Wednesday, 2nd September Australian Marine Sciences Association 2026 Conference

This session includes a 2-minute sponsored address from CSIRO. 

This session features talks from the ELMS winner, Sea Country Award 2026 winner, and Sea Country Award 2025 winner. 

• Investing in collaboration: Applied science partnerships for local government decision making - Emily Gregory
• Catchment State Responsibilities in Managing Land-Based Pollution from River Discharges: Insights from the Indian Ocean - Jamie Pittock
• Bridging the gap between climate science and fisheries governance - Daniel Corrie
• Seabed Data as a Foundation to Support Marine Management and More - Pip Bricher
• Opportunities to synthesise science to policy for Ship Biofouling Management Across Australia’s Biosecurity System - Bhavnah Komul Kalidin
• Incorporating ecosystem service assessments into development planning - impact from a dredging project in South Australia on seagrass - Sam Gaylard
• Australia’s Southeast Asia Maritime Partnerships Program - William Tucker

• Turning the tide: Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area's - Nathan Brennan and Paddy O'Leary
• On-Country Knowledge Meets Western Science: 17 Years of Ranger-Led Seagrass Monitoring and a Toolkit for Northern Australia - Sam Joe and Kayoko Yamashita
• RRAP Indigenous Futures: Outcomes from a Three-Year Program Enabling Indigenous-Led Coral Larval Restoration and Marine Monitoring on the Great Barrier Reef  - Jordan Ivey and Roeina Edmund
• Knowing Sea Country, Mapping Sea Country: Karajarri Rangers and Scientists Working Together - Humphrey Dean
• Wudjari Ancient Coastlines: Self‑Determination in Biocultural Mapping, Landscape Archaeology, and Applied Research - Jennell Reynolds, Hayleigh Graham and Wanika Close
• The Reef Cooperative: Creating Tomorrow’s Guardians Through Knowledge, Science, and Community - Freda Nicholson
• Building Meaningful Relationships Through Connecting Ancient Traditional and Modern Scientific Practices - Tonya Grant and Tonya Grant

• Marine Research for National Benefit: What Sustained Ocean Capability Enables - Sue Barrell
• Delivering to national priorities: How SEA-MES informs marine park management and environmental stewardship in a warming hotspot - Rowan Trebilco
• From the seafloor to strategy: the Marine National Facility is growing Australia’s marine geoscience knowledge capability and confidence at sea - Stephanie Joyce
• Integrating Indigenous Songlines, Marine Geophysics and Archaeology in the RV Investigator Survey of Submerged Prehistoric Landscapes - Ania Kotarba
• Australia Global Ocean Ship-Based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP): Tracking ocean change and variability from the Equator to Antarctica - Bernadette Sloyan
• Building EMCR capability through multi-voyage programs: experiences in SEA-MES   - Mibu Fischer
•   Benefit by design: Embedding impact management in marine research to realise capability and Indigenous benefits - Harmeet Kaur

• In Deep Water: A Playful Simulation for Translating Marine Plastic Pollution Research into Public Understanding and Action - Deb Polson
• Turning Off the Tap: Scaling Reusable Packaging to Address Plastic Pollution - Tara Jones
• The interplay of emerging contaminants with blue carbon biogeochemistry - Tanveer M. Adyel
• Microplastics, Macro-Problem; Designing a Monitoring Program for Microplastics in Port Phillip Bay - Luke Westmore
• Breaking the plastic habit: How social norms and perceived barriers shape intentions to avoid single-use plastics - Emadul Islam

• Embracing complexity in the spatial management of changing seascapes - Andrew Olds
• A Gradient-Based Approach to Seascapes Mapping and Connectivity: Implications for Conservation and Restoration Management - Ashley J Rummell
• Demonstrating Decline in Ecological Integrity for National Conservation - Gina M Newton
• The scale of seascape influence on coastal fish: implications for conservation and ecological restoration - Ben L Gilby
• Metacommunity Theory in the marine environment: Determining the drivers of fish community structure through Joint Species Distribution Modelling (JSDM) - Ennis de Vos
• Benthic and seascape features interact to shape herbivorous fish assemblages - Jesse Mosman

