Lab Members | Kate Quigley

Dr. Odgerel Bumandalai, Research Scientist (University of Western Australia)

Odgerel’s passion for algae began in childhood in Mongolia, inspired by her mother, an algologist and a pioneer in the field in Mongolia. Visits to her mother’s workplace at the Institute of Biology sparked her curiosity about the microscopic world and encouraged her to pursue a career in biology. She studied at Sardar Patel University in India before returning to Mongolia to work in the Institute’s Microbial Synthesis Laboratory, where she isolated microorganisms and investigated their potential for industrial applications.

Her research later took her to Washington State University as a Fulbright scholar for her master’s degree, and then to Perth, where she completed a PhD in Environmental Sciences at Murdoch University. Her doctoral research brought her back to her early interest in algae, focusing on outdoor cultivation of Spirulina. She investigated seasonal changes in productivity and microbial communities, alternative nutrient sources, and approaches to managing culture contamination.

Now working with Kate Quigley’s team at the University of Western Australia, Odgerel is applying her experience in microalgal cultivation to Symbiodiniaceae, the tiny algal partners that help sustain coral reefs. Her work focuses on developing methods to grow these symbionts in larger volumes, