Dr Dominic Mcafee
ARC Grant-Funded Researcher B
Environment Institute
Division of Research and Innovation
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
My research group focuses on developing solutions to enable coastal marine ecosystem restorations to be both a social and ecological success. We examine the ecological and socio-ecological interactions that influence ecosystem health and human well-being, so that we can provide an evidence base to inform the sustainable management of coastlines.
I work regularly with local and State Government, environmental non-profits, the aquaculture industry, and local communities on restoration projects ranging from large-scale reef constructions to small-scale community-led restorations. I have a particular passion for restoring oyster reefs, and also work on seagrass, kelp and mangrove forests, and coastal vegetation.
I am open to collaboration and happy to discuss Honours and Postgraduate research projects on intertidal and subtidal ecology, socio-ecology, and human well-being associated with marine spaces. I have student projects ready to go on:
- Community-based ecosystem restoration
- Understanding the drivers of rapid ecosystem recovery
- Intertidal oyster ecology
- Social perceptions of marine ecosystems and their management
Research on rare and largely forgotten shellfish reef marine ecosystems to understand how we can bring them back using natural solutions and eco-cultural restoration. Read the Great Southern Reef Foundation story here.
Award winning research on the use of marine sound to accelerate ecosystem restoration. Winner of the 2023 South Australian Science and Innovation Excellence Awards for Excellence in Science and Industry Collaboration.
My research aims to both improve the way we restore marine ecosystems, such as Southern Australia's lost shellfish reefs, and how we communicate their value to the broader public using effective communication that engages people with conservation, so we can build the productivity and adaptability of Australia's marine ecosystems through large-scale restoration of oyster reefs of high social value.
Australia's sole remaining Flat oyster reef in Tasmania. We are working to bring them back. Photo: SD Connell.
Ecosystem restoration of Australia's lost shellfish reefs
My research has been at the central of Australia's shellfish reef restoration movement to restore lost oyster reefs; a national collaboration among research institiutes, State and Federal Governments, and environmental NGOs such as The Nature Conservancy. I regularly work with South Australia's Department for Environment and Water on ensuring these restorations are socially visible and valued, and ecologically monitored and disseminated. My research has focused on improving the way we approach reef restorations, including strategies to enhance natural recruitment and survival of native oysters, those they can support marine biodiversity.
I am interested in all aspects of reef restoration, with a primary focus on enhancing the recruitment and survival of oysters to the reef, ensuring it's long-term growth and performance. Projects include developing multi-species restoration approaches that boost oyster performance; understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of natural recruitment to maximise reef recovery; targeting for restoration the habitat traits that support ecological function, and developing and testing marine technologies (e.g. underwater speakers) that can accelerate restoration processes.
This nationally collaborative research won the 2020 Eureka Prize Award for Applied Environmental Research, which I shared with four colleagues at research institutes across Australia and The Nature Conservancy. Read more here.
Multi‐species restoration accelerates recovery of extinguished oyster reefs. McAfee et al. 2020, Journal of Applied Ecology.
Science on how the sounds of the sea can enhance restoration outcomes
Leveraging the cognitive biases of people to improve effective conservation messaging
My research with communication scientists looks to bridge the gap between ecology and conservation psychology to develop a communication strategy that ignites public interest. Public engagement provides a foundation for large-scale restoration initiatives as public support helps legitimize Government investment in restoration. Yet, evidence on the most effective way to communicate conservation issues is limited. Communicating a balance between environmental challenges and optimism for positive environmental change has the potential to improve conservation messaging, and my research examines how the psychological mechanisms of optimism resonates with the intended audience.
This research seeks to understand the psychological levers and social practices that inform human perspectives and behaviour towards the environment, so we can use this knowledge to enhance public engagement with conservation. I am particularly interested in understanding the socio-cultural perspectives that coastal communities and industries have of marine restoration projects, which can provide clues on what information is likely to resonate and spark greater engagement with restoration efforts. Such knowledge holds promise for not only improving communication of restoration efforts, but with environmental science more generally. Projects take many forms, so get in touch to here more.
Everyone loves a success story: optimism inspires conservation engagement. McAfee et al. 2019, BioScience.
