Ed Lovell, MSc.

Outside Consultant

Ed has worked in the field of coastal ecology for 33 years.

His Master of Science thesis (1974) was entitled The Reef-Building Corals (Coelenterata: Scleractinia) of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia: Their Distribution and Ecology.

Ed has been working in Fiji and the general South Pacific for the last 20 years through his firm: Biological Consultants, Fiji. This firm has been concerned with marine biodiversity, environmental impact assessments, and the description and analysis of coral bleaching events.

He has participated in the survey of coral reefs in regard to status reports, management, assessment, and monitoring. Other areas of appraisal involve artificial reefs, dredging, oil pollution, ship-groundings, fisheries, and tourism. Much of his work requires development of sampling designs and the relevant statistics.

He was the co-coordinator for the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and has been coordinator for the Reef Check program since 1999. He has also contributed to the National Biodiversity Status and Action Plan by overseeing and providing recommendations for marine protected areas in the report Location and Justification of Priority Sites for the Conservation of Fiji’s Biodiversity in the Marine Environment.

Teaching involvement with the University of the South Pacific commenced with lecturing and instruction on field surveying methods during the Regional and Marine Awareness Workshop run by the International Ocean Institute at USP in September 1997. More formal lecturing ensued with the Macquarie University Summer Courses focusing on marine tropical environments in 2003 – 2008. The broad subject areas covered included ecology, taxonomy, and fisheries.

In 2005, he took up a full-time lectureship in the Marine Studies Programme, USP which lasted for 7 years. He has a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching (GCTT) and a Diploma of Education (Tertiary Teaching). His principal task was to design and deliver a semester course in Coral Reef Ecology.

During his time at the USP, he supervised postgraduate students in the Selected Topics in Marine Science and supervised MSc. research programs. He retired from the University in 2012.