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Dr David C Smith

The interplay of science and policy is a particular interest for Dr David Smith, who is currently the Acting Deputy Director Research at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research in Hobart.

As the recent leader the Marine Ecosystems and Resources Theme, a research team seeking to balance the use and conservation of marine resources, David is well placed to improve the provision of science advice to resource management.
With a focus on fisheries and aquaculture, this Theme combined the physical, biological, mathematical and computer sciences to understand marine systems and develop systems for marine observation and management support.

These methods and tools are being applied to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Torres Strait and Great Barrier Reef ecosystems; domestic and internationally shared shark, tuna and billfish fisheries and ecosystems; and demersal fisheries and ecosystems off south-eastern Australia.

Dr Smith’s path to Hobart began with a science degree at the University of Birmingham. His PhD research with the University of New South Wales investigated the biology of jackass morwong, a popular commercial species in eastern Australian waters.
He then studied various commercial species in Australia’s south-east fishery – red spot whiting, rock lobster and abalone – and established a fish ageing laboratory at before trading biology for research management.

Dr Smith joined CSIRO after more than 10 years of senior fisheries research management with the Government of Victoria. He was Director of the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute and Research Director Marine and Freshwater Systems, Primary Industries Research Victoria.

During this time he worked closely with senior resource managers, scientists and industry representatives on matters ranging from aquatic protected areas to the assessment of State and Commonwealth fisheries.

Dr Smith retains his link with Victorian fisheries as Chair of the Victorian Fisheries Co-Management Council, a statutory body that supports the sustainable management of Victorian fisheries and habitats.

Dr John Koehn

Dr John Koehn is Principal Scientist,  Freshwater Ecology, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Victoria

John is a long-standing member and past President of ASFB.  He has over 24 years experience in research, assessment, conservation and management on aspects of the ecology of Australian freshwater fish and has authored of over 130 scientific publications.

He has gained an international reputation for his research and is a key player in providing biological information and management advice, especially on native species.  He has been active in assessing the conservation status and threats to many endangered species as well as preparing and implementing recovery and management plans for them. This has been reflected in his inclusion on ministerial committees, national recovery teams and project steering committees.

John was a key author of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission Native Fish Strategy and has worked on projects for a range of Commonwealth and State research and management agencies and has presented at a wide range of international and national forums.

John has been recognised for his contribution to the conservation of native freshwater fish by being awarded the 1997 Gold Banksia Award and receiving Rivercare 2000 awards for scientific research. 

John manages a large multi disciplinary team that providing innovative approaches to problem solving and realistic management solutions to the requirements and threats to native freshwater fish.  He is currently completing the National Recovery Plan for Murray cod.

Professor Colin Buxton

Professor Colin Buxton is the Director of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, a joint venture partnership between the State Government and the University of Tasmania.  He is a graduate of the University of Cape Town where he received a Masters degree with distinction, and in 1987 obtained a PhD from Rhodes University.
In 1996 he and his family migrated to Australia where he became senior lecturer in fisheries at the Australian Maritime College, later heading their Faculty of Fisheries and the Marine Environment.

His interest in spatial management dates back to the early ‘80s with his PhD study of the effect of fishing on the life history of several species important to the linefishery in South Africa. This work, among the first to compare fish populations in marine protected areas (MPAs) with those in adjacent exploited areas, revealed significant differences in the life-history of target species. Together with more recent work in Australia he and his colleagues at TAFI have contributed to the understanding of the role and importance of spatial techniques in fisheries management.
Colin has published widely in his field and is author of 98 publications, 45 in the peer reviewed literature.  He is been a frequent consultant and advisor to governments and other public and private agencies in Australia, Africa and the United States. A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, he also currently serves on the Board of several companies and organizations.

Dr Bill Phillips

Bill Phillips grew up in the farming communities of central New South Wales. He completed a Bachelor of Science and PhD in Zoology at the Australian National University in 1985 before joining the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service (ANPWS). 

While employed by the ANPWS (later to become the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, and then Environment Australia) Bill worked across a range of program areas including the National Koala Conservation Program, Ocean Rescue 2000, Save the Bush and One Billion Trees.  It was during this same period that Bill was among the first representatives of the Commonwealth Environment portfolio to participate in the working groups of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission.  Bill Phillips was also a key player in the establishment of Waterwatch Australia – a community education program focused around water quality monitoring and promoting integrated catchment management.