Other research interests: Ecosystem based management; tests of ecosystem engineering theory; climate-adaptation strategies for coastal systems; invertebrate physiology; mangrove ecology
Selected Research Awards
- South Australian Science and Innovation Excellence Awards, Excellence in Science and Industry Collaboration, 2024
- British Ecological Society award, Southwood Prize for best paper by an EMCR in Journal of Applied Ecology, 2023
- SA Climate Leaders Awards, Honorable Mention, SA Premier’s Climate Change Council, 2022
- School of Biological Science Publication Awards, Adelaide University, 2022
- South Australian Tall Poppy of the Year, finalist, 2021
- Young Tall Poppy Award for South Australia, 2021
- University Award for Outstanding Achievement for Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher, 2021
- Eureka Prize Award for Applied Environmental Research, 2020
- Order of Merit for Early Career Research Excellence, Faculty of Sciences UoA, 2020
Tall Poppy of the Year finalist, South Australian Science Excellence and Innovation Awards, 2021
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2024 - ongoing Future Making Fellow Environment Institute, University of Adelaide 2017 - ongoing Postdoctoral Research Associate The University of Adelaide 2016 - 2017 Research assistant Sydney Institute of Marine Science 2016 - 2016 Endeavour Research Fellow The University of Hong Kong 2015 - ongoing Communication committee Shellfish Reef Restoration Network 2013 - 2017 Biological Science tutor (part-time) Macquarie University, Sydney -
Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2024 Award South Australian Environment Awards, Conservation Science Prize Conservation Council SA Australia - 2023 Award Excellence in Science and Industry Collaboration o South Australian Science and Innovation Excellence Awards Australia - -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2013 - 2017 Macquarie University, Sydney Australia PhD 2007 - 2012 Macquarie University, Sydney Australia BSc (Hon1) -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Pichler, E., Connell, S. D., & McAfee, D. (2025). Improving human well-being through community-led coastal restoration. Biological Conservation, 301, 110892-1-110892-10.
2025 Smith, C. S., DeMattia, E. A., Albright, E., Bromberger, A. F., Hayward, O. G., Mackinson, I. J., . . . Zhao, Z. (2025). Beyond despair: Leveraging ecosystem restoration for psychosocial resilience.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 122(2), e2307082121.
2024 Wawryk, A., Mcafee, D., Cooper, K., McCormack, P., Castles, M., Drew, G., & Connell, S. (2024). Law and Governance for Oyster Reef Restoration: The South Australian Experience. Environmental and Planning Law Journal, 40(6), 355-369.
2024 McAfee, D., McLeod, L. D., Carruthers, S., & Connell, S. D. (2024). Reversing functional extinction: successful restoration of eradicated oyster reefs. Restoration Ecology, 32(5), e14169-1-e14169-11.
Scopus32024 Williams, B. R., McAfee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2024). Anthropogenic noise disrupts acoustic cues for recruitment. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2027), 20240741-12.
Scopus2 Europe PMC22023 Williams, B. R., McAfee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2023). Combining ecology and technology to kick‐start oyster reef restoration. Restoration Ecology, 31(8), e13975-1-e13975-10.
Scopus42023 McAfee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2023). Rapid reversal of ecological extinction. Science (New York, N.Y.), 381(6658), 613.
2023 McAfee, D., Leung, J. Y. S., & Connell, S. D. (2023). Improving ecological function of polluted coasts under a tide of plastic waste. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 21(9), 435-442.
2023 Kenny, I., Connell, S. D., Drew, G., Wright, A., Carruthers, S., & McAfee, D. (2023). Aligning social and ecological goals for successful marine restoration. Biological Conservation, 288, 110357-1-110357-10.
Scopus11 WoS12022 Jones, A., Alleway, H., Reis Santos, P., Mcafee, D., Theuerkauf, S., & Jones, R. (2022). Climate-Friendly Seafood: The potential for emissions reduction and carbon capture in marine aquaculture. Bioscience, 72(2), 123-143.
Scopus85 WoS34 Europe PMC142022 McAfee, D., Bishop, M. J., & Williams, G. A. (2022). Temperature-buffering by oyster habitat provides temporal stability for rocky shore communities. Marine Environmental Research, 173, 7 pages.
Scopus16 WoS5 Europe PMC22022 Williams, B. R., Mcafee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2022). Oyster larvae swim along gradients of sound. Journal of Applied Ecology, 59(7), 1815-1824.
Scopus20 WoS3 Europe PMC22022 Mcafee, D., McLeod, I. M., Alleway, H. K., Bishop, M. J., Branigan, S., Connell, S. D., . . . Gillies, C. L. (2022). Turning a lost reef ecosystem into a national restoration program.. Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, 36(6), 10 pages.
