Dorothea Bender-Champ

Dorothea Bender-Champ is a former Research Fellow at the Coral Reef Ecosystems Lab, The University of Queensland, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. She holds an MSc in Biology from the University of Bremen (Germany) and completed her PhD at The University of Queensland, focusing on coral reef algae under environmental stressors. Her research examines coral reef metabolism, particularly productivity and calcification across reef zones, and investigates how these processes respond to seasonal cycles and future climate conditions. She has also contributed to projects analyzing coral-algal interactions and the impacts of ocean acidification/warming on reef ecosystems.

Research Focus: Coral reef ecophysiology, climate change effects on reef communities, metabolic processes in reef zones, and coral-algal competition dynamics. Her work integrates field observations and experimental approaches to understand reef resilience mechanisms.

Professional Background: Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2014 onwards at UQ), project manager for a MOOC development at the Global Change Institute, and contributor to the ARC Laureate research team studying reef metabolic processes. Her studies span from Heron Island reef zones to broader tropical reef systems.