Dr Peter Macreadie

I've always had a passion for ocean. This led me to undertake a BSc at the University of Melbourne with the intention of majoring in Marine Biology. However, I became distracted and instead majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

After a couple of years working on antifungal and antimalarial drug development, I re-entered the marine world by taking up Honours (investigating techniques for measuring sediment denitrification) at the University of Melbourne with Dr Jeff Ross and Professor Mick Keough.

I then completed a PhD (University of Melbourne) on faunal responses to seagrass habitat fragmentation (graduated 2010), supervised by Prof. Mick Keough, Dr Jeremy Hindell, Prof. Greg Jenkins, and Prof. Rod Connolly. This was followed by a short-term postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Charles Peterson at the University of North Carolina's Institute of Marine Science. There I worked on the effects of habitat patchiness on food web dynamics.

In 2010 I took up a UTS Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Professor David Booth studying seagrass resilience and carbon sequestration. I now hold an ARC DECRA Fellowship within the Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change(C3) Aquatic Processes Group (led by Professor Peter Ralph) on microbial priming in seagrass ecosystems.

More information:
Peter Macreadie.com

Education:
Ph.D. Marine Ecology, University of Melbourne, awarded March 2010
Honours Biogeochemistry, University of Melbourne, 2004 (Dean’s Award for Science for highest thesis score)
BSc Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, 2002

Postdoctoral Positions:
2013-present Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award Fellow (3 year full-time position, commenced January 2013. This fellowship was 1 of only 2 awarded within the Faculty of Science)

2010-2013 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UTS
(3 year full-time position. This fellowship was 1 of only 2 awarded within the Faculty of Science)

2009-present Honorary Research Fellow, University of Melbourne

Visiting research fellowship:
2009 Visiting Research Scholar, University of North Carolina
(4 months)
2012 Visiting Research Scholar: University of the Algarve (Portugal); University of Cadiz (Spain); University of Barcelona (Spain); Centre for Advance Studies Blanes (Spain), Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Italy); Univerisity of North Carolina (USA); Florida International University (USA); Florida State University (USA); and Daulphin Island Sea Lab (USA).

Fellowships and scholarships (with salary):
2013-16 Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award Fellow (3 years full-time salary inc. $150K research support)

2010-13 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, University of Technology Sydney (3 years full-time salary inc. $45K research support + $30K travel fellowship)

2006-09 Australian Postgraduate Award (3 years full-time salary)

2006-09 CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Postgraduate Scholarship (3 years salary top-up + $21K research support + $6K travel fellowship)

2006-09 Department of Primary Industries Nancy Millis Postgraduate Award (3 years salary top-up + $6K research support)

Awards, prizes and travel grants (selected):
2011 the(Sydney)magazine’s top 100 most influential people in Sydney for 2011, The Sydney Morning Herald (#76)

2011 Early Career Research Excellence Award, UTS Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Research Excellence

2011 Australian Museum Eureka People’s Choice Finalist

2011 Science and Technology Australia Early Career Researcher Award to attend Science Meets parliament

2010-12 American Australian Association Dow Chemical Company Fellowship(presented by News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch and Dow Chemical Company CEO Andrew Liveris at the 2010 American Australian Association benefit dinner in New York, hosted by Hugh Jackman)

2010-11 Banksia Environmental Foundation Brian Robinson Fellowship(presented by Mike Juleff at the 2010 Banksia Environmental Awards in Sydney)

2007 Victorian Marine Sciences Consortium Award
(presented by The Hon John Thwaites, Victorian Deputy Premier at the Victorian Coastal Council Awards for Excellence)

2007 Victorian Coastal Council Awards for Excellence Media Award

2006 Australian Society for Fish Biology Michael Hall Student Innovation Award

2004 University of Melbourne Dean’s Award for Science - highest Honours thesis score

Media
Failure to protect seagrass may cost Australia $45bn The Conversation February 2013
The multibillion cost of lost seagrass ABC Radio Bush Telegraph February 2013
What have seagrass done for me lately 27 September 2012,2.04 min
(2.04 min)
Eureka People's Choice Awards" ABC Catalyst video
Our land is girt by sea:our land abounds in carbon sinks
New project covers more of the deep sea ABC 7.30 Wednesday 6th July
Ocean friendly role for old oil rigs (The World Today, audio and transcript)
Could oil rigs be used to protect the deep sea
Good news about oil rigs
Crucial Ribbon of Life

Research interests
• Blue carbon: capture and storage of carbon by coastal vegetated habitats
• Understanding factors that mediate resilience in seagrasses
• Ecological impacts and benefits of offshore petroleum structures on marine ecosystem functioning
• Ecological consequences of coastal habitat fragmentation
• How habitat edges change species interactions
• The role drifting plant material in facilitating ecological connectivity
• Effects of mesopredator release on trophic cascades
• The importance of non-consumptive effects in structuring prey communities

2013-16 Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award ($375,000), Lead CI
From sink to source: Does microbial priming of degraded seagrasses contribute to global warming?

2012-14 Chevron Service Order ($204,210), 2nd CI
Decision matrix for decommissioning rigs based on best environmental outcomes

2012-13 Lake Macquarie Environmental Research Grants ($8,310), Lead CI
Razor clams in Lake Macquarie: friend of foe?

2012-13 AINSE Research Award ($8,100), 2nd CI
Project: Effects of acidification on carbon sequestration by macrophytes

2011-15 Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria Marine Research Studies Grant ($800,000). 2nd CI (Lead CI was Prof. Mick Keough from the University of Melbourne).
Project: Seagrass resilience in Port Phillip Bay – Developing better predictions of seagrass responses to environmental change

2011-12 UTS Early Career Researcher Grant ($25,000), Lead CI
Project: Testing resilience theories in seagrass ecosystems

2010-12 Sponsored project - Partners: Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW), Department of Industry and Investment, Hornsby Shire Council, and Gosford City Council and UTS Partnership Grant ($47,000 cash + $75,000 in-kind support), Lead CI
Project: Building an understanding of seagrass resilience into estuarine management

2010-13 UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Research Grant ($45,000), Sole CI
Project: Catching the drift and staying connected: a hitchhiker’s guide to climate change

Research supervision: Yes

Selected Peer-Assessed Projects

From sink to source: Does microbial priming of degraded seagrasses contribute to global warming? - DECRA DE130101084

Journal articles