Our Team

Dr. Jodie Rummer
Professor
Chief Investigator
Dr Jodie Rummer is an Professor of Marine Biology in the College of Science and Engineering at James Cook University and formally a researcher in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. She was the 2015-2016 recipient of the highly prestigious UNESCO-L'Oréal Women in Science Fellowship for Australia and New Zealand, an Australian Research Council (ARC) Super Scientist (2011-2014), an ARC Early Career Discovery Fellow (2015-2017), named one of Australia's top five scientists under 40 (2016), and Queensland's (Australia) Tall Poppy Scientist of the Year (2019).
Dr Rummer is a leading authority on the evolution of oxygen transport in fish and how fish maintain performance during stress. Her research, combines ecology, evolution, and physiology to address issues important to conservation, such as the effects of climate change and other human-caused problems on coral reef fishes, sharks, and rays and their potential for adaptation. Dr Rummer founded the Physioshark Project and has been leading this research programme and the students, staff, and volunteers involved since 2013.
Affiliations
- Professor at James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

Dr. Johann Mourier
Researcher
Partner Researcher
In the past 10 years, Dr Mourier has become one of France's leading shark scientists. His research has focused on the ecology and conservation of marine predators, primarily sharks. He has been studying the behavioural, trophic, and movement ecology as well as and conservation biology of sharks using multiple advanced and non-invasive approaches including underwater observations, biologging, genetics, stable isotope analyses, and network theory. Most of his first studies, including his PhD research, were conducted in the remote and healthy coral reefs of French Polynesia (Pacific Ocean) on blacktip reef sharks. His research on juvenile reef sharks in Moorea served as a baseline for project PhysioShark. He is also involved in a citizen science program on elasmobranch (Shark Observatory of French Polynesia; ORP) since 2011. Dr Mourier has now published over 40 research papers in the field of behavioural ecology and shark science. These have generated nearly 1,000 citations (Google Scholar), and he has an overall H-Index of 18. This has established him as one of the leading early-career scientists in his field.

Dr. Serge Planes
Research Director
Partner Researcher
Dr. Serge Planes, Research Director at the CNRS, has been involved in the study of population genetics of marine fish in the Pacific since the beginning of his career that started with his PhD in 1989. Over the past 30 years, he has published about 250 papers in international journals addressing population genetics of coral reefs, ecology, marine protected areas, and recruitment of marine fishes. With about 14,000 citations, his work has been highly recognized while demonstrating that coral reef fish populations are much more limited in space than was generally believed and that self-recruitment is significant drive. This view has major implications for conservation planning.
Such international recognition led Dr Planes to being invited to participate as a member of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and he was recently appointed as adjunct professor at Australian Institute or Marine Science. After having coordinated several European projects, numerous national projects, and the last Tara Pacific expedition, Dr Planes is presently directing the LABEX "CORAIL" awarded in 2011 for 10 years and renewed in 2019 for another 5 years, this being the major structural framework for research on coral reef ecology in France.
Affiliations
- Research Director at CNRS, France

Dr. Bridie Allan
Researcher
Partner Researcher
Dr Bridie Allan is a researcher at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Her research explores how environmental changes can alter the mechanisms underlying population processes and how these changes scale to community dynamics. To do this, she uses field collections, observations and experiments in conjunction with laboratory experiments to investigate a wide range of environmental impacts that influence the physiology, behaviour and survival of fish.
Dr Allan's field sites span both tropical, temperate and polar regions.
Affiliations
- Researcher at University of Otago, New Zealand

Dr. Ian Bouyoucos
Research collaborator
Ian completed his Ph.D. as a co-tutelle at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (James Cook University) and the Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement (École Pratique des Hautes Études). He investigated the ecophysiology of global change for tropical sharks by testing hypotheses predicting species' vulnerability to global change phenomena, including ocean warming, acidification, and deoxygenation.
Ian has been involved in shark research since 2008. For his research, Ian utilises a range of techniques belonging to the "Conservation Physiology Toolbox." including respirometry and bio-logging. Before joining Physioshark in 2016, Ian's previous research focused on understanding the energetic costs, physiological stress, and behavioural responses of sharks to longline capture, including the implementation of bycatch devices.

Dr. Gail Schwieterman
Research collaborator
Gail's research focuses on the understanding the impact of anthropogenic activities on coastal fish physiology with an emphasis on sharks and skates. She is interested in the intersections of basic physiology, ecology, and management, and seeks to further our understanding of multi-stressor impacts on ecologically important (yet understudied) species.
Gail received the prestigious Thomas Watson Fellowship, which allowed her to spend a year traveling the world and exploring different issues related to marine conservation, as well as the highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which funded her graduate degree.

