Researchers
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ManagementKarin Zwiep
PhD candidate
University of Queensland
From 2005 to 2022, the main node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies was headquartered at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland (Australia)
Karin grew up near the coast in the Netherlands and has always been fascinated by marine life. She completed her undergraduate degree in Biology at Utrecht University in 2013, focusing on (marine) ecology. It was during her masters in Environmental Biology she pursued paleoecology and studying marine ecosystems over longer time scales.
She has worked on a variety of projects, from crustacean-ciliate symbioses in Dutch waters at the NIOZ, to dinoflagellate cysts and pollen in the Mediterranean sapropels at Utrecht University’s Marine Palynology group, as well as harmful algal blooms in the Caribbean. Her first time in Australia was in 2015 during an internship studying genetic diversity and connectivity of Symbiodinium in high latitude reefs under the supervision of Dr. Eugenia Sampayo.
After finishing her Master’s, she moved back to Australia in mid-2017 to start her PhD in the Marine Palaeoecology Lab at the University of Queensland under the supervision of Professor John Pandolfi and co-supervisor Associate Professor Cynthia Riginos. Her project focuses on adding an extra dimension to the reconstruction of past coral reefs and their community structure through the recovery of ancient DNA from coral reef sediments along the East Australian coast.
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
A new study on the effects of climate change in five tropical countries has found fisheries are in more trouble than agriculture, and poor people are in the most danger. Distinguished Profess
James Cook University researchers have found brightly coloured fish are becoming increasingly rare as coral declines, with the phenomenon likely to get worse in the future. Christopher Hemingson, a
Researchers working with stakeholders in the Great Barrier Reef region have come up with ideas on how groups responsible for looking after the reef can operate more effectively when the next bleaching
Abstract: As marine species adapt to climate change, their heat tolerance will likely be under strong selection. Individual variation in heat tolerance and its heritability underpin the potential fo
Abstract: The Reef Ecology Lab in KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center explores many aspects of movement ecology of marine organisms, ranging from adult migrations to intergenerational larval dispersal
Abstract: Macroalgal meadows are a prominent, yet often maligned component of the tropical seascape. Our work at Ningaloo reef in WA demonstrate that canopy forming macroalgae provide habitat for ad
Abstract: Sharks are generally perceived as strong and fearsome animals. With fossils dating back at least 420 million years, sharks are not only majestic top predators but they also outlived dinosa
Abstract: Connectivity plays a vital role in many ecosystems through its effects on fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes. Its consequences for populations and metapopulations have been
Abstract: Evolution of many eukaryotic organisms is affected by interactions with microbes. Microbial symbioses can ultimately reflect host’s diet, habitat range, and even body shape. However, how
Abstract: The past few years have seen unprecedented coral bleaching and mortality on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) but the consequences of this on biodiversity are not yet known. This talk will expl
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