Scopus38 WoS12 Europe PMC62022 Mcafee, D., Drew, G., & Connell, S. D. (2022). Recentering the role of marine restoration science to bolster community stewardship. Earth System Governance, 13, 1-6.
Scopus10 WoS52022 Mcafee, D., Reis-Santos, P., Jones, A. R., Gillanders, B. M., Mellin, C., Nagelkerken, I., . . . Connell, S. D. (2022). Multi-habitat seascape restoration: optimising marine restoration for coastal repair and social benefit. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, 1-10.
Scopus15 WoS22022 Jones, A. R., Alleway, H. K., McAfee, D., Reis-Santos, P., Theuerkauf, S. J., & Jones, R. C. (2022). A Clear-Sighted Focus On Climate- Friendly Operations Will Enhance Sustainable Marine Aquaculture Approaches. BIOSCIENCE, 72(10), 1 page.
Scopus12022 McAfee, D., Williams, B. R., McLeod, L., Reuter, A., Wheaton, Z., & Connell, S. D. (2022). Soundscape enrichment enhances recruitment and habitat building on new oyster reef restorations. Journal of Applied Ecology, 60(1), 111-120.
Scopus18 WoS22021 Riera, R., Rodríguez, R., McAfee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2021). The COVID-19 lockdown provides clues for better science communication on environmental recovery. Environmental Conservation, 49(1), 1-3.
Scopus2 WoS22021 McAfee, D., Larkin, C., & Connell, S. D. (2021). Multi-species restoration accelerates recovery of extinguished oyster reefs. Journal of Applied Ecology, 58(2), 286-294.
Scopus31 WoS15 Europe PMC22021 McAfee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2021). The global fall and rise of oyster reefs. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 19(2), 118-125.
Scopus35 WoS172021 McAfee, D., Reinhold, S. L., Alleway, H. K., & Connell, S. D. (2021). Environmental solutions fast-tracked: Reversing public scepticism to public engagement. Biological Conservation, 253, 1-8.
Scopus27 WoS13 Europe PMC22021 Williams, B. R., Mcafee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2021). Repairing recruitment processes with sound technology to accelerate habitat restoration. Ecological Applications, 31(6), e02386-1-e02386-7.
Scopus18 WoS7 Europe PMC32021 McAfee, D., Costanza, R., & Connell, S. D. (2021). Valuing marine restoration beyond the 'too small and too expensive'. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 36(11), 968-971.
Scopus27 WoS15 Europe PMC62020 Leung, J. Y. S., & McAfee, D. (2020). Stress across life stages: Impacts, responses and consequences for marine organisms. Science of the Total Environment, 700, 9 pages.
Scopus17 WoS12 Europe PMC22020 McAfee, D., McLeod, I. M., Boström-Einarsson, L., & Gillies, C. L. (2020). The value and opportunity of restoring Australia's lost rock oyster reefs. Restoration Ecology, 28(2), 304-314.
Scopus34 WoS182020 Gillies, C. L., Castine, S. A., Alleway, H. K., Crawford, C., Fitzsimons, J. A., Hancock, B., . . . zu Ermgassen, P. S. E. (2020). Conservation status of the Oyster Reef Ecosystem of Southern and Eastern Australia. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22, 16 pages.
Scopus45 WoS202020 McAfee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2020). Cuing oyster recruitment with shell and rock: implications for timing reef restoration. Restoration Ecology, 28(3), 6 pages.
Scopus28 WoS152019 Mcafee, D., Alleway, H. K., & Connell, S. D. (2019). Environmental solutions sparked by environmental history.. Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, 34(2), 386-394.
Scopus24 WoS19 Europe PMC42019 McAfee, D., & Bishop, M. J. (2019). The mechanisms by which oysters facilitate invertebrates vary across environmental gradients. Oecologia, 189(4), 1095-1106.
Scopus33 WoS22 Europe PMC42019 McAfee, D., Doubleday, Z. A., Geiger, N., & Connell, S. D. (2019). Everyone loves a success story: Optimism inspires conservation engagement. BioScience, 69(4), 274-281.
Scopus96 WoS672019 McAfee, D., & Connell, S. D. (2019). Balancing the Benefits of Optimism and Pessimism in Conservation: a Response to Kidd, Bekessy, and Garrard. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 34(8), 692-693.
Scopus12 WoS10 Europe PMC32019 Pogoda, B., Brown, J., Hancock, B., Preston, J., Pouvreau, S., Kamermans, P., . . . von Nordheim, H. (2019). The Native Oyster Restoration Alliance (NORA) and the Berlin Oyster Recommendation: bringing back a key ecosystem engineer by developing and supporting best practice in Europe. Aquatic Living Resources, 32, 13.
