Researcher biography

Scott is a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland working on understanding how large-scale seaweed farming will impact a variety of sustainable development indicators, including the provisioning of ecosystem services, food security, land-use change, and carbon management. His project aims to understand how the impacts of seaweed aquaculture are sensitive to socio-ecological contexts and how to optimise outcomes using systems thinking and decision analysis.

He is being supervised by Associate Professor Eve McDonald-Madden, Associate Professor Kate O’Brien and Dr. Richard Cottrell. He holds a Masters of Environmental Management in Environmental and Resource Economics from the University of Queensland and a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from Duke University.

Scott’s previous research has looked into ecosystem-based fisheries management, the ecosystem impacts of ocean energy, and the adoption of pro-environmental behaviours by individuals. Scott also holds a Captain’s License from the United States Coast Guard and has introduced thousands of students to the art of seamanship and the science of oceanography from the decks of ocean-going sailing vessels.