Dr Arthur Dye Dr Arthur Dye was Deputy Director in the Centre from 2001 to 2005. His research on the ecology of coastal lakes focussed on the influence of isolation from the sea on macro- and meiobenthos. He initiated a project to develop eco-assay techniques for assessing spatial and temporal variability in ecological processes in coastal lakes. His work also included a study of the effects of physical disturbance on meiobenthos in mangrove forests. He was instrumental in the establishment of the NSW Aquatic Ecological Research Programme, of which he was President in 2004/5. He now has an environmental education company, based in Sydney.

Professor Brian Bayne Brian was Deputy Director of the Centre (1997-1999) and has now retired to Plymouth in the UK. Brian started a number of projects in the Centre, some of which are being continued with his collaboration. One project aims to evaluate new approaches to estimating the carrying capacity of estuaries for oyster cultivation (ie to determine the optimal stocking density for oysters under cultivation). Another project concerns the use of mussels to measure the biological impacts of contamination of estuaries. In both of these projects, Brian works closely with Dr Pieter Honkoop, a post-doctoral Fellow at the Centre.

Dr Steve Kennelly Steve is an Honorary Associate of the Centre and a past Deputy Director. He is now Chief Scientist with NSW Fisheries. His research interests involve the empirical study of marine biological resources. Early work examined ecological patterns and processes occurring in underwater kelp systems and the biology of, and fishery for, the commercially exploited spanner crab (Ranina ranina). More recently, his research involves solving by-catch problems in commercial trawl fisheries.

Dr Laura Airoldi Laura Airoldi was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre during the years 1997-1998. Laura completed her Ph.D. at the Università di Genova in 1994 and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Università di Pisa from 1994 to 1997. Whilst at the Centre, Laura worked on several aspects of the ecology of coastal algae, with emphasis on the effects of interacting disturbances, life-histories and spatial and temporal heterogeneity in structuring patchy assemblages. Laura is currently a research fellow in the Laboratory of Experimental Ecology of the Università di Bologna, and she is involved in teaching Ecology at the Corso di Laurea in Scienze Ambientali in Ravenna. Her research is centred on understanding ecological processes on and around artificial structures by using a quantitative and experimental approach, and predicting environmental impacts of structures on coastal biodiversity and population dynamics. These issues have important applied aspects in terms of conservation and management of coastal habitats.

Dr Marti Jane Anderson Marti held a U2000 post-doctoral fellowship in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities during the years 1997-1999. During that time, she worked on the development of new methods of multivariate analysis for ecology. Her current and continuing interests are centred on the special statistical problems encountered by ecologists in the experimental design and analysis of field data, including tests for environmental impact. Some of these issues are especially challenging when dealing with whole sets of organisms in multivariate systems. She is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Statistics, University of Auckland, New Zealand and continues to work in the nexus between the disciplines of ecology (especially marine ecology) and statistics in her teaching and research. Much of her work involves collaboration with the School of Environmental and Marine Science and activities at Leigh Marine Laboratory.

Dr Philippe Archambault Phil was a Research Fellow at the Centre from 1998 until October, 2000. His research interests include studying the effects of size of disturbance in an area, on the recovery of abundance and diversity of marine animals and algae. Whilst at the Centre he investigated the effects of natural disasters and of disturbances caused by humans e. g. sewage outfalls and harvesting, on algal diversity. Phil has returned to Canada to take up a research position with the Department of Fisheries and Ocean, Canada. His work there, will involve studying the impacts of humans on the habitat of fish.

Dr Francisco Barros Francisco had a scholarship from the Brazilian governmental agency Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES, to do his Ph.D at the Centre and for part of 2002 he was also a Research Fellow in the Centre. He worked with macrofaunal assemblages inhabiting soft-sediments in shallow sub-tidal areas and exposed sandy beaches. He investigated the relationship between the increase in abundance and diversity of macrofauna with depth in different types of sandy beaches. He also looked at the effects of different types of disturbances(e.g. construction of artificial rocky reefs and destruction of sand dunes) on the macrofaunal assemblages. Francisco has now returned to Brazil.

Dr Sean Connell Sean was a Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Centre from 1997-1999 and during that time he developed and tested theory about urban structures as marine habitats. Sean is an expert subtidal ecologist and has contributed 22 peer-reviewed publications to predation-theory and understanding the effects of habitat on encrusting plants, invertebrates and fish. He is now a lecturer at the University of Adelaide.