2018 McAfee, D., Cumbo, V., Bishop, M., & Raftos, D. (2018). Intraspecific differences in the transcriptional stress response of two populations of Sydney rock oyster increase with rising temperatures. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 589, 115-127.
Scopus9 WoS72018 McAfee, D., Bishop, M., Yu, T., & Williams, G. (2018). Structural traits dictate abiotic stress amelioration by intertidal oysters. Functional Ecology, 32(12), 2666-2677.
Scopus42 WoS27 Europe PMC32017 McAfee, D., O'Connor, W., & Bishop, M. (2017). Fast growing oysters show reduced capacity to provide a thermal refuge to intertidal biodiversity at high temperatures. The Journal of animal ecology, 86(6), 1352-1362.
Scopus48 WoS36 Europe PMC122016 Mcafee, D., Cole, V. J., & Bishop, M. J. (2016). Latitudinal gradients in ecosystem engineering by oysters vary across habitats. Ecology, 97(4), 929-939.
Scopus67 WoS55 Europe PMC162016 Mcafee, D., Cole, V. J., & Bishop, M. J. (2016). Latitudinal gradients in ecosystem engineering by oysters vary across habitats. Ecology, 97(4), 929.
- McLeod, L. D., Connell, S. D., & McAfee, D. (n.d.). Recovering kelp forests using newly constructed oyster reef restorations: adapting a kelp transplant method. Restoration Ecology.
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Conference Items
Year Citation 2018 Freeling, B. S., Mcafee, D., & Connell, S. (2018). Compensation then collapse: How Ostrea angasi responds to a warming and acidifying ocean. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australian Shellfish Reef Restoration Network & 19th International Conference on Shellfish Restoration. Adelaide. -
Report for External Bodies
Year Citation 2024 Waltham, N., Saunders, M. I., Morris, R., Bell-James, J., Bishop, M. J., Bugnot, A. B., . . . Wawryk, A. (2024). FINAL REPORT, Project 3.7, Identifying and overcoming barriers to marine and coastal habitat restoration and nature-based solutions in Australia, Project Summary. (Project 3.7).
Selected Research Funding and Fellowships
- Future Making Fellowship in the Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences, 2024 - current
- Subak Research Fellowship, 2022
- ARC Linkage - Addressing social and ecological constraints to expand marine restoration, co-chief investigator, 2021, $445,822
- Department for Environment & Water research grant - Research on Shellfish Reef Restoration in South Australia, 2020, $80,000
- Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Research Fellowship Award, Australian Government, 2016, $24,500
Course coordination
Course coordinator for Principles & Practice of Research III (SCIENCE 3100) in the BSc Advanced degree, University of Adelaide, 2021.
Guest lecturing
- Frontiers in Marine Science, University of Adelaide, 2018 - 2021
- Estuarine health; Oyster aquaculture, University of Hong Kong, 2016
- Marine Ecology, Macquarie University, 2015 - 2016
Course tutoring
- Marine environmental issues, Macquarie University, 2015-2017
- Marine Ecology, Macquarie University, 2014-2015
- Invertebrate zoology, Macquarie University, 2014
- Experimental design and data analysis, Macquarie University, 2014
- Ecology, Macquarie University, 2013-2014
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Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2024 Principal Supervisor Expanding the near-shore restoration potential of native oyster reefs using positive species interactions Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Nichole Lindsey 2024 Principal Supervisor Quantifying the human benefits of community-led marine restoration; mental, emotional, and socio-economic wellbeing of community participation. Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Michelle Margaret Holian 2024 Co-Supervisor Are Pinna bicolor the key to successful intertidal restoration? Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Samantha Maree George-Neich 2024 Co-Supervisor How to boost coastal restoration through improved reef design and increased community participation via public engagement Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Lauren Brigitte Woolhiser 2023 Co-Supervisor Enacting effective marine ecosystem restoration along the South Australian coast. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Ishtar Raven Kenny 2022 Co-Supervisor Science Communication: Sharing via Storytelling (Working Title) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Mollie Hawkes Hohmann 2021 Co-Supervisor Oyster Reef Restoration Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Lachlan McLeod 2021 Co-Supervisor Marine invertebrates in changing oceans Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Erin Laura Pichler -
Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2020 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Enriching Marine Soundscapes to Restore Australia's Lost Native Oyster Reefs Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Brittany Ruth Williams
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