Amelia Desbiens

In 2019, I completed a Bachelor of Advanced Science (Hons Class I) at the University of Queensland. My Honours research, under the supervision of Prof. Pete Mumby at the MSEL lab, focused on the development of a structural equation model to tested hypotheses concerning shark-driven trophic cascading. I have subsequently worked as a research assistant at the Australian Rivers Institute at Griffith University under the supervision of Dr. Christopher Brown and collaborators at The Nature Conservancy working on the monitoring of Western Pacific tuna fisheries.

In 2020, I began my PhD working on the ecology of the pervasive crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS). My thesis will feature both empirical studies on the interactions of juvenile CoTS with invertebrate cryptofauna in rubble habitats as well as broader-scale modelling of population dynamics and outbreak initiation mechanisms. In tandem with my experimental work, I am an ongoing contributor to a project led by Dr. Kennedy Wolfe on the role of cryptic invertebrates and invertivores in reef trophodynamics. This work began with the design and subsequent deployment of RUbble Biodiversity Samplers (RUBS) in Palau in 2019 and has now been expanded to incorporate GBR sites.

I am passionate about the application of statistical methods to ecological problems in marine systems as well as general interests in trophic interactions, food web ecology and ecosystem modelling. I hope to continue exploring these interests throughout my candidature here at MSEL.

Publications:

Brown, C. J., A. Desbiens, M. D. Campbell, E. Game, E. Gilman, R. Hamilton, C. Heberer, D. Itano and K. Pollock. (2021). Electronic monitoring for improved fisheries and conservation management in western Pacific tuna long-line fisheries. Marine Policy 132:104664.

Hamilton, R. J., A. Desbiens, J. Pita, C. J. Brown, S. Vuto, W. Atu, R. James, P. Waldie and C. Limpus. (2021). Satellite tracking improves conservation outcomes for nesting hawksbill turtles in Solomon Islands. Biological Conservation 261:109240 .

Desbiens, A., G. Roff, W. D. Robbins, B. M. Taylor, C. Castro-Sanguino, A. Dempsey, and P. J. Mumby. (2021). Revisiting the paradigm of shark-driven trophic cascades in coral reef ecosystems. Ecology 102(4):e03303.

Wolfe, K., A. Desbiens, J. Stella and P. J. Mumby. 2020. Length–weight relationships to quantify biomass for motile coral reef cryptofauna. Coral Reefs 39:1649-1660.

Desbiens, A., and K. Wolfe. 2020. Observations of juvenile Stichopus sp. on a Palauan coral reef. SPC Bêche-de-mer Information Bulletin40:53-55.