Adam’s interests lie in investigating nature-based solutions to have a productive agricultural landscape within ecologically healthy catchments that support high water security. He has experience in using network modelling to better under the flow of nutrients (carbon and nitrogen) through catchments and aquatic ecosystems, species distribution modelling, catchment land use planning, sports fish and game bird management, and the interface between freshwater science and policy/planning. At present, he is working on how wetlands and regenerative actions can be incorporated into our landscapes to increase food production, improve water quality, or buffer against climate change.

Gabriela is a marine spatial ecologist currently working on mangrove conservation. She is involved in projects that combine remote sensing and fieldwork to assess mangrove health, recovery after disturbances and carbon storage, as well as a restoration program aimed at improving mangrove conservation strategies. Gabriela’s PhD in Environmental Science with James Cook University focused on the transport, dispersal, and connectivity of mangrove and kelp forests in the Great Barrier Reef and Southeast Pacific, with the goal of informing ecosystem management and conservation. During her Master’s in Environmental Management at the University of Queensland, Gabriela’s thesis assessed the drivers of successful water quality management. Gabriela also has experience in social-ecological research, collaborating with fishers and other stakeholders to promote more sustainable fishing practices. Gabriela experienced in developing biophysical models, performing spatial analysis in GIS and R, statistical and network analysis, remote sensing, fieldwork, laboratory experiments, literature reviews and conducting local community and stakeholder surveys. Gabriela is passionate about applying spatial ecology and quantitative approaches to support evidence-based environmental decision-making, enhance coastal management and develop practical strategies for ecosystem restoration and conservation.

Norman C Duke (MSc, PhD) is a mangrove ecologist with 50 years’ experience.  During this time, he has become a specialist in global mangrove floristics, biogeography, climate change adaptation, vegetation mapping, pollution and coastal habitat condition assessments. Before James Cook University, Norm gathered experience at the University of Queensland, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, where he developed his further specialist knowledge of the fate and impact of large oil spills on mangrove forests. He has since expanded this knowledge to include the damage, recovery and consequences on mangrove ecosystems of a variety of impacting agents including herbicides, severe tropical cyclones, and extreme changes in sea level and climate. With a particular interest in northern Australia because of the diverse set of topographic, environmental and climatic conditions, Norm currently leads an active research group on marine tidal wetlands at TropWATER. He regularly conducts exploratory research investigations and provides managers with effective monitoring and mitigation of disturbed and damaged tidal wetland ecosystems. Norm has published more than 280 articles and technical reports, including his authoritative book Australia’s Mangroves (2006), and has developed a smart device app for the identification of all mangrove species in the world. Norm heads the JCU Mangrove Hub and not-for-profit community-science partnership called MangroveWatch.

Sigit Sasmito is a wetlands ecologist who has more than 12 years of experience in researching to assess the roles and impacts of tropical wetlands for climate change mitigation and adaptation, especially through peatland and blue carbon ecosystems. His research interests focus on carbon monitoring, greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, ecosystem restoration assessment and natural carbon capture and removal. He uses multiple approaches such as systematic review and meta-analysis, spatial mapping and field assessment. His works are closely relevant to policies and decision-makers, specifically by providing science-based evidence on how to include wetlands conservation and restoration into national emissions reduction targets. He holds a PhD in Environmental Science from Charles Darwin University, Australia and a BSc in Applied Meteorology from IPB University, Indonesia. He has previous extensive research collaboration experiences at the National University of Singapore and CIFOR-ICRAF in Indonesia. Sigit is an active member of Science Technical Working Group for UN Global Ocean Decade Programme for Blue Carbon (GO-BC).

Tertius has applied his marine science, biochemistry, and occupational hygiene knowledge and skills across a range of environmental issues over a forty-year career. Early career highlights include helping to establish Tasmania’s first oyster hatchery at Bicheno, managing asbestos and other environmental issues within Queensland’s state schools, undertaking research across a range of environmental disciplines at the CSIRO Marine Laboratories (Cleveland, Qld), Lions Cancer Institute (UQ), and at QUT, and developing and teaching a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses on environmental management and marine science in Australia and the USA. Tertius entered the Commonwealth Public Service on return from the USA, initially working on air quality policy development. Here he developed the emission models and cost benefit analysis that led to the establishment of Australia’s first emission standards for non-road two-stroke petrol engines. Tertius then moved to the Climate Change Division and over the following decade worked as a member of the team that produces Australia’s annual greenhouse gas accounts reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He specialised in waste and land-based emissions and was singularly responsible for establishing the wetland greenhouse gas accounts for coastal wetlands (mangroves, tidal marsh and seagrass), farm dams and reservoirs. He later collaborated with Australian academics to improve the farm-dam and reservoir accounts resulting in two co-authorships on peer-reviewed papers, with a third currently in preparation. In retirement Tertius continues to be actively involved in promoting the work of the UNFCCC as a registered member of the Roster of Experts (RoE), the group that undertakes formal audits of all annual GHG accounts and associated reports submitted to the UNFCCC. Tertius is also lead author on four draft IUCN Red List of Ecosystem Assessments for Australia’s mangrove communities and is finalising this work in collaboration with JCU and other Australian scientists.