Dr Claire Smallwood
Claire joined AMSA in 2003 while undertaking Honours in Marine Science at Murdoch University. She was excited about the opportunity to contribute to AMSA at a national level as Bulletin editor after attending several AMSA conferences and being involved as a General Committee member in Western Australia since 2008.
Since joining AMSA, Claire has engaged in a variety of roles including several years at the Western Australian Department of Fisheries where she was working initially as a Research Officer assisting with the design, implementation and reporting of on-site recreational fishing surveys and then as a Research Scientist managing aerial and remote surveys. Claire also spent 12-months based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with the Youth Ambassador for Development Program. In this role she was attached to the Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 2 and worked with local staff on a project assessing wild capture fisheries in the Mekong Delta. Claire returned to Murdoch University in 2006 to undertake a PhD entitled “Spatial and temporal patterns of recreational use at Ningaloo Reef, north-western Australia”, which was completed in 2009.
Claire currently lives in Exmouth, where she can enjoy the amazing Ningaloo Reef, and balances a number of roles with the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation and Murdoch University.