Dr Tim Glasby was a Research Fellow in the Centre from 1997 - 2000 and in 2002. Tim did his Ph.D. on the influences of marinas on subtidal marine organisms in the Institute of Marine Ecology and at the Centre, completed a variety of research projects on the effects of urban structures on subtidal marine organisms. Tim supervised honours, masters and Ph.D. students during his time at the Centre He left the Centre in February, 2000 to work at The Ecology Lab Pty Ltd as an environmental consultant, returned to the Centre in 2002, and is now working at NSW Fisheries.

Dr Mike Holloway Mike was a Research Fellow at the Centre from 1999 - 2002. He completed his Ph.D. in 1999 at the University of Melbourne in Victoria. For his Ph.D. he examined the ways in which a large, introduced marine fanworm affected assemblages of animals living on hard surfaces.Whilst at the Centre he researched artificial structures such as jetty pilings, floating pontoons and rock walls which are increasingly common habitats for marine organisms. These novel habitats support invertebrates in very different relative abundances compared to natural hard substrata such as rocky reef. He investigated some of the underlying reasons for these differences, focussing on the effects of structures on processes such as larval dispersal, recruitment, and the impact of predators. Mike also taught Marine Ecology to third year and Honours students. He is now working at NSW Fisheries.

Dr Pieter Honkoop was a Research Fellow at the Centre from 1999 - 2002. At the Centre Pieter was involved in a study of carrying capacity of oysters in Port Stephens. Within this project he investigated physiological growth of two species of oysters, the Sydney rock oyster and the Pacific oyster and studied the flexibility of their feeding organs (gills and palps). It was found that Pacific oysters grow faster than Sydney rock oysters do and that the sizes of their gills and palps change dramatically during the year, more so than those of Sydney rock oysters. This flexibility possibly allows Pacific oysters to adapt better to changing food-conditions than Sydney rock oysters do, by maximising intake of energy. He also studied allocation of energy to reproduction by Pacific oysters and did ecological work on the suitability of mussels as bio-indicators in Sydney Harbour. During his last year at the Centre Pieter studied communities in soft sediment in areas of intensive culture of oysters and the spatial distribution of bivalves in intertidal soft sediments. Pieter returned to the Netherlands and is continuing researching the energetics of feeding of bivalves.

Dr Miles Hoskin was a Research Fellow at the Centre from 1998 until May, 2001. His main research interest is assessment of environmental impacts from different kinds of human activities. At the Centre he managed consultancy projects involving experimental assessments of the ecological impacts of a mussel farm in Twofold Bay (far south coast of NSW) and a snapper farm at Port Stephens (NSW central coast). These showed how experimental marine ecology can be of direct relevance to the private sector. He also researched how urbanisation affects animals in different soft-sediment habitats, gaining knowledge essential for informing environmental management decisions aimed at conserving estuarine biodiversity. He organised and participated in the Scale Expert workshop in 1999, an international workshop to evaluate hi-tech methods for rapid ecological mapping of the seabed and also worked on biodegradable treatments for cleaning-up oil spills in coastal habitats. Miles has returned to the United Kingdom to work as a Marine Consultant.

Dr Juan Moreira Da Rocha was a Visiting Academic at the Centre from 2004-2005 and a Research Fellow from 2005-2006. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Vigo in 2003. His previous research has been a study of the diversity and patterns of distribution of benthic macrofauna in shallow coastal sediments. His Ph.D. investigated the composition of benthic assemblages in space and time in a small bay in Galicia (N.W. Spain). This study showed changes in composition of sediments and associated faunal assemblages in areas affected by human activities, such as construction of harbour facilities and organic enrichment. He continued this research while at the Centre.

