Melanie Trapon

Melanie Trapon is an Adjunct Professor affiliated with James Cook University's ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and currently works at CSIRO in Perth, Australia. Her research focuses on coral reef ecosystems, climate change adaptation, and conservation strategies in tropical marine environments. She holds a PhD from James Cook University, supervised by Prof. Morgan Pratchett, Prof. Andrew Baird, and Dr. Andrew Hoey, where her doctoral work examined coral population dynamics along the Great Barrier Reef's latitudinal gradient.

Education:

• Bachelor of Biology, University of La Rochelle (France)
• Master of Applied Science, James Cook University
• PhD, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Research Interests: Melanie investigates coral reef resilience, post-settlement coral growth, climate change effects on marine ecosystems, and large-scale conservation projects such as the Pilbara Marine Conservation Partnership and Ningaloo Outlook. Her work bridges ecological science with practical applications for reef management.

Current Role: At CSIRO, she specializes in assessing coral reef health in Australia's North-West Shelf, contributing to interdisciplinary teams addressing conservation challenges. Her research often integrates historical ecological data with modern climate modeling to predict future reef dynamics.