I am an aquatic taxonomist and biologist with 25 years of experience in the management and biological research of aquatic fauna. I have developed extensive knowledge on alien and native aquatic fauna distribution in eastern Australia and specialist skills in freshwater and estuarine aquatic fauna assessment, taxonomy/systematics, biology, conservation and monitoring, with emphasis on fish, decapod crustaceans and bivalve molluscs.
A penchant for me has been to extensively assess biodiversity in aquatic environments in eastern Australia, to work extensively in the area of threatened aquatic fauna management, and to ensure we have an accurate taxonomic framework for aquatic species. I have also planned and conducted many projects involving fish passage assessment and fishway monitoring, environmental flow determinations, fauna assessments in degraded, pristine and remote locations, and alien species management. I have extensive knowledge of aquatic sampling techniques and their constraints (electrofishing, netting) and am involved in further development of DNA detection in aquatic environments as a remote sensing tool. I also have a long involvement in the compilation and management of aquatic fauna survey data, undertaking the first compilation of Victorian data in 1986, which became the basis for the DEPI Aquatic Fauna Database which is being incorporated into the new Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA). I am heavily relied upon for knowledge of current taxonomy and historical and contemporary aquatic fauna distributions.
Specialties:
• fish and freshwater crayfish systematics / taxonomy
• biodiversity assessments (fish/macroinvertebrates) in remote, pristine or degraded habitats
• freshwater and estuarine biology/ecology
• alpine aquatic fauna
• threatened species assessment and conservation management
• aquatic alien species management
• coastal, lowland foothill, upland and alpine environments
• aquatic fauna refugia assessment