Sean Connell

Professor Sean Connell

Professor

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

I am an ecologist that seeks to understand the loss of ecosystems and how to repair them.

My research has provided the confidence needed for evidence-based polices for repairing coastal ecosystems. This research sparked (1) the restoration of the southern hemisphere's largest oyster reef restorations and (2) engineering infrastructure that has improved coastal water quality for the recovery of seagrass meadows and kelp forests.

My PhD & Masters students research:
1. How climate change alters the ecology of marine life,
2. Why multi-species restoration is better than restoring mono-cultures,
3. Create engineering solutions to coastal restoration, such as acoustic enrichment,
4. What it is about the psychology of hope that helps people engage with and enjoy conservation,
5. Understand why those scientists that pay attention to their writing have a greater influence as scientists.

Students often get wet (snorkel & dive), stay dry (aquariums) or have an interest in how the mind works (psychology).

People

Sean @ Work

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  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2011 - ongoing Professor University of Adelaide
    2005 - 2010 Associate Professor University of Adelaide
    1999 - 2004 Senior Lecturer The University of Adelaide
    1997 - 1999 Lecturer University of Sydney
    1996 - 1997 Lecturer University of Tasmania (Australian Maritime College)
    1994 - 1996 Scientist The Ecology Laboratory

  • Awards and Achievements
    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2010 Fellowship ARC Future Fellowship - - -
    2004 Fellowship ARC Queen Elizabeath II Fellowship - Australia -
    2003 Award J.G. Russell Award Australian Academy of Science - -
    2003 Award The Andrewartha Medal - - -
    1992 Research Award Scholarship (PhD) - Australia University of Sydney - -
    1990 Award Scholarship (PhD) - New Zealand New Zealand University Grants Committee New Zealand -

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    University of Sydney Australia PhD
    University of Auckland New Zealand MSc (1st Class Honours)
    University of Canterbury New Zealand BSc

  • Research Interests
    Aquatic Ecosystem Studies and Stock Assessment Climate Change Processes Community Ecology Ecological Impacts of Climate Change Ecology Ecosystem Function Marine and Estuarine Ecology

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   Me writing a grant @ in the middle of the Great Australian Bight.

   My best ideas come whilst surrounded by the systems I study.

 

 

 

Grants with layperson titles:

  • ARC Linkage (2020-2022): The social and environmental repair of ecosystem restoration.
  • ARC Discovery (2014-2016):  Ocean acidification drives production and consumption in the web of life.
  • ARC Future Fellowship (2011-2013):  Global and local emissions boosts limiting resources for global change.
  • ARC Linkage (2008 -2010): Managing global imprints with local activities to empower local managers.
  • ARC Linkage (2005-2007): Planning for coastal policy success by resolving land-to-sea linkages.
  • ARC Queen Elizabeth Fellowship II (2003-2005): Ecosystem decline in human-dominated landscapes.
  • ARC Discovery (2002-2005): Biogeography and ecology of southern kelp forests.
  • ARC Discovery (2000-2003): Experimental ecology of a subtidal rocky coast.

I teach the hard skills with love and passion.

1. Marine Biology.  I coordinate the Bachelor of Marine and Wildlife Conservation.

2. Statistics. I receive unsolicited emails, such as "I just wanted to thank you for being a highly effective and thoughtful teacher during the first four weeks of RMEB III this semester.  I feel confident for the remainder of the course because of the way you presented the (relatively dry!) content and the way you listened to the students' needs"  (Student, 2017).

3. Writing.  Beautiful and nourishing reading comes from the effort we put into writing. Relative to maths, this one of the most under-valued skills in science.  Science writing is so dull and impenetrable that it sounds as if we are speaking in tongues.  Science communicators are employed to decode the babble. 

 

 

 

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2023 Co-Supervisor The effects of ocean acidification on the structure of marine trophic pyramids. Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Mary Ellen Brownridge
    2022 Principal Supervisor Multispecies restoration on the South Australian native oyster reefs Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Ishtar Raven Kenny
    2022 Principal Supervisor Science Communication: Sharing via Storytelling (Working Title) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Mollie Hawkes Hohmann
    2022 Co-Supervisor To Investigate the Influence of Climate Change on Reef Fish Nutritional Content. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Beth Rose Dawson
    2021 Principal Supervisor Marine invertebrates in changing oceans Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Erin Laura Pichler
    2021 Principal Supervisor Oyster Reef Restoration Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Lachlan McLeod
    2020 Principal Supervisor Using innovative global positioning system (GPS) and camera-loggers to understand and map critical foraging habitat of Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Nathan Michael Angelakis

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2020 - 2022 Principal Supervisor The Science and Philosophy of Natural Resource Management: Papers on Fisheries, Environmental Philanthropy, and Animal Sentience Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Benjamin Sean Freeling
    2020 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Enriching Marine Soundscapes to Restore Australia's Lost Native Oyster Reefs Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Brittany Ruth Williams
    2018 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Occurrence of Microplastic in Fish: Presence, Knowledge and Solutions Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Nina Kantor Wootton
    2017 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Shifting Cultural-Ecological Baselines in the Recovery of Long-Nosed Fur Seals and the Implications for Little Penguin Prey Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Sarah-Lena Reinhold
    2016 - 2020 Co-Supervisor How marine organisms cope with changing climate Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Almendra Rodriguez Dominguez
    2015 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Ecological Responses to Ocean Acidification and Warming: Scaling up from Individuals to Communities Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Silvan Goldenberg
    2015 - 2019 Co-Supervisor The Role of Herbivores in a Near Future Ocean: Positive and Negative Effects of Climate Change on Herbivore Ecological Function Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Camilo Moitinho Ferreira
    2014 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Living Costs of Ocean Acidification and Warming in Herbivorous Gastropods and their Adaptations Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Jonathan Leung
    2013 - 2016 Principal Supervisor Ecological Resistance and Buffers of Environmental Change Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Giulia Ghedini
    2012 - 2016 Co-Supervisor Early life behaviour & sensory ecology of predatory fish under climate change and ocean acidification Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Jennifer Chryseis Alcestis Pistevos
    2012 - 2016 Principal Supervisor Changing Consumer Strength in a Changing Climate Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Nicole Lee Mertens
    2012 - 2016 Co-Supervisor The Effects of Ocean Acidification on Sound Production and Reception in Marine Animals Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Tullio Rossi
    2011 - 2015 Principal Supervisor Reconstructing Ecological Baselines: Toward Improved Management in Aquatic Ecosystems Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mrs Heidi Alleway
    2011 - 2015 Principal Supervisor Stability and Recovery of Coastal Ecosystems to Local and Global Resource Enhancement Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Chloe McSkimming
    2010 - 2014 Principal Supervisor SEAGRASS ECOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY IN A LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Owen Burnell
    2009 - 2013 Principal Supervisor Mediation of Global Change by Local Biotic and Abiotic Interactions Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Laura Falkenberg
    2007 - 2012 Co-Supervisor Stable Isotopes of Estuarine Fish: Experimental Validations and Ecological Investigations Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Alexandra Bloomfield
    2007 - 2012 Principal Supervisor Strength of Sea Urchin Herbivory and Condition from Biogeographic to Organismal Scales Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Juan Livore
    2005 - 2009 Principal Supervisor Using Shell Morphology to Characterise Abalone Populations Across Multiple Spatial Scales Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Thor Mayo Saunders
    2005 - 2008 Principal Supervisor Disturbances That Influence Patterns of Benthic Assemblages Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Bethany Roberts
    2004 - 2009 Principal Supervisor Declining Water Quality as a Driver of Changes to Subtidal Communities Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Daniel Gorman
    2002 - 2005 Co-Supervisor Reconstructing Environmental Histories of Fish from Otolith Chemistry; Experimental Validations and Applications Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Travis Elsdon
    2002 - 2005 Principal Supervisor Regional and Local Patterns in Kelp Morphology and Benthic Assemblages Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Meegan Fowler-Walker
    2002 - 2005 Co-Supervisor The Ecology of Subtidal Turfs in Southern Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Bayden Russell
    2001 - 2005 Principal Supervisor Patterns and Responses of Benthos to Habitat Heterogeneity in Algal Forests of Australasia and Antarctica Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Andrew Irving
    2001 - 2004 Principal Supervisor CONSEQUENCES OF DISTURBANCE FOR SUBTIDAL FLORAL AND FAUNAL DIVERSITY Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Paris Goodsell

  • Committee Memberships
    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2015 - ongoing Member Habitat Enhancement Working Group Primary Industries South Australia Australia
    2014 - 2016 Member International Temperate Reefs Symposium (Plymouth, UK) Plymouth University United Kingdom
    2008 - 2016 Chair International Temperate Reefs Sympoium (Adelaide) - -
    2002 - 2014 Advisory Board Member Scientific Working Group Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources Australia
    2001 - 2008 Board Member Wildlife Advsory Group Department of Environment and Hertiage Australia

  • Memberships
    Date Role Membership Country
    2013 - ongoing Member The Environment Institute Australia

  • Consulting/Advisories
    Date Institution Department Organisation Type Country
    2006 - 2012 Department of Agriculture Great Australian Bight Fishery - Australia
    1994 - 1996 The Ecology Lab - - Australia

  • Editorial Boards
    Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
    2010 - 2013 Associate Editor Aquatic Biology - -
    2004 - ongoing Associate Editor Marine Biology: international journal on life in oceans and coastal waters - -

  • Industry Partnerships
    Date Engagement Type Partner Name
    2013 - ongoing Consultant SA Water
  • Position: Professor
  • Phone: 83135513
  • Email: sean.connell@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 83134364
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Darling, floor 1
  • Org Unit: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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