Dr Mats Lindegarth was a Research Fellow in the Centre from 1997 to March 2000. He completed his Ph.D. at Göteborg Universitet (Sweden) in 1996 and was a Postdoctoral Fellow there from 1996-1997. Whilst at the Centre, Mats developed methods for studying environmental impacts on animals living in soft sediments. In particular, he studied effects of (i) pollutants such as heavy metals and hydrocarbons, (ii) multiple disturbances due to urbanisation, (iii) structural modification such as pontoons for recreational boating, (iv) trawling and (v) managerial actions aimed at modifying habitat for a species of migrating bird. He concluded that it is most important for environmental management to be planned and executed within an experimental framework. The effectiveness of managerial actions needs to be evaluated scientifically, using quantitative methods and proper analyses. In April, 2000 Mats took up a position as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Göteborg Universitet, Sweden. He is working on an EU-funded project designing boat-hulls to minimise environmental impacts due to wash. He also teaches experimental design at Tjärnö Marine Biological Laboratory on the west coast of Sweden.

Dr Chris McKindsey was a Research Fellow at the Centre from 1999 until Jume 2001. His main research research is looking at why organisms are distributed in the ways we see them in nature. Many studies in marine ecology examine only the larger, easily counted organisms. Whilst at the Centre, Chris investigated different patterns which may be observed in ecological systems when different sizes of organisms are examined. He also worked on restoration of marine habitats by replacing or adding vegetation or stuctures and examined genetic diversity of developing communities. His research thus focused on understanding the dynamics of small, mostly ignored organisms in disturbed and restored marine intertidal habitats, gaining knowledge essential to the successful restoration of impacted ecosystems. Chris has returned to Canada to take up a research position.

Dr Ian Montgomery was a Research Fellow at the Centre from 1985 - 2001. Ian has a Ph.D. in animal behaviour and an interest in computing, especially in the use of interactive software for training and the dissemination of information. In the Centre he researched the application of information modelling techniques to define the nature and structure of scientific data. His research provided a conceptual basis for the classification of ecological data and a basis for design systems to manage ecological data efficiently in terms of storage and retrieval.

Dr Celia Olabarria was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre from 1999-2001. Celia completed her Ph.D. at the University of Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña (Spain) in 1996 and then worked in a Cooperative Programme in Mexico from 1997 to 1999. Whilst at the Centre, Celia studied the ecology of microgastropods, especially their spatial distribution and the factors limiting their patterns of distribution. Her work focussed on the life stories of small molluscs, including feeding, coexistence with other species, longevity and reproduction. This basic biological information is essential to understanding their patterns of abundance from place to place and time to time and the potential effects that disturbances may have on these animals. Celia gained a Marie Curie Fellowship and is now working at the Southampton Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom.

Dr Francesca Rossi was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre from 2000 - 2002. Francesca completed her Ph.D.Degree in Animal Biology, in 1999, at the University of Modena, Italy. Francesca's research is on the changes of assemblages of organisms in soft sediments in relation to environmental variables. In Italy she worked on assessments of ecological impacts in marine coastal areas and in Mediterranean lagoons. Her doctoral research was an analysis of the role of availability of food in macrobenthic assemblages. At the Centre she investigated the effects of the burial of wrack (dead seagrasses and seaweeds) on the spatial distribution of macrofaunal assemblages in intertidal mud­ and sandflats of New South Wales (Australia), the release of nutrients from these mats and the effects on microalgal growth over small scales. She also investigated the processes that could affect size-class spatial distribution of the burrowing soldier crab Mictyris longicarpus (Mictyridae) in intertidal flats of New South Wales (Australia). Francesca gained a Marie Curie Fellowship and will be working at the Netherland Institute for Ecology in The Netherlands.

Dr Hide Saito was a visiting Research Fellow at the Centre with a fellowship from the Ministry of Education and Science, Japan, during 2002 until January, 2003. Since 1998, Hide has been a Research Associate in the Faculty of Applied Biological Science, Hiroshima University. At the Centre he developed research methods and experimental designs in sandy shores and on artificial structures, in relation to the feeding activities of polychaetes. Hide has returned to Japan.

Dr James Scandol James was a Research Fellow at the Centre from 1998 - 2002. He completed his Ph.D. at James Cook University in 1994, was a Post Doctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia from 1994-1996 and a Consulting Lecturer at Macquarie University from 1996-1997. Whilst at the Centre his research was concerned with the development and application of quantitative methods for improved decision-making in capture fisheries. This requires knowledge and experience to apply various quantitative procedures and an appreciation of the narrative and political processes involved in decision-making. At the Centre James was also involved with developing and teaching courses in Quantitative Marine Ecology. He is now working at NSW Fisheries.