Monday, 31st August Australian Marine Sciences Association 2026 Conference

• Conservation, Chemistry, Cancer, Contamination and Community - Kirsten Benkendorff
• Forty Years of Marine Predator Science: Trials, Tribulations and Real-World Impact - Rob Harcourt

The Introductory session is primarily for the participants in the 'Building Australia’s Blue Future: A Marine Science Vision 2025–2035' workshop on the Friday after the conference, but others would be welcome to attend if they want to find out more about the National Marine Science Strategy 2026-2036.

This informal presentation will inform workshop participants about the NMSC Decadal Marine Strategy 2025–2035, outlining key priorities and themes, in preparation for the main workshop. It will brief participants on objectives and targeted outcomes, to inform workshop discussion about translating strategy into practical national marine science action. Attendees will be able to use this knowledge to develop ideas gleaned from other Symposium presentations to contribute to the main workshop.

• Bridging Marine Science and Policy for Lasting Impact   - Sue Barrell
• When science travels: two decades of collaborative tuna research translating into outcomes - Ilona Stobutzki
• From science to action: Guiding evidence-based management for Reef resilience  - Chloe Schauble
• Managing Research Within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to Improve Both Scientific and Management Outcomes - Ed Roberts
• The challenge of prioritising thousands of islands in the Great Barrier Reef for restoration - Clarissa CE Elakis
• Subtropical corals in the Solitary Islands Marine Park: multi-decadal resilience despite severe disturbances, with management adapting to an emerging threat - Hamish A Malcolm
• Seafloor Geomorphology as a Foundation for Australia’s Marine Park 10‑year Review  - Scott Nichol
• Mapping Seabed Geomorphology and Benthic Habitats for Sustainable Offshore Renewable Energy Development in Bass Strait - Andrew Carroll

• Australia, Antarctica, and the Plastic Pollution Problem that Remains     - Vaibhavi Dwivedi
• Global Tracking of Marine Megafauna to Deliver Science‑Based Protection on the High Seas - Ana Micaela Martins Sequeira
• Under the bed: The hidden ocean frontier   - Sarah Kachovich
• The development of a spatial management Protocol for Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA): lessons and implications  - Trent Timmiss
• Implementing the IUCN Resolution on Phasing Out Deep-Sea Bottom Trawling: Pathways, Challenges, and Opportunities - Lyn(da) Goldsworthy
• Walking the talk: voluntary actions on marine protected areas on the high seas - Jiliang Chen

• South Australia’s Harmful Algal Bloom: Scale, Science and Response - Mike Steer
• Progress in Understanding and Management of Marine Harmful Algal Blooms in the Australian region - Gustaaf Hallegraeff
• Seeing through the bloom: BRUVS-based impact assessments of nearshore marine biodiversity  - Sophie Russell
• From Harmful Algae to Human Health: Assessing the Governance and Communication Landscape for Ciguatera Poisoning in Far North Queensland - Carla Sbrocchi

• Listening Before We Manage: Operationalising Australia’s Strategy for Nature Through Relationship - Jodi Edwards
• Local Governments as Moral Actors: Conservation, Responsibility, and Care Along the Great Barrier Reef - Jacqueline Lau
• Understanding public attitudes toward marine parks: insights from a decade of national surveys - Matthew Navarro
• Reflections on co-ethnic and cross-ethnic ethnography in marginalized communities - Makrita Solitei

What does the ocean mean to you? What kinds of emotions does it inspire? Our oceans and coasts are changing. How do we nurture hope while also acknowledging the reality of climate change and other threats to our marine environment? This interactive session invites participants to explore our connection to oceans through art, reflection, and dialogue. Join us for a lunch event with conversation, sharing, and creativity that explores what we hope for the future of our oceans, how we can cultivate hope, and what happens when hope is hard to come by. Participants will have the opportunity to contribute to a collaborative artwork where they can share a wish for oceans, while thinking about all the emotions that their wish might hold. No artistic experience required! We look forward to seeing you there.

