Review team biography
Professor Peter Fairweather, BSc(Hons) PhD (Chairperson)
Professor of Marine Biology, School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia (since Dec 2001)
- Peter Fairweather is trained as a quantitative ecologist with more than 30 years experience in this field, and holds the degrees of Bachelor of Science (Honours Class I) and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Sydney, where his research was supervised by Professor A.J. Underwood.
- From 1985 to 1994, he was Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in Environmental Studies at Macquarie University, with responsibility for teaching ecology & biology, research methodology, the design of impact assessments and environmental monitoring, conservation, resource management and environmental philosophy. There he supervised postgraduate research and was the recipient of five research grants from federal government funding schemes like the Australian Research Council.
- From 1994 to 1997, he was Senior Research Scientist, then Project Leader and Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO Division of Water Resources (later CSIRO Land & Water) based at Griffith, NSW. There he led a project examining the ecological impacts of agricultural chemicals on riverine environments and contributed to the design and statistical analysis of studies into the water requirements for aquatic and riparian vegetation, water quality monitoring, and blue-green algal blooms.
- From 1997 to 2001, he was Senior Lecturer in the School of Ecology & Environment, Deakin University (Warrnambool Campus) where he had overall responsibility for the area of marine ecology and taught as well as most of marine biology in general and quantitative research methods.
- In his present position, Professor Fairweather heads more than 12 academics within the Marine Biology & Aquaculture cluster at Flinders University. His current research interests include studies of food webs in a variety of coastal marine and estuarine ecosystems, especially whether upwelling can affect intertidal assemblages, the influences of groundwater upon nearshore coastal ecosystems, scaling issues and patchiness of biological community structure, human impacts as disturbances, and ecological monitoring via the use of bioindicators of ecosystem health.
- Professor Fairweather has written 12 monographs and published (or had accepted) more than 65 refereed papers or chapters in the scientific literature, is currently preparing more than 25 others, and has produced more than 165 items in other forms of research output. He has published research on a wide range of taxa from algae to cetaceans living in a wide range of aquatic habitats.
- His research interests span the ecology of natural habitats in marine coastal environments. In particular, Professor Fairweather has been concerned for the last seventeen years with the assessment of human impacts (such as water pollution, recreational effects and the harvesting of resources) and conservation efforts on invertebrate assemblages. These interests have regularly led to numerous consultancies with all tiers of government and private enterprise, advising on the design and review of environmental research programs.
- From 1988 to 1990 he advised the federal government about environmental research in Antarctica as a member of the Antarctic Research Evaluation Group. From 1989 until 1995 he advised the NSW state government on the Environmental Monitoring Programme for Sydney's Deepwater Ocean Outfalls as a member of the Technical Review Committee. He was Inland Waters Indicators Co-ordinator for the State of Environment Reporting Unit of the federal bureaucracy Environment Australia and part of a major CSIRO team that reviewed wastewater strategies for Sydney Water. Professor Fairweather chaired the Ecology Expert Advisory Panel overlooking environmental studies at Sydney's Olympics 2000 site at Homebush Bay until moving to Victoria. Currently he sits on the Independent Technical Review Panel set up by SA Water to oversee environmental marine issues regarding Adelaide’s metropolitan desalination plant.
- Professor Fairweather has served on the Editorial Board of the Australian Journal of Ecology from 1987 to 2000. As an Editor, he handled more than 200 manuscripts, and during 1995-6 served as its Receiving Editor, in charge of the triad of Editors. He was on the foundation Editorial Board of the journal Ecological Management and Restoration from 1999 to 2006. At present, he is a member of Editorial Advisory Committee for the international journal Marine and Freshwater Research.
- Professor Fairweather is currently the immediate Past President of the Ecological Society of Australia, the key professional body for Australia’s scientific ecologists with a membership of more than 1400 nationally. He was the national President of ESA from 2005 to 2007.
- Prof. Fairweather is currently seconded (on a part-time basis until at least July 2010) to work as a senior scientific advisor for the Coast and Marine Conservation Branch of the SA Department for Environment & Heritage, where he has a key role in ensuring that as sound a scientific basis as possible exists for planning for the establishment of 19 new marine parks within that state by 2012. This follows on from his previous experience with marine protection and biodiversity conservation in NSW during the 1980s and 1990s and in Victoria during 1997-2001. It also builds on his membership of the Scientific Working Group on Marine Protected Areas & Marine Planning, SA Government.
Selected publications & other output, relevant to marine conservation:
- Arundel H & Fairweather PG (2002) South-west Intertidal Habitat Assessment and Education Project Report on CoastCare/Coast Action grant, Deakin University, Warrnambool, 90 pp., September 2002
- Constable AJ & Fairweather PG (1997) Conservation of Victorian Estuaries: Integrating ecology into management. Invited talk for 1997 Victorian Coastal Conference: Caring for the coast, Proceedings, November 20-21 1997, Geelong, p. 79-81
- Downes BJ, Barmuta LA, Fairweather PG, Faith DP, Keough MJ, Lake PS, Mapstone BD & Quinn GP (2002) Monitoring Ecological Impacts: Concepts and practice in flowing waters, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 446 pp., ISBN 0521771579.
- Fairweather PG & McNeill S (1993) Ecological and other scientific imperatives for marine and estuarine conservation. pp.39-48 in: Ivanovici AM, Tarte D & Olson M (eds) Protection of Marine and Estuarine Areas - A Challenge for Australians: Proceedings of the fourth Fenner conference on the environment, Canberra, 9-11 October 1991 Occasional Paper No. 4. Australian Committee for IUCN, Sydney.
- Fairweather PG (1990) Ecological changes due to our use of the coast: research needs versus effort. Proceedings, Ecological Society of Australia 16: 71-77. (Symposium: "Australian Ecosystems: 200 years of utilisation, degradation and reconstruction").
- Fairweather PG (1991) A conceptual framework for ecological studies of coastal resources: an example of a tunicate collected for bait on Australian seashores. Ocean & Shoreline Management 15: 125-142.
- Fairweather PG (1993) Links between ecology and ecophilosophy, ethics and the requirements of environmental management. Australian Journal of Ecology 18: 3-19.
- Fairweather PG (1998) Experimental research in environmental management and biodiversity protection: ecological principles and methods. p. 15-17 in: “The Ethics of Environmental Research, Proceedings of the 1997 Fenner Conference: Environmental Research Ethics: National principles and guidelines”, Australian Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 5 Supplement: 15-17 (Nov 1998)
- Fairweather PG (1999) Determining the “health” of estuaries: priorities for ecological research. Proceedings of International Conference on the Ecology of Estuaries & Soft Sediment Habitats, Australian Journal of Ecology 24: 441-451.
- Hamilton B, Fairweather PG & B McDonald (in prep.) Can one species of seagrass act as a surrogate for others in relation to providing habitat for other taxa? intended for Marine Ecology Progress Series
- Lester RE & Fairweather PG (2009) Modelling future conditions in the degraded semi-arid estuary of Australia’s largest river using ecosystem states. Estuarine Coastal & Shelf Science 85: 1-11
- Mandelc FG & Fairweather PG (1995) Jervis Bay's dolphins: conservation & management. p.152-156 in Cho G, Georges A, Stoutesdijk R & Longmore R (eds.) Kowari No. 5 Jervis Bay: A place of cultural, scientific and educational value. ANCA, Canberra.
- McNeill SE & Fairweather PG (1993) Single large or several small marine reserves? An experimental approach with seagrass macrofauna. Journal of Biogeography 20: 429-440.
- Morcom R, Fairweather P, McDonald B & Wright A (2009) Does science help or hinder marine park design? Marine Connectivity, 46th Annual Conference AMSA 2009 Program and Abstract Handbook, 5-9 July 2009, Adelaide, Australia, Australian Marine Sciences Association, p. 147
- Wilkinson J, Souter N & Fairweather P (2007) Best Practice Framework for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Water-dependent Ecosystems, 1: Framework, DWLBC Report 2007/12, Government of South Australia, through Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, Adelaide, 67 pp., May 2007, ISBN 978 1 921218 48 4
- Wilkinson J, Souter N & Fairweather P (2007) Best Practice Framework for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Water-dependent Ecosystems, 2: Technical Resource, DWLBC Report 2007/13, Government of South Australia, through Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, Adelaide, 131 pp., May 2007, ISBN 978 1 921218 51 4
- Wright A, Fairweather P, Bignell S & McDonald B (2009) Performance assessment: how is South Australia considering connectivity in marine park design? Marine Connectivity, 46th Annual Conference AMSA 2009 Program and Abstract Handbook, 5-9 July 2009, Adelaide, Australia, Australian Marine Sciences Association, p. 201
A subset of his students supervised, relevant to conservation
PhD:
- G. Baxter (1992) The Ecology & Conservation of Egrets, Macquarie University
- F. Mandelc (1997) Ecology & Conservation of the Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus in Jervis Bay NSW, Macquarie Uni
- B. McDonald (2007) The Influence of Seagrass Habitat Architecture & Integrity on Associated Faunal Assemblages, Flinders Uni
MSc:
- R. Salisbury (1993) The Fragmentation of Wildlife Conservation Areas by Linear Structures, Macquarie Uni
M Env Stud:
- S. McNeill (1991) The Design of Marine Parks with an Emphasis on Seagrass Communities, Macquarie Uni
Honours:
- R. Cohen (2000) Intertidal Inventory for South West Victoria: Differing Habitat Types & the Human Threats upon Them, Deakin Uni
- C. McClusky (2001) Investigation of Dispersal of Estuarine Invertebrate Fauna via Genetic Markers, Deakin University
- R. Langley (2006) Testing Sandy Beach-state Classifications and Macrofaunal Responses in the Encounter Bay Marine Protected Area, Flinders Uni
- R. Morcom (2007) Testing a Rapid Method for Predicting Macrofauna on Sandy Beaches in the Proposed Encounter Marine Park (joint supervision with B. McDonald), Flinders Uni
- B. Hamilton (2009) Assessment of Posidonia coriacea as Habitat for Animals and the Concept of Surrogacy in Marine Parks, Flinders Uni
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