Our Team

Dr Jodie Rummer is an Professor of Marine Biology in the College of Science and Engineering at James Cook University and formally a researcher in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. She was the 2015-2016 recipient of the highly prest...

In the past 10 years, Dr Mourier has become one of France's leading shark scientists. His research has focused on the ecology and conservation of marine predators, primarily sharks. He has been studying the behavioural, trophic, and movement ecology ...

Dr. Serge Planes, Research Director at the CNRS, has been involved in the study of population genetics of marine fish in the Pacific since the beginning of his career that started with his PhD in 1989. Over the past 30 years, he has published about 2...

Dr Bridie Allan is a researcher at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Her research explores how environmental changes can alter the mechanisms underlying population processes and how these changes scale to community dynamics. To do this, she use...

Originally from New York, Ian completed his B.Sc. at the University of Michigan, and his M.Sc. at the University of Illinois under the supervision of Dr. Cory Suski. For his Master's thesis, he investigated the daily energy requirements of juvenile l...

Gail's research focuses on the understanding the impact of anthropogenic activities on coastal fish physiology with an emphasis on sharks and skates. She is interested in the intersections of basic physiology, ecology, and management, and seeks to fu...

Originally from New York, Carolyn completed her BS in Marine Science at the University of New England in Maine. Her undergraduate honor's thesis focused on determining sex and maturity of Atlantic sturgeon using non-lethal techniques. Additionally du...

Ornella is a Swiss marine biologist that has been studying shark ecology for the past eleven years. She is particularly interested in the behavioural and trophic ecology of sharks, as well as the conservation of coastal juvenile shark populations. Or...

José is a PhD student investigating the ecological importance of nursery grounds to shark populations. His research is focused in the interplay between the habitat configuration and the mechanisms newborn sharks employ to deal with predation. His res...

Rachel completed her Ph.D. at the University of Miami's Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy / Shark Research and Conservation Program. She uses an interdisciplinary approach to study shark / climate / human interactions in South Florida, n...

Originally from Germany, Dr. Illing earned his diploma (2009) at the University of Hamburg conducting eco-morphological research on spawning aggregations of a temperate clupeid fish species. His doctoral studies (2016) focused on how environmental st...

Originally from Switzerland, Sybille completed her MSc at JCU with Drs Jodie Rummer & Amelia Wenger. Her PhD research at JCU, supervised by Dr Rummer and co-supervised by Drs Andy Hoey & Amelia Wenger, investigates how poor water quality (e.g., incre...

Tiffany earned her BSc in Marine Biology from the University of West Florida, spending summers in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia studying crab-eating frogs, mudskipper fishes, and sea snakes. After completing her MSc at JCU researching fish ...

Originally from Japan, but grew up in France where they completed their MSc (Hons) at Toulouse, Paul Sabatier University, specializing in animal behavior, cognition and neurosciences. During this year, they studied the sensory capacity of the clownfi...

Originally from Massachusetts, Monica earned her BS in Marine Science from the University of New England in Maine. Her senior research focused on ecosystem based modeling to determine carrying capacity of bivalve aquaculture. She has been interested ...

Originally from the Sunshine Coast, Leteisha completed her undergraduate degree at JCU. Since late 2015, she has been an intern in Dr. Jodie Rummer's lab, where she has been working closely with Sybille Hess (PhD candidate) investigating how suspende...

Originally from the USA, Lauren completed her undergraduate studies in marine science at Boston University before moving to Glasgow, Scotland for a Master of Research degree. For her PhD at JCU, she is studying the potential impacts of climate change...

Floriaan followed an Erasmus Mundus in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the universities of Ghent (Belgium), Algarve (Portugal) and Oviedo (Spain), finishing with highest distinction. He is currently in the process of publishing his thesis "Th...

Dennis earned his Honours (1st class) at James Cook University under the supervision of Dr Jodie Rummer, Prof. Philip Munday, Prof. Colin Simpfendorfer, and Dr Michelle Heupel where he focused on understanding how near future ocean acidification cond...

Alyssa earned her BSc in Marine Biology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and her MSc in Marine Biology from James Cook University where she focused on gill remodelling in tropical reef fish as a result of elevated temperatures. Her...

Adam earned his BSc in general biology from the University of Southern Denmark, finishing with a research project investigating Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) click differentiation. He later enrolled as a Cand. Scient. at the University of Cope...

Originally from Connecticut, Daniel earned his BSc degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 2012. His research interests include ecology, physiology, and conservation of elasmobranchs and other highly exploited marine fishes. For hi...

Originally from Washington D.C., Ian studied Biology at Oberlin College in Ohio. At JCU, he assisted with epaulette shark research and husbandry in the Rummer Lab. His previous experiences include assisting with research on deep reef fauna at the Smi...

Stine earned her BSc in Biology with a Minor in Ecology and Physiology from the University of Southern Denmark. She decided to do part of her Masters degree at James Cook University where she discovered her interest in Fisheries Science and Fish Phys...

Originally from Portland, Oregon, Katya was in her third year studying Biology and Geology at Macalester College in Minnesota. Previous and ongoing experience includes researching the evolutionary history and biogeography of a genus of leaf-litter ar...

Originally from New Jersey, USA, Julia worked towards a BSc in Environmental Science at Brown University in Rhode Island. Her interest in marine biology & conservation stemmed largely from previous work at the Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas ...

Martijn earned his bachelors degree in applied science (majoring in fisheries) from University of Tasmania. His passion led him to Townsville to study tropical fish and fisheries. For his MSc in Marine Tropical Biology and Ecology, he explored the de...

Andrew earned his BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado. Then, he worked as a SCUBA instructor for several years in Hawaii. His passion for tropical marine fauna brought him to James Cook University where he focused h...

Originally from California, Connor earned his BSc in Marine Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He earned his MSc (Distinction) at JCU with the Rummer Lab where he explored the impact of elevated temperatures on movement, behaviour...

Originally from Denmark where he earned his Bachelor's degree at Copenhagen University studying fish ecophysiology. He moved to Australia in 2005 where he earned his Master of Science (2007) and PhD (2013), both at James Cook University. He is intere...

Originally from Adelaide, South Australia, Giverny completed her BSc (Hons) at Flinders University. During her honours she worked on fisheries related projects and subsequently took on a position as a research assistant at the South Australian Resear...

Originally from south of France, Manon was doing a master of science (MSc) at EPHE University (Biodiversity and Environmental Management). During her previous internship she investigated demographics and behaviour in terrestrial species (e.g., birds ...

Laura is currently pursuing an Undergraduate Degree in Science, majoring in Marine Biology at JCU. She joined the lab in early 2024 as a husbandry volunteer, took on the role of assistant lab manager in June 2024, and is now supporting the team as th...

Kylie is a former master's student whose research investigated how environmental enrichment affected the cognition of captive brownbanded bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium punctatum). Her work is a collaboration between the Rummer Lab and Dr. Culum Brown ...

Courtney Burns is a Brataualung women from the Guanikurnai nation in Victoria, Australia. Courtney is deeply passionate about ocean Country health and an advocate for the use of diverse knowledge for shark conservation. Courtney's goal as an early ca...

Shamil is joint PhD student at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and James Cook University (Australia). He is an experimental physiologist with a particular interest in the stress physiology of elasmobranch fishes. Shamil's main interests lay in ap...

Carmen Dobszewicz is a former member of the RummerLab, having completed her Master of Marine Biology (MMB) degree in November of 2024. Her research project investigated the hypoxia tolerance of early juvenile epaulette sharks (Hemiscyllium ocellatum)...

Sophia Emmons is a PhD Candidate and cotutelle student with James Cook University and the University of South Florida, co-supervised by Dr. Jodie Rummer (JCU), Dr. Brad Seibel (USF), and Dr. Colin Simpfendorfer. Her research explores the impact of in...

Joel Gayford is a PhD Candidate in the College of Science and Engineering at James Cook University, founder of the Shark Measurements Research Group, and graduate of the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London. Joel has authored over 20 p...

Aaron is currently a PhD candidate within the Rummer Lab at James Cook University within the College of Science and Engineering. He comes from an eclectic background encompassing sports medicine, exercise physiology, functional morphology, aquarium e...

Luca Hoffecker is a marine biologist and oceanographer from Vancouver, Canada. He studied biology and oceanography at the University of British Columbia with a specialization in marine mammals. Luca graduated from James Cook University in 2024 with a...

Isaac Marshall was an undergraduate student who studied a Bachelor of Advanced Science majoring in marine biology at James Cook University. Isaac spent a little over a year as a volunteer in the RummerLab, assisting and learning from the Master's and...

Chelsea joined the Rummer Lab in the second year of her undergraduate degree at James Cook University, where she was completing a BSc in Marine Biology. Chelsea started out as a volunteer but quickly transitioned into an undergraduate researcher when...

Carmen studies fish and invertebrates in marine and coastal environments. Her lab and field research in the coastal United States, Caribbean, and Central America looked at an array of critters and landscapes, including sharks and rays along temperate...

Originally from Florida, Katie Seidel earned her BSc in Marine Biology from the University of South Florida. Katie is currently a Master's student conducting her research thesis on the effects of geomorphology on the spatial distribution of juvenile ...

Emma Olivia Tormalm is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelors in Marine Science at James Cook University. She has been a volunteer for the Rummer Lab since the beginning of 2024 and has through her role become proficient in shark husbandry, em...

I'm a mature student who has recently finished up studying at JCU with a Bachelor of Science Majoring in Marine Biology. In my previous career I worked in the Construction industry specialising in Carpentry, Concreting, Formwork, Tiling and Painting,...

Originally from Milan, Italy, Miriam earned her BSc in Biological Sciences from University of Milan. Since May 2024, she has been a husbandry volunteer in Dr. Jodie Rummer's lab. Her research investigates the energetic costs associated with digestion...