This seminar is hosted by the Biodiversity Institute

Speaker: Dr Morgan S. Pratchett, Principal Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Australia

Biography: Dr Morgan Pratchett is a Principal Research Fellow in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, based at James Cook University, Townsville. He has broad interests in population and community ecology of coral reef organisms, especially corals and fishes. His current research focuses on major disturbances that impact coral reef ecosystems, with a view to understanding differential responses and vulnerabilities among coral reef organisms. Dr Morgan Pratchett has written several papers describing direct and indirect effects of coral bleaching and outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish, considering impacts on both coral assemblages and associated assemblages of coral reef fishes. He is also an international authority on the biology and ecology of coral reef butterflyfishes and his currently writing and editing a monograph dedicated to this iconic family of coral reef fishes (Biology of Butterflyfishes, Science Publishers Inc.).