Who We Are

Graeme is a highly experienced landscape ecologist, interdisciplinary scientist, and conservation theorist. His research focuses primarily on wicked problems in conservation and management. His UWA profile is here and Google Scholar profile here. 

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Abbie is an interdisciplinary economist and co-Director of UWA’s Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy (CEEP). Her research focuses on integrating social and environmental values in evidence-based decision making. Her UWA profile is here.

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Charlotte completed her PhD at the University of Western Australia in 2025, focusing on interdisciplinary solutions to marine spatial management challenges. Her current work investigates the drivers of spillover from marine protected areas looking at diverse ecological, social, and geographical factors. She hopes to use this research to develop a decision-making tool to assist managers and communities in choosing locations for marine protected area that can provide both conservation and fisheries benefits. 

Arthur is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist. He graduated with an MSc in Conservation Science and Practice from Imperial College London in 2025. Now based in Perth as a Forrest Research Scholar, Arthur's PhD investigates how decision-making behaviours of protected area managers can be integrated into system-level social-ecological models. In doing so he hopes to improve the knowledge base on how effective and enduring conservation action can be delivered.

Teigan graduated with an MSc in Geology from Imperial College London in 2022. She moved to Perth in January 2024 to pursue a PhD with Graeme Cumming and Ryan Lowe. Her research will apply and extend existing frameworks in social-ecological systems research to  understand biophysical and social-ecological feedbacks in coastal erosion governance, using WA as a case study. More information can be found on the UWA Repository and LinkedIn.

Luisa is an oceanographer and field ecologist.  She completed an MSc at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil, and her PhD at Macquarie University in Australia. Her research focuses on seascape connectivity and its role within complex socioecological systems to improve fisheries management and conservation measures. Luisa is jointly appointed between UWA and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS).

Ilaria is a conservation scientist, CFH and EA Jenkins Postgraduate Research & Keiran McNamara World Heritage PhD Scholar at the UWA Oceans Institute. Her PhD research explores decision-making for protected areas, focusing on the geography and social network structure that underpin protected area sustainability and with special emphasis on the collaborative design and governance of coastal and marine protected areas in Western Australia. 

Valentina holds an MSc in Marine Environmental Management from the University of Exeter and an MSc in Environment, Politics and Society from University College London. Her PhD project will explore the processes and power structures that determine institutional change and shape the resilience of marine protected areas, drawing on social-ecological systems theory to further our understanding of MPA governance.

Siwat is a geomatic engineer and geospatial data scientist. His PhD project focuses on understanding how ecosystem service tradeoffs may occur across space and time along the coast and over the open waters of Western Australia. He also aims to identify resource conflicts that may arise under the pressure of climate change and understand the consequences of prioritising certain Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP).

Jem is a PhD candidate in the Centre for Environmental Economics & Policy in the UWA School of Agriculture and Environment. Her PhD explores how different dimensions of subjective wellbeing influence the decision-making and behaviours of small-scale fishers in Mauritius. Jem takes an interdisciplinary approach to research and is interested in generating knowledge that supports the meaningful representation of fishers’ lived experiences and needs in management decision-making

Dinh Khanh Le is currently a PhD candidate in the Centre for Environmental Economics & Policy, in the UWA School of Agriculture and Environment. Khanh has been working in the areas of agriculture, natural resources, and the environment. He is interested in developing and analysing policies that support inclusive and sustainable economic development. Khanh’s PhD research focuses on studying the role of non-market valuation in the decision-making process of coastal erosion management.

Alia Manzoor is a PhD Candidate in Environmental Economics at the University of Western Australia's School of Agriculture and Environment, supervised by A/Prof. Abbie Rogers and Prof. Graeme Cumming. With more than a decade of teaching and research experience, she has published 15+ journal articles. Her research focuses on developing interdisciplinary approaches to environmental risk assessment and decision-making under uncertainty. She integrates quantitative methods including machine learning, econometrics, and simulation modelling to address complex environmental challenges. 

Valeria is an environmental scientist (MSc), with a specialization in conservation biology, and a Forrest Research Scholar. Her PhD project explores the relationship between area-based conservation and the well-being of human communities, focusing on access and property rights as influences on social and economic spillover effects.

Ennis completed an MSc in Environmental Sustainability at University College Dublin in 2023, focusing on sustainable fisheries management. His thesis, conducted with the British Antarctic Survey, examined spatial and temporal changes in the diet of mackerel icefish around South Georgia. His PhD research explores the scale and predictability of ecological spillover from marine protected areas, with a focus on community-level responses to protection.