CQUniversity's new Chair in Ecological Security has found the ideal location to study the complex interactions between conservation, sustainability, food security, biosecurity, policy and risk...

Professor Marnie Campell has arrived to take up her new post in Gladstone, which is a burgeoning industrial and trade hub in a coastal environment near the Great Barrier Reef.

Professor Marnie Campell is ideally placed, working from her base at Gladstone Campus

"In general, I focus on ecological change and environmental vulnerability, which has social links to economics and demographics," she said.

"What I'm particularly interested in is the dynamic relations between trade, such as ports and associated industry, with the environment, specifically introduced marine species (as a form of pollution, including marine debris), ecosystem restoration (restoring biological communities or single species, such as seagrasses), management of our resources (as conservation, marine protected area management) and how to harness the public via education and interpretation to ensure that a conservation or sustainability message and actions are available to all people."

Professor Campbell said Gladstone industry can be good, green corporate citizens but success also relies on buy-in from the entire community.

"This can be a challenge in an industry town that to a certain extent is characterised by a transient population," she said.

"The focus of ecological security in Gladstone is to realise that technological innovation, demographic shifts and environmental change are forces that open up new possibilities and create new challenges for society."

Professor Campbell has recently moved to Gladstone with her husband Chad Hewitt (also a professor), two-year-old son Ottar and family pets.

"My research focuses on how humans impact on the marine and coastal environment and ways to mitigate these impacts," she said.

"Thus, I can be doing pure biology or ecology work, while also developing risk models and writing guidelines for international conventions. Given this mix, my students tend to be diverse overlapping both natural and social sciences.

"I have a double Bachelors degree, with Honours in Biological Science and Environmental Science from Murdoch University, in Western Australia. My PhD, on seagrass restoration ecology, is also with Murdoch University. I did postdoctoral training at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington with Professor Mike Durako on the Florida Everglades restoration effort.

"My working life has been diverse as Chad and I have tried to balance life with two active researchers in the family. I've worked/done research in 17 different countries and love to travel.

"I've worked for 5 years with CSIRO, Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests; a number of years as an international consultant working for the IMO and FAO (United Nations agencies); the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and; the Charles Darwin Foundation, travelling the world to undertake marine biosecurity field research, to develop and implement training/professional development workshops on ecological surveys, taxonomic identification, and risk assessment.

"I've spent time with the Ministry of Fisheries New Zealand, as a principal scientist for the effects of fishing team; the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry New Zealand as a senior risk analyst for the marine (and freshwater) biosecurity team; I did a very short stint in Darwin as the Head of the Marine Biodiversity unit at DIPE; and spent the last 5 years in academia at the Australian Maritime College (at a Victorian campus and then in Launceston) that then merged with the University of Tasmania. In my academic capacity I looked after the marine conservation group (course coordinator) and became Head of the Department for Conservation and Ecology in the National Centre for Marine Conservation and Resource Sustainability.

"My research focus at CQUni will still maintain an international focus, with work currently occurring in the Pacific (Palau, Guam), the Galapagos Islands, and the US. But also build upon my Australian focus, with work occurring in Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and very soon in Queensland."

Professor Campbell said she would find plenty of research opportunities on her doorstep in Gladstone and the wider Port Curtis region.

"I'll be doing research looking at seagrass dynamics, invasions in seagrass meadows, the facilitated movement of introduced species via colonisation on marine debris, as well as research that has a conservation focus - such as value and risk mapping, and risk assessment related to natural and anthropogenic hazards.

"I'm also just starting some work on generational environmental amnesia (shifting baselines; or erosion of perceptions related to conservation and sustainability) to see how each generation of citizens have changed concept of what is pristine and how this in turn affects how we perceive conservation and sustainability. All of these projects have relevance to Queensland and Port Curtis, with projects being available for students who have a biological interest as well as those who have more of a social/environmental interest."

Professor Campbell said a lot of her involvement in international projects is of relevance to the Central Queensland region.

"A lot of the international work I do relates to introduced marine species and how ports are infected or how they can act as a donor to other regions such as Gladstone.

"I also develop a lot of frameworks that can be adjusted to fit local conditions or scenarios. For example, I've just finished some work looking at the risk associated with importing microalgae as a live feed for aquaculture. This work developed a decision-tree model to assess risk and could be easily modified to look at other species (eg aquarium fish) or be adapted to other countries and regions.

"In general, biosecurity has application at international, national and local scales. Ecological restoration and conservation are also applicable at different scales so I can imagine that outcomes for these projects will be relevant to the CQ region.

"I've just starting some research on Marine Protected Area effectiveness and how stakeholders value MPAs and how they perceive threats/hazards towards MPAs. This work is occurring in WA, Tassie, Queensland, Palau, the Galapagos and potentially the UK. This work delves into decision-theory aiming to improve how decisions are made by regulators etc to improve conservation outcomes."