• Dynamics, drivers, and dispersal of diseases in kelp - Ceridwen Fraser
• Genetic connectivity of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in southeast Queensland - Georgina Hume
• Dugong Population Genomics in Australia - Eva Paulus
• How population genetics can inform invasive species management - Morgan R Ellis
• Multiscale coral connectivity across Western Australia: evidence from genetic structure and biophysical modelling - Kira Brereton
• Suitability Modelling for Offshore Cultivation of Macrocystis pyrifera in Australia’s southern waters   - Michelle L Manion
• Upscaling Colony Scale Fish Effects to Population Level Recovery Trajectories - Daniel Pygas
• Seadragon Conservation: an initiate to support research and outreach into an iconic fish group - David Booth

• Advancing a science‑based approach to protection of the Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea - Kate Noble
• Anticipating the science needed to support BBNJ Clearing House Mechanism - Kerryn Brent
• Oyster Immune Response to Multiple Climate Change Stressors: Synthesising Responses with Experimental Applications - Jasmine Glencross
• Infrastructure pathways shape polar sponge biodiversity data: clarifying biases and priorities for data integration - Rachel V Downey
• Prescribed harvest limits to constrain increased coral harvesting within Australia’s Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area - Morgan Pratchett
• Fine-scale monitoring of coral disease and corallivore disturbance at Fitzroy Island, Great Barrier Reef - Letizia Ripa and Edona Berisha
• Developing a cryopreservation protocol for the forest-forming seaweed Phyllospora comosa as a tool for restoration - Catalina A. Musrri

• The first wave: impacts of the 2025 South Australian algal bloom on sharks and rays - Charlie Huveneers
• Making good from bad: mass fish kills from a harmful algal bloom create a unique opportunity to study rare and cryptic fish biology - Simon Bryars
• Evaluation of Drivers of the 2025 Harmful Algal Bloom Event in South Australia - Simon D Goldsworthy
• Advancing Satellite-Based Monitoring of Harmful Algal Blooms and Water Quality in South Australian Gulf Systems - Nagur Cherukuru
• Seasonal Variability in Pigment Based Phytoplankton Community Structure and HAB-Signatures in Spencer Gulf, Southern Australia   - Albertina Dias
• South Australia’s unprecedented Harmful Algal Bloom: an overview of the operational oceanographic response and future monitoring and forecasting research initiatives. - Mark J Doubell
• Marine Protected Areas: Foundation for understanding and recovery from the HAB  - Danny Brock

• Iron biogeochemical cycling in the northern subantarctic at the Southern Ocean Time Series Site - Michael Ellwood
• The unique trace metal requirements of Southern Ocean phytoplankton - Sam Eggins
• Intertidal microbial mats, driving nutrient pulses in the Pilbara, Western Australia - Shannon Dee
• Understanding Oxygen Dynamics in Macquarie Harbour - Darren Engwirda
• Catchment nutrient inputs are critical for the productivity of Australia’s wet-dry tropical estuaries and nearshore – what are the risks from water development? - Michele A Burford
• Crowding the Coast: Plume Interactions Reduce CO₂ Uptake from Closely Spaced Alkalinity Outfalls - Harris Anderson

• Connecting Rangers and Cultural Advisors to steer management priorities for Gnaala Karla Booja Sea Country - Jonnie Cobby, Bryce Donohoe and Maya Hume
• ‘This is how we do it’: insights into applying Indigenous Data Sovereignty in the National Environmental Science Program - Paul Hedge
• From policy to practice: strong partnerships on sea Country - Hannah L Allan
• Using genetic diversity and connectivity in the Yawuru Nagulagun (Roebuck Bay) Marine Park to assess the resilience of seagrass meadows - Kathryn McMahon
• Right Way Collaborative Saltwater Research In The Kimberley - ISWAG’s Best Practice Guide Re-Launched - Dean Mathews and Phoebe Martin
• Collective Knowledge to Define Iconic Species for Research and Conservation Priorities - Ryan Baring
• A development guide for High Seas Marine Protected Areas - Katrina Goddard