In 1989 Bill began his association with wetlands, which saw him lead the establishment of Australia’s National Wetlands Program and become chief organizer for the global conference of the Ramsar Convention in 1996 in Brisbane.   Bill was head of the Australian delegation to Ramsar COP4 in Montreux, Switzerland in 1990; a member of the Standing Committee of the Convention leading up to COP5 in Kushiro, Japan and COP6 in Australia, serving as a member of the sub-committees on finance and that charged with developing the first Ramsar Strategic Plan.  In 1997 Bill was chosen to become the Deputy Secretary General of the Convention, a post he filled until early 2000.  During this time he attended the COPs of the Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification Conventions, and negotiated the first MoU and Joint Work Plan between the Ramsar Convention and CBD.

Since late 2000, Bill has operated as a freelance consultant working with several developing Pacific island countries of the Oceania region, and within Australia, state governments, the business sector, catchment management authorities and local stakeholders.  

Bill has extensive experience in the environment field, both in Australia and internationally, gained over nearly 30 years.  He has worked in policy and program development and implementation in a wide range of natural resource management and biodiversity conservation fields. 

Dr Nick Rayns

Dr Nick Rayns has worked as a fisheries scientist and manager in both Australia and New Zealand.

He gained his PhD in rock lobster aquaculture from Otago University in 1991 and simultaneously worked for the NZ Ministry of Fisheries on bivalve and crustacean science and management. 

He moved to Australia in 1992 to take up the position of Aquaculture Manager with NSW Fisheries.  He has subsequently held senior management positions with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), Northern Territory Fisheries and NSW Fisheries.  He has been a Non-Executive Director of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and chaired a number of government fishery committees.

Nick is usually Executive Manager, Fisheries at AFMA but is currently Acting Managing Director while recruitment to the position is completed.

Dr John Leathwick

John Leathwick is an ecosystem modeller currently working at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). Since becoming involved in ecology as a young forestry graduate in 1979 he has worked on a wide range of issues, mostly revolving around the analysis of species distributions and their implications for conservation management. He worked for over a decade at New Zealand’s Forest Research Institute in Rotorua, where he developed methods for modelling spatial patterns in New Zealand’s native forests, using an extensive set of forest inventory data. This research subsequently led to the development of a national environmental classification, LENZ, or Land Environments of New Zealand, work for which he was awarded a DSc from the University of Canterbury in 2004.

Looking for fresh challenges, John moved to NIWA in 2003, where he has been working on the analysis of aquatic biodiversity patterns in both marine and freshwater ecosystems. His freshwater work has focussed on the distributions of New Zealand’s native fish species, exploring in particular the interactions between diadromy and natural disturbance regimes in explaining the contrast biogeographies of diadromous and non-diadromous species.

In marine ecosystems, John has explored geographical and environmental patterns of demersal fish species richness using an extensive set of research trawls. In more recent work, he has extended this by modelling the distributions of 123 demersal fish species, and analysing the resulting predictive layers with reserve selection software to guide the design of Marine Protected Areas. He is also involved in continuing work on the development of biologically-tuned environmental classifications in both marine and freshwater ecosystems, and the design of reserve networks for freshwater ecosystems.

Professor Robert Kearney PhD, DSc, AM

Bob Kearney is Emeritus Professor of Fisheries at the University of Canberra. He is currently Chairman of the Research Committees of the Hermon Slade Foundation and the Australia and Pacific Scientific Foundation.

His career in fisheries research and management includes the following previous positions: Principle Fisheries Scientist for the Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries in Papua New Guinea and Personal Advisor to the Minister of Fisheries and Forestry, Founder and Director of the Skipjack and Tuna Programs for the Secretariat of the South Pacific Community, Chief Scientist of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, Director of the New South Wales Fisheries Research Institute, Professor of Environmental Science and Head of the School of Resource Environmental and Heritage Sciences at the University of Canberra, Foundation Board Member of the Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, Board Member of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Foundation Board Member of two Cooperative Research Centers (Aquaculture and Freshwater Ecology), Member of the Australian Government Biodiversity Advisory Committee and the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, and Chairman of the Board of the WorldFish Center.

He is the author of approximately 150 scientific and technical papers and the recipient of more than 20 million dollars in research grants. Major research achievements include the first assessments of the tuna resources and related fisheries in the central and western Pacific and identification and first documentation of the need for a regional fisheries agency to manage these fisheries. More recent research projects include modelling Australia’s fisheries production and consumption to 2050 and beyond, reducing conflict between recreational and commercial fishers, and injecting industry perspectives into the use of marine protected areas for conservation and fisheries management purposes. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of his contribution to international and Australian fisheries research and management.