Carolyn Wheeler
PhD Candidate
Carolyn Wheeler is a co-tutelle PhD student at the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (JCU).
Carolyn spent the first half of her PhD working with the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium in Boston studying the effects of temperature on development and physiological performance of epaulette shark embryos and hatchlings. She was recently awarded a graduate research fellowship through the American Australian Association to continue her research at JCU assessing the impacts of thermal stress on reproductive success in adult epaulette sharks.
Affiliations
- PhD Candidate at University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, USA
- PhD Candidate at James Cook University, Australia

Dr. Ornella Weideli
Research collaborator
Ornella is a Swiss marine biologist that has been studying shark ecology for the past eleven years. She is particularly interested in the behavioural and trophic ecology of sharks, as well as the conservation of coastal juvenile shark populations. Ornella is experienced in using various non-invasive methods such as stable isotope analyses, DNA barcoding, catch and release practices, and underwater observations.
Ornella first got involved into marine science during her internship at the renowned <a href="https://www.biminisharklab.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="text-blue-600 hover:text-blue-800">Bimini Biological Field Station</a> (BBFS) in 2009. Fascinated by this experience, she returned to the station in early 2011 to investigate the diet of juvenile lemon sharks for her Master thesis. Following multiple jobs as a research assistant in the US, Seychelles, and French Polynesia, Ornella started her PhD at the French University EPHE in collaboration with the <a href="https://saveourseas.com/sosf-darros-research-centre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="text-blue-600 hover:text-blue-800">Save Our Seas Foundation - D'Arros</a> Research Centre (SOSF - DRC), the <a href="http://www.criobe.pf/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="text-blue-600 hover:text-blue-800">CRIOBE</a> and the Physioshark research programme. As part of her PhD, Ornella investigated the coexistence of two juvenile reef shark species and the possible effects of competition on the species' ecological niches. After obtaining her Ph.D. in summer 2020, Ornella continues to investigate sharks' trophic ecology, as well as anthropogenic impacts on the ecology and physiology of sharks. In addition, Ornella raises awareness of sharks by sharing her knowledge through public presentations, media engagements, as a scientific expedition leader for the Sail and Explore Association, and as a mentor and consultant for undergrad students. To learn more about Ornella's versatile work, <a href="https://www.ornellaweideli.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="text-blue-600 hover:text-blue-800">visit her website</a>.

José E. Trujillo
PhD Candidate
José is a PhD student investigating the ecological importance of nursery grounds to shark populations. His research is focused in the interplay between the habitat configuration and the mechanisms newborn sharks employ to deal with predation. His research tries to understand how the structural complexity of habitats and the environmental conditions are related to sharks' refuge availability, and how the anti-predator strategies of newborn sharks are affected by the habitat they inhabit.
His previous study related to the ecology of shark nursery grounds investigated the effect of kelp forest complexity in nursery habitat selection in egg laying sharks.

Rachel Skubel
Research collaborator
Rachel completed her Ph.D. at the University of Miami's Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy / Shark Research and Conservation Program.
She uses an interdisciplinary approach to study shark / climate / human interactions in South Florida, namely through ecophysiological indicators of risk in sharks, and socio-ecological systems analysis of shark fisheries.
Affiliations
- PhD Graduate at University of Miami, Miami, USA
Dr. Björn Illing
Post-doctoral Researcher
Post-doc
Originally from Germany, Dr. Illing earned his diploma (2009) at the University of Hamburg conducting eco-morphological research on spawning aggregations of a temperate clupeid fish species. His doctoral studies (2016) focused on how environmental stressors affect the growth, condition and survival of Atlantic herring offspring at the University of Hamburg, working in parallel at a federal German research institute developing a novel hyperbaric swimming flume for testing fish species during extended oceanic spawning migrations. Currently in the Rummer lab, he investigates the effects of environmental stressors on coral reef fish larvae. His research is partially funded by the Company of Biologists.
Sybille Hess
PhD Candidate
Originally from Switzerland, Sybille completed her MSc at JCU with Drs Jodie Rummer & Amelia Wenger. Her PhD research at JCU, supervised by Dr Rummer and co-supervised by Drs Andy Hoey & Amelia Wenger, investigates how poor water quality (e.g., increasing levels of suspended sediments) affects fish metabolic performance, the consequences for activities such as swimming, and potential impacts on fish community structure. Her work primarily focuses on fish larvae and juveniles, combining lab-based and field experiments.
Affiliations
- PhD Candidate at James Cook University, Australia
Tiffany Nay
PhD Candidate
Tiffany earned her BSc in Marine Biology from the University of West Florida, spending summers in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia studying crab-eating frogs, mudskipper fishes, and sea snakes. After completing her MSc at JCU researching fish microhabitat use in coral reefs and mangrove ecosystems, she began her PhD under the supervision of Drs. Rummer, Hoey, and Johansen, expanding upon her interests in microhabitat use.
Affiliations
- PhD Candidate at James Cook University, Australia
Eva Jacquesson
MSc Student
Eva is based at the Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l'Environnement (CRIOBE) in Papetoai, Moorea, Polynésie française.
Affiliations
- MSc Student at CRIOBE, Papetoai, Moorea, Polynésie française
Nao Nakamura
Laboratory and Field Technician
Technical Staff
Originally from Japan but grew up in France, Nao completed their MSc (Hons) at Toulouse, Paul Sabatier University. They are currently based at the Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l'Environnement (CRIOBE) in Papetoai, Moorea, Polynésie française.
Affiliations
- Laboratory and Field Technician at CRIOBE, Papetoai, Moorea, Polynésie française
Dr. Ian McLeod
Senior Research Scientist
Alumni
Dr. McLeod is currently employed as a Senior Research Scientist at TropWATER, James Cook University.
Affiliations
- Senior Research Scientist at James Cook University, Australia