President: 2020 -
Vice-President: 2019 - 2020
Secretary: 2018 - 2019
Councillor: 2016 - 2018
Rachel is a marine ecologist at the NSW Department of Primary Industries Fisheries where she leads the marine ecosystems research unit. Her research interests include spatiotemporal biodiversity patterns, resource management, and impacts of anthropogenic stressors. Recent achievements including leading the Gippsland Marine Environmental Monitoring project in which the potential impacts of a marine seismic survey on fish and scallops were assessed to address concerns from fisheries and petroleum industries; the development of a suite of national marine sampling standards NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub to which over 130 individuals from 53 agencies contributed; and production of a monthly newsletter to engage the international ocean observing community in best practices. Rachel completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong in 2005 where she studied the effects of multiple stressors on molluscan embryos, as well as their associated chemical and behavioural protection. She then undertook a postdoctoral position at Stony Brook University in New York as a visiting professor where she investigated the effects of harmful algae on commercially important clams. Rachel also has a background in science communication and has an interest in the influence of modern media on the public perceptions of marine and Earth sciences.
Rachel attended her first AMSA conference in 2005 and helped organise the 2014 conference in Canberra. She is past President of the ACT Branch of AMSA, as well as a past President of the Malacological Society of Australasia. She joined AMSA Council as a general councillor in 2016.