Mandy Cheung

Mandy is a PhD candidate in the Marine Spatial Ecology Lab at The University of Queensland under the supervision of Professor Peter Mumby. Her research focuses on estimating the effects of climate change on coral bleaching and rubble creation, and examining the subsequent implications on future reef recovery potential on the Great Barrier Reef. Her project includes collaboration with NOAA and the University of Exeter, UK.

Mandy has an immense interest in using scientific evidence to inform marine conservation and management actions, as well as to motivate people to protect nature. Prior to her PhD, Mandy earned her Master of Conservation Science degree at UQ, in which she studied the spatial patterns of thermal stress and the cumulative impacts of consecutive mass bleaching events on coral connectivity on the Great Barrier Reef under the supervision of Professor Peter Mumby and Dr Karlo Hock. She also worked to analyse a large dataset from the citizen science project Great Reef Census to assess coral communities and cover. Before moving to Australia, she worked for a number of environmental NGOs on cetacean conservation, environmental education, marine debris survey and plastic pollution campaign in Hong Kong after obtaining her Bachelor of Science (Honours) majoring in Biology from Queen’s University, Canada. For her undergraduate thesis, she investigated the potential of using environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect freshwater algal bloom. Academic aside, she is also a committee member of the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, which focuses on scientific research, community education and campaigns to protect the local marine mammal species.