him to explore new methods and techniques to estimate key fisheries parameters that can be used to ensure sustainability.  As co-theme leader for the Network he is fulfilling his interest in climate change impacts and adaptation on marine fisheries and ecosystems.

Theme Leader
Prof Tim Smith is the Director of the Sustainability Research Centre at the University of the Sunshine Coast.  His research interests lie in the area of sustainability science, coastal management, social and institutional dimensions of climate change, adaptive capacity and community engagement. His role as Communities Theme Leader of the Network incorporate all aspects of his research interest.




Co-theme Leader
Dr Melissa Nursey-Bray (University of Tasmania - Australian Maritime College) is a lecturer at the National Centre for Marine Conservation and Resource Sustainability. Her research foci is in investigating how communities can participate in environmental decision making. Her current work includes development of risk assessment tools for local government so as to build adaptive capacity, development of curriculum and training packages in climate change adaptation for professionals and various projects that focus on how to build social-ecological resilience within Indigenous and non Indigenous fisheries. She is also Director of the Social Science for Climate Change Research Network (SSCCRN).

Theme Leaders
Dr Sarah Jennings (University of Tasmania) is a natural resource economist with particular expertise in applied welfare analysis, including cost-benefit analysis and non-market valuation.  Her involvement in marine economics includes the evaluation of climate change impacts and adaptation strategies, and exploration of the behavioural responses of recreational fishers to climate-induced changes in the quality of recreational fishing opportunities and policies.  Sarah leads the FRDC’s Fisheries Economics Capability Building Project.

Dr Ingrid van Putten is a post-doctoral fellow with the ecosystems modelling team at the CSIRO Centre for Marine and Atmospheric research. She is a social scientist and has been working with biophysical scientists to gain a better understanding of coupled social-ecological systems. The main focus of her research is to formulate, implement and apply quantitative models of human behaviour in the context of the ecosystems models for the marine environment and climate change. Because complexity in the bio-physical sphere is mirrored in social and economic systems, she focuses on the tools that effectively model social and economic data and aims to find the optimum level of complexity for human behaviour models.

Theme Leader
Associate Professor Marcus Haward holds a PhD in political science from the University of Tasmania and has a substantive appointment in the School of Government at UTas. He has held a number of appointments at UTas including Head of School and Deputy Dean. His research interests lie in Fisheries management, Ocean policy and governance, coastal zone management, Antarctic and Southern Ocean law and policy.