• Barriers to the uptake of eDNA  for monitoring Marine Parks and Fisheries in Australia - Euan Harvey
• Monitoring Marine Parks. What we do, how and where eDNA might fit. - Jordan Goetze
• The use of eDNA for Invasive Marine species surveillance and detection. Applications and lessons from 10 years of use. - Claire Wellington
• How to get relative species quantification from eDNA surveys - Simon Jarman
• From deployment to functioning ecosystems: assessing taxonomic richness and community composition on modular shellfish reefs using eDNA metabarcoding - Karen L Cheney
• A decade of building Australia's eDNA capability - Oliver Berry
• Revealing Deep-Sea Fish Biodiversity in the Coral Sea Marine Park Using eDNA - Bruce Deagle
• After the flood: eDNA tracks estuarine resilience in Northern NSW  - Simone A Gardiner
• Rebooting estuarine monitoring – How can environmental DNA help redefine biodiversity baselines in Australia? - Maarten De Brauwer
• Caring for Sea Country: Integrating eDNA and Traditional Knowledge in Yamatji Ranger Programs - Kyle Raina
• Collaboration with coastal NSW Indigenous Rangers strengthens state-wide eDNA monitoring program - Kaitlyn Harris
• The GloMBO Partnership. Globalising Marine Biodiversity Observations: An eDNA Observing System for Ocean-Scale Monitoring using Autonomous eDNA sampling from Vessels of Opportunity - Pascal Craw
• Connecting marine biomonitoring data with an audience – using digital tools to generate impact and support operational decision-making. - Petra Muellner
• Building Institutional Infrastructure and FAIR Workflows for Marine eDNA Data Publication - Berenice Talamantes Becerra
• Translating eDNA into Trusted Metrics for Marine Management - Shaun Wilkinson
• Beyond the Barriers: What the future holds for DNA based biomonitoring. - Mike Bunce
• Empowerment and Scaling: Tackling the barriers to entry for the uptake of eDNA - Eric j Raes

• Modelling ecosystem impacts and recovery trajectories from the 2025 South Australian harmful algal bloom - Amelia A Desbiens
• The cell from hell: extracellular toxicity and severe impacts at sub-peak concentrations during a South Australian Karenia bloom - Craig Styan
• The Psychological Impacts of the South Australian Harmful Algal Bloom Event - Brianna Le Busque
• Using DNA metabarcoding and next-generation sequencing to assess community dynamics temporally and spatially in South Australia’s 2025-26 harmful algal bloom event - Sarah Catalano
• Assessing impacts of Harmful Algal Bloom Events on South Australian Benthic Habitats - Shannen Smith
• After the Bloom: Who Stayed, Who Strayed, Who Got a New Shell.  - Daniel Easton
• THe Harmful Algal Holobiont - Elizabeth Dinsdale
• Monitoring Fish Distribution Following a Harmful Algal Bloom in Gulf St Vincent, South Australia - Ben Scoulding
• What is their fate? A comparison of beach washup mortalities with observed change to fish communities using BRUVS  - Craig A Meakin

• Data through to Information: Building Australia's Digital Marine Commons - Peter Walsh
• Making marine environmental data more assessment ready: cloud-optimised data products for national reporting - Eduardo Klein Salas
• Connecting Land, Coast and Ocean through National Positioning   - Umma Zannat
• From Priorities to Impact: How AusSeabed is Shaping the Future of Seabed Mapping Coordination - Pip Bricher
• From fjords to futures:  A student’s reflection of the 2025 ANZIC Marine Geoscience Masterclass in Fiordland, New Zealand - Jarell Cubarrubia
• Innovative Intertidal Monitoring to Support Climate-Resilient Management in Northwest Australia - Jorja Claybrook
• Foundational seabed data and tools to support systematic understanding of our marine environment  - Jasmin Wells
• Increasing Data Availability for Quantitative Cumulative Impact Assessment: A FAIR-Secure Pipeline for Marine Environments - Harrison Carmody
• Mapping the unknown: Seagrass probability modelling in data-poor regions - Caitlin Smith

• Navigating the governance framework for deep sea research   - Camille Goodman
• Discovering deep-sea invertebrate biodiversity and ecology in the Coral Sea Marine Park - Sue-Ann Watson
• Identifying deep-sea vulnerable marine ecosystems from still images in the Tasman Sea - Katrina Goddard
• Identification and characterisation of slope failure features along the flanks of Christmas Island and their potential triggers - Yakup Niyazi
• Fantastic Hexactinellids and Where to Find Them: Habitat-Morphology Relations in Abyssal and Hadal Glass Sponges (Porifera: Hexactinellida) - Alfredo Marchio
• The role of science in the governance of the deep ocean - Amanda Schadeberg
• Beyond Hadal Trenches: Ontogenetic Vertical Stratification of Deep-Sea Amphipods - Jenny A. Wainwright
• Strategic Environmental Assessment for Deep Sea Minerals in the Cook Islands: the Knowledge-Policy Interface - Beth Toki

Location: Molly's Bar, Wooden Door, Odgers Lane, Canberra ACT 2601

Please make your own way. This is a 13-minute walk. 

For directions, please use this link.

For the first time, AMSA 2026 Student Night will be held in collaboration with the ECOP (Early Career Ocean Professionals) Network.

Student Night is your chance to meet others at the same career stage, exchange ideas, and become part of a growing professional community.