Ama Wakwella

Ama is a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Ama is interested in cross-sectoral management approaches for conservation and how they can be used to deliver benefits for both human and ecosystem health. Her project focuses on Fiji, where she hopes to develop an optimised watershed management framework to provide improvements in water safety, disease prevention and marine ecosystem health.

Before beginning her PhD in late 2020, Ama worked within industry as an Aquatic Ecologist, conducting environmental assessments for private and government clients around Australia. During her honours research, she investigated the impacts of sedimentation and over-fishing on coral reef recovery, sparking a passion for land–sea relationships and management of coral reef health.