Dr Beaman is a Research Fellow and marine geologist based at James Cook University in Cairns. His research explores the long-term geological and physical processes that have influenced the shape of Australia’s underwater landscape, or seascape, and to study the relationships between deep seabed habitats and their associated marine life. He is lead researcher on Project 3D-GBR to develop high-resolution, regional-scale depth models for the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, now widely used for geology and seafloor habitat research, flood plume modelling, larvae tracking and COTS starfish control efforts.

Neville's research and engagement in collaborative projects have contributed widely to the understanding of the biodiversity and ecology of temperate reef systems in Australia. Many of the inshore reef monitoring protocols Neville and his team have developed are now in widespread use by management and research agencies, and they are now focusing on similar standard method designs for inventory and monitoring of Australia's new Commonwealth Marine Reserve network in offshore waters.

Dr Ian Bell is a Research Scientist with Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection’s Threatened Species Unit. Having been involved with marine reptile research since 1995, Ian's current research covers multiple turtle conservation projects determining marine turtle life history parameters, population structure and distribution around the world including Queensland, Papua New guinea and Bahrain. Over the last several years he has become more involved in working with Indigenous communities to understand trends and threats to local sea turtle populations.