|
 |
|||
School of Botany
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|||
School of Botany
|
||||
|
||||
|
 |
Dr Jan Carey
|
| Location |
Natural Philosophy Building |
| Phone | +61 3 8344 3336 |
| Fax | +61 3 9348 1620 |
| janetmc@ unimelb.edu.au |
For 18 years I worked on monitoring programs and impact assessments in marine environments, both in Australia and overseas, with the Melbourne-based environmental consultancy Marine Science & Ecology. During this time, a number of issues relating to the application of hypothesis testing and power analysis to impact assessment caught my attention. In 1995, I returned to university to devote more time to these particular forms of number crunching, using case studies of marine infauna around wastewater discharges to ocean collected during my previous life as a consultant. (thesis abstract)
After completing my PhD in late 2001, I moved to the Enviromental Science research group, which later morphed into the Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis (ACERA). Here, I split my time between teaching environmental science subjects, and collaborating with external organiszations on various research projects. An ARC Linkage project with Parks Victoria (2005-2007) developed a formal program for ecological risk assessment tailored to the needs of an extensive system of 24 marine national parks and marine sanctuaries declared only three years earlier. Information from that project has been used to inform both the management plans of Parks Victoria and the agency's strategy for future research.
It directly stimulated the following research projects: i) monitoring the effects of an adaptive experimental management program implemented by Parks Victoria to deal with the effects of trampling by park visitors on intertidal assemblages, ii) evaluating the effectivness of an existing Parks Victoria seagrass monitoring protocol, and iii) development of an optimal surveillance program in MPAs for non-indigenous marine species already present in Victorian waters (see Current Research for more details on this one).
As you may have guessed by now, there are three major threads to my research:
Since July 2007, I've also been contributing to the marine macroalgal component of several Botany subjects. Follow the teaching link below or go to the Marine Lab web site for more details.
1) Non-indigenous marine species
One of the potential threats to marine biodiversity identified in the risk assessment process undertaken for Parks Victoria was the presence of non-indigenous marine species. To date, concern with these species in Australian waters has largely focussed on ports receiving international shipping. There is however, a growing realisation that such species may subsequently be spread locally by vectors such as recreational boats. Clearly, marine protected areas valued for their diversity of native species are areas where such secondary incursions would be a major concern. Our current Linkage collaboration with Parks Victoria aims to identify the non-indigenous species currently present in Victorian ports which pose the greatest threat to park values and are also promising candidates for eradication, and the parks to which they have the highest probability of being carried. This will allow the agency to focus the limited resources available for surveillance monitoring where there is greatest potential for successful detection and eradication.
Student projects associated with this collaboration include:
i) quantifying the detectability of selected non-indigenous marine species,
ii) comparing the holdfast assemblages associated with native and non-indigenous kelps, and
iii) surveying recreational and small boat users to identify vessels movements in Victorian coastal waters with potential to transport non-indigenous marine species to new locations.
2) Reporting the outcomes of monitoring programs
To be useful for management purposes, monitoring programs need to be focussed on relevant objectives, be statistically rigorous, and be reported in a way that managers, regulators and other stakeholders can readily understand. Identifying practical and novel ways of meeting this need is the focus of projects with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and with Parks Victoria. Following a similar theme, a PhD student is currently investigating the applicability of new statistical methods for the analysis of marine monitoring data.
| Since July 2007, I have been involved in teaching marine botany. I coordinate the 3rd-year intensive field-based subject BOTA30001 Marine Botany and contribute to 2nd year EVSC20004 Blue Planet: an Introduction to Marine Science (new in 2011). I am also responsible for the marine botany component of BIOL10001 Biology of Australian Flora & Fauna I continue to contribute to the graduate statistics subject BIOL90002 Biometry (formerly Environmental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists) and 3rd year EVSC30002 Problem Solving in Environmental Science. |
 |
From 2000 to 2007, I was involved in teaching of the following environmental science subjects:
During my PhD, I taught in the following ecology or zoology subjects with an emphasis on practical skills:
Marine Science & Ecology was a specialist consultancy undertaking ecological assessments of the marine environment in relation to disturbances such as waste discharges and development projects. I joined MSE in 1977 for four weeks casual work as a technical assistant. And stayed for nearly two decades! Over the years, my responsibilities came to include the design and management of field studies, statistical analysis, and the supervision and training of junior staff.
 |
 |
A detailed list of projects in which I participated is available here, but note that most of the reports on these projects are unpublished, and copies may be difficult to obtain.
If I don’t seem to be the Jan Carey you were looking for, you could try the one at the University of Adelaide. (Yes, there are two of us!)
|
Contact the University : Disclaimer & Copyright : Privacy : Accessibility |
|
Date Created: 13 December 2006 |
The University of Melbourne ABN: 84 002 705 224 |
![The University of Melbourne [logo]](/envisci/template-assets-custom/images/custom_logo_crest_comb.gif){kind=logo}