• Film presentation: Koodjal Biddi-wah Watturu Kaartadjin - Walking Together to share Sea Country knowledge - Zac Webb
• Aboriginal Symbiotic Relationships with Dolphin and Whale Kin - Chels Marshall
• The Guguurr Divers: Indigenous-led investigation of contamination in cultural seafood. - Amanda Williams
• Respectful Data Sharing in Practice: Advancing Indigenous Data Sorvereignty in Marine Animal Tracking - Carmela de Benito-Abelló
• Coming Together to Study Dugongs and Marine Turtles at a Population Break  - Chris Congoo
• From knowledge gaps to Sea Country planning: large-scale seagrass mapping in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria - Thomas Wilson
• Card sorting for cross-cultural communication: imbedding two-way science in a participatory mapping project - Danielle Godwin and Dean Mathews

• Fisheries oceanography by RV Investigator for the national interest – a personal 33 year perspective on the MNF - Iain M Suthers
• RV Investigator atmospheric capability – the world’s first mobile Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station - Ruhi S Humphries
• Krill ecosystem survey to update Conservation Measure for krill in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean - So Kawaguchi
• Untangling Ecosystem Changes With the South-East Australian Marine Ecosystem Survey (SEA-MES)  - Richard Little
• Species and Habitat Biodiversity of the Gascoyne and Carnarvon Canyon Marine Parks: RV Investigator Survey IN2022_V09 - Cindy Bessey
• Ecosystem and fisheries change in the south-east Australia hotspot - Alistair Hobday

• WAMSI Westport Marine Science Project – a five year partnership informing sustainable management and future port development in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia - Alicia Sutton
• Ports as environmental stewards: leveraging long-term monitoring to understand variability in coastal water quality - Paula Cartwright
• Balancing Port Growth and Coastal Ecosystems: Seagrass Lessons from Townsville - Skye McKenna
• Collaborative Monitoring on Sea Country: Progressing Indigenous Led Pathways in a Future Ready Port Partnership - Nicola Stokes
• Leveraging water quality monitoring data to characterise benthic establishment dynamics on artificial structures in Great Barrier Reef port environments   - Rory Mulloy
• Port of Eden - Breakwater Wharf (Cruise Wharf) Extension Project - Kathryn Newton

• Biology Matters: Managing Coral Connectivity Under Biological Uncertainty - Chinenye Ani
• Linking reefs across the Coral Sea: integrating genetic, otolith, and demographic data to inform connectivity-based management - Samantha J Tol
• The Fish Seascapes Project: a seascape approach to understanding the effects of urbanisation on the life history of estuarine fishes - Will Figueira
• Freshwater flowing into the sea is not wasted - Integrating land-sea connectivity into the Protection and Management of Marine Transitional Waters - Lara van Niekerk
• Characterising the spatial gradients of cross-habitat interactions at a seascape restoration site at Facing Island, Queensland - Maria L Vozzo
• From reefs to real-world impact: 11 years of coral reef research and ocean catchment science on Christmas Island - Jennie Mallela
• Mapping the Ridge-to-Reef Connection: Spatial Analysis of Land-Use Change and Catchment-Reef Connectivity in Fijian SIDS Sub-Catchments - Aaron J Bywater
• Microbial degradation of Benzo[K]fluoranthene by Pocillopora associated Bacteria. Coral Restoration Prospects.  - Adriana A Neufeld Armenta

• An Indigenous-led approach to advance the health and wellbeing of Tebrakunna Country and people of the Coastal Plains nation, north-eastern (Trouwerner) Tasmania   - Zali Grace
• Reducing disturbance of wetlands by managing ungulates — updates on collaborative development of a new Australian carbon market method - Jack W Hill
• Operation Urmemeg: Traditional Owner-Led Management of Crown-of-Thorn Starfish in The Torres Strait. - Daniel G Beard and Madeina David
• A Ranger-led seagrass monitoring toolkit for northern Australia: connecting Sea Country knowledge with scientific practice - Alex Carter
• South coast sea lion surveys: flying, walking, counting on Wudjari country - Holly Raudino and Jennell Reynolds
• Nesting density and distribution of flatback and green turtles using aerial surveys in the Uunguu Indigenous Protected Area of the north-west Kimberley, Western Australia - Melissa N Staines
• Sea Country Science with coastal NSW Indigenous Ranger groups  - Ian Kerr
• Braiding Indigenous Oral Histories and Habitat Mapping to Understand Urchin Barrens in Southern New South Wales, Australia. - Kyah Chewying
• Bridging Knowledge Systems for Sea Country Resilience: Insights from the NWAC Sea Ranger Program - Katrina Widders
• The edge of transition: the Abrolhos Marine Park on Yamatiji Sea Country - Kyle Raina
• An update in the journey of the National Indigenous Environmental Research Network (NIERN) through Indigenous-led discussions.  - Leah Talbot

• Investigations of South-Eastern Australia’s Potentially Tsunamigenic Submarine Landslides: preliminary findings of RV Investigator Voyage IN2022-V05 - Tom C Hubble
• South-east Australia’s seafloor: What imagery reveals about benthic habitats - Ben Scoulding
• The Coastal “White Ribbon”: Challenges in bridging the coastal to marine mapping gap  - Donna-marie D Audas
• AusCIN – Australian Coastline Imaging Network: Implementing a Camera-Based Coastline Monitoring Network at National Scale - Matthew J Blacka
• A Quality Ranking Framework for Integrating Marine Habitat Maps into Seamap Australia - Jacquomo Monk
• Toward building a seabed baseline for New South Wales: 20 years of supporting coastal and marine management and research  - Tim Ingleton
• Time, Tide and Satellite Earth Observation: Multi-Temporal Elevation Modelling of Australian Intertidal Coastal Ecosystems  - Claire Phillips
• Dynamic Coasts, Static Maps: Are We Getting It Wrong? - Sharyn S Hickey

• Integrated monitoring programs to understand environmental drivers of habitats in working port environments. - Carissa Reason
• Smarter Surveillance at Scale: Strengthening Marine Biosecurity Through the Q‑SEAS Program - Nicola Stokes
• Upside‑down and after dark: The secret lives of fish in urban seascapes - Nathan Waltham
• Murky Waters, Hidden Diversity: eDNA Metabarcoding Reveals Fish Assemblages Across a Tropical–Subtropical Gradient in Turbid Seagrass Meadows of Australian Ports - Darcy E Philpott
• Community Shellfish Reef Restoration in South Australia’s Port River - Brad Dr Martin
• Decadal Loss and Recovery of a Tropical Seagrass Meadow in Cairns Harbour Reshapes Juvenile Fish Assemblages - Paul H York
• Long-term Ambient Coral Monitoring Fills Inshore Knowledge Gaps Across the Bowen–Mackay Region - Tessa Concannon
• Application of Novel Eco-Engineered Features to Enhance Biodiversity on Hard Substrates (Pylons) in Tropical Urban Seascapes - Ahmed Gad
• Beating the Biocide: Early Biofilm and Biofouling Development on Antifouling Paints. - Tamar Jamieson

• Power as a design constraint: instrumentation philosophy and its consequences for autonomous ocean observation - Stef Stimson
• Autonomy and Seabed Imaging Pipelines for Large-Scale Reef Survey - Shaun Barlow
• Low-cost, Small, Portable Autonomous Vessels for Coral Reef Monitoring   - Nathan Counsell
• Coastal Ocean Observations Using a Micro-AUV - Charitha Pattiaratchi
• Acoustic identity: linking signature whistles and visual identification in a threatened dolphin population - Amber Crittenden

Visit the workshop page for more information: https://amsa2026.amsa.asn.au/workshops

Presented by AMSA and ANZSDA (Australia New Zealand Scientific Diving Association)

Aim: The aim of this workshop is to provide updates on review process for the Australian Scientific Diving and Training Standards (AS229.2 and AS2815.6) and to engage the community about the public review and submission process as the peak scientific diving bodies (AMSA and ANZSDA).

Workshop Overview: Building on the success of the 2024 and 2025 workshops, "Addressing Growing Regulatory Challenges in Scientific Diving" and “Enhancing Scientific Diving: Updates, Safety, and Community Engagement” this year's session aims to provide crucial updates to the scientific diving community and plan the next steps of providing feedback to the upcoming scientific diving standards public consultation which will be pivotal in realising these long-awaited reviews.
This workshop will provide an opportunity to chat with your representatives on the Australian Scientific Diving and Training Standards about the review process, some of the proposed changes to the standards and key steps that you can contribute to via AMSA and ANZSDA submissions, agency and university submissions and individual submissions. Importantly, discussion will focus on key components of the revised standards that would be of great significance to the scientific diving community to continue scientific diving in a safe and practical manner.