Fiona Valesini

Dr Fiona Valesini is a coastal and estuarine ecologist with a particular interest in fish and invertebrate faunas, their relationships with environmental drivers, and their future sustainability. She has 25 years of experience as a research scientist and, since 2012, has worked as a senior research fellow in Estuarine Health at Murdoch University. Prior to this, Dr Valesini was a lecturer in Marine Ecology at Murdoch, where she also completed her PhD. Much of her research has focussed on coastal and estuarine systems throughout south-western Australia, and mainly those in urbanised areas where the balance between supporting healthy waterways and the needs of fast-growing populations is particularly challenging. Dr Valesini is the lead chief investigator of an Australian Research Council Linkage Project, focussed on optimising trade-offs between estuarine and societal health in the Peel region, which draws together nine collaborating agencies across the research, government and community sectors in Australia and the UK. She is also a member of several advisory groups including the Peel-Yalgorup Technical Advisory Group, Vasse-Wonnerup Science Advisory Group, and the Western Australian Marine Sciences Institution Estuaries Working Group.