Ama Wakwella

Under the joint supervision of Professor Peter Mumby and Dr George Roff, I completed a UQ honours project at the MSEL lab investigating how local threats influence coral reef recovery. The recovery of coral reefs post-disturbance is critical to their conservation. However, it is unclear how threats such as sedimentation and overfishing may interact to influence coral reef recovery. To investigate this, my honours project built upon a long-term field study of benthic succession under natural sedimentation gradients found in Palau. This research found vastly different trajectories of succession under fish presence / absence and  under high / low sedimentation regimes; in addition to critical sedimentation thresholds for coral recruitment and key benthic groups. A manuscript based on the results of this project is now currently in review with the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 

Since completing my honours, I have been assisting in the MSEL investigation of detritus on coral reef benthos. Through my experience in laboratory sediment processing from my honours, I have been able to assist in processing detritus samples for this investigation.

My research experience prior to MSEL includes more physiological biology; investigating eyesight in coral reef fish. I assisted in the calibration of a model for luminescence vision in Picasso Triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus.