Maarten De Brauwer

Originally a biology teacher in Belgium with a passion for the ocean, then a dive instructor in Southeast Asia. I arrived in Australia to work as a fieldwork assistant for the university of Queensland, which empowered me to pursue a career in marine science.

After finishing an Honours degree at the University of Western Australia on the extinction risk of clownfishes I completed a PhD at Curtin University. My PhD research focused on the small, well camouflaged fishes that live on sandy bottoms. I have worked for the University of Leeds, where I investigated human impacts on coral reefs in central Indonesia. While working for CSIRO, I developed a roadmap to integrate environmental DNA (eDNA) methods in marine park monitoring and lead the development of national eDNA best practice guidelines for Australia and New Zealand.

I currently work as a research scientist at Southern Cross University, where I lead a state wide biodiversity monitoring program for estuaries in New South Wales.