Rebecca McMullin

Dr Rebecca McMullin, will use her New Zealand Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader Fellowship to improve our ability to monitor and understand the health of sensitive seafloor communities, such as sponges and bryozoans. As our aquaculture industry grows, it is increasingly moving from coastal to offshore environments, creating a need for tools to detect and manage the environmental impacts of these changing practices. 

Dr McMullin will develop indicators that can detect early signs of environmental stress in offshore systems due to factors such as nutrient loading and climate stressors.  A sophisticated suite of biochemical and molecular analyses will be used to identify critical thresholds that can be scaled up to enable real-world decision-making on ocean monitoring and stewardship.

Through partnerships and engagement with iwi, regulators, industry, and communities, this research will incorporate mātauranga Māori knowledge and support kaitiakitanga guardianship of taonga treasured species. It will also provide real world decisions making tools to support the sustainable management of offshore environments critical for our blue economy.

Heading out for a research dive in Duncan Bay. Credit: Nick Hearn; Laboratory enrichment trials set up at the Cawthron Aquaculture Park. Supplied