Dirk Zeller
Professor of Marine Conservation
Director Sea Around Us - Indian Ocean
School of Biological Sciences
University of Western Australia (UWA)
dirk.zeller@uwa.edu.au
Prior to joining the University of Western Australia, Dirk was the Senior Scientist and Executive Director of the global Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. He leads research activities of the Sea Around Us - Indian Ocean related to the Indian and Pacific ocean regions. Dirk and his team also closely collaborate on fisheries, marine biodiversity and conservation issues with colleagues at UWA, Western Australia Fisheries (DPIRD), and global Sea Around Us activities with the UBC-based team and the Philippines-based team of Quantitative Aquatics.
Dirk leads research on the impacts of fishing on marine ecosystems at the large spatial scale, including reconstruction of historic catch, fishing effort and other fisheries time series, and engages in research on strategic ocean governance, biodiversity conservation, Marine Protected Areas, fisheries policy and economics. He collaborates widely with colleagues around the world, e.g., with the Fisheries Economics Research Unit (feru.oceans.ubc.ca) on issues in resource economics, with the Changing Ocean Research Unit (coru.oceans.ubc.ca) on issues of climate change and fisheries, and with leading conservation scholars on issues related to pelagic and demersal biodiversity, ecology and conservation.
Dirk has an established publications profile and publishes both in the primary literature (Nature, Science, PLoS ONE, Marine Policy, Frontiers in Marine Science, Fish and Fisheries, Fisheries Research etc.), in books (e.g., Global Atlas of Marine Fisheries) and dedicated book chapters and research reports. Dirk was named Australia’s Top Researcher in his field for 2021, awarded the 2017 Ocean Awards for Science (jointly with Daniel Pauly), co-awarded the 2012 UBC Innovative Dissemination of Research Award and the 2011 Ecological Society of America Sustainability Science Award. He collaborates with scientists in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. He presents his work at conferences and workshops throughout the world.
Dirk has a background in tropical marine biology and fisheries ecology from James Cook University, Australia. He has professional interests in global marine conservation, fisheries and sustainability, as well as strategic and global policy developments, resource economics and coral reef ecology.