Senior Associate

Nathan has recently worked as Manager, Tourism Stewardship with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park collaborating with the tourism industry in the Great Barrier Reef to improve their stewardship engagement and compliance with the marine park zoning plan.

Nathan developed a passion for coral reefs working as a dive instructor on the small island of Koh Tao in southern Thailand. After a number of years as a PADI master instructor, Nathan recognised the damage and degradation unrestrained marine tourism development can cause on coral reefs and decided to do something about it. Pioneering the marine conservation centre, Eco Koh Tao, Nathan developed locally specific marine monitoring and assessment programs, established a specialist program in marine resource management and became an expert in active coral reef restoration through years of practical application, trial and self-education. He has complemented his many years of practical experience by recently completing a Masters in Marine Science at Southern Cross University.

Nathan is PADI Master Instructor with over 3500 dives as an instructor and conservation leader. Many of his dives have been conducting reef surveys for the Koh Tao Ecological Monitoring Program and Reef Check International. He has regularly instructed students in his own specialised marine resource management program, integrating the theory of marine management with active reef restoration techniques including the development and installation of coral nurseries, and artificial reefs, including the use of Biorock tm technology as a reef restoration method.

Nathan has attended and presented at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns in 2012 and Hawaii, 2016, presenting sustainable models of conservation for small communities to protect their local reefs through stewardship actions.

As a new member of the Reef Ecologic team, Nathan has a passion for active reef restoration and a drive to develop these techniques and methods on the Great Barrier Reef. Concurrently he has a passion for supporting developing countries in creating self-sustaining systems of conservation and preservation of their coral reef ecosystems.

Director

Paul is passionate about the ocean and strongly believes that a healthy marine environment is crucial to human wellbeing and sustainable prosperity. His experience working with reef based industries, businesses and communities comes together with an international reputation in applied research and natural resource management to forge a skill set and approach that bridges the gap between conservation and development.

Paul is Adjunct Associate Professor with the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science at the University of Queensland and Director of Reef Ecologic. He worked with Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for 14 years, where he founded and led the Climate Change Program and the Australia-Caribbean Coral Reef Collaboration. He has over 20 years experience in the research and management of tropical marine systems, including ecological monitoring, incident response, environmental site supervision, strategic planning, policy development, social-economic integration, vulnerability assessments and capacity-building. He has worked with managers, scientists, communities and businesses throughout the tropics, including the Great Barrier Reef, Timor Sea, Ningaloo Reef, Caribbean Sea, southeast Asia, south Pacific and the Red Sea. Governments, major NGOs and international organisations regularly seek his advice and expertise on issues spanning climate change, reef ecology, environmental policy, management planning, community engagement and public-private partnerships.

Paul takes a collaborative approach to problem solving, and has a reputation for convening effective multi-disciplinary teams and facilitating outcome-oriented meetings and workshops. This has resulted in over 45 peer-reviewed publications on applied reef ecology and conservation practice, including the milestone references The Great Barrier Reef and Climate Change: A Vulnerability Assessment and A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching. His research has attracted over 3500 citations and he has sourced over $11 million in funding for work at the science-policy interface.

Paul gained his PhD from James Cook University in 2000, and remains closely involved in applied research (ecological and social) as well as management and policy for reef conservation. He has over 2000 dives on coral reefs around the world, and still loves to get in the water.

Director

Adam is a dedicated scientist, manager and leader who has a life long commitment to the marine environment and a vision to make a positive difference for current and future generations. Adam is particularly interested in developing multi-disciplinary teams and strong partnerships to collaborate to design projects and processes to ensure long-term sustainable environmental, social and economic outcomes.

Adam has worked in multiple roles in research, consulting, management, not-for-profit and Boards including NSW Fisheries Research Institute, University of NSW, The Ecology Lab, NSW Fisheries, Recfish Australia, Australian Underwater Federation and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Adam thrives on leadership roles and developing individuals and teams to focus on vision, people, process and outcomes and his work has been recognised with multiple national and international awards for excellence. He has extensive regulatory, EIA, policy, project, partnership, grant, incident and communication experience in environmental issues and management.

Adam has a BSc (Hons) and PhD from UNSW in 1999, an MBA from UQ in 2003 and he is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand. He has authored 40 scientific papers and books. Adam is a commercial diver with over 2500 dives and a Queensland and Australian champion in fin-swimming, photography and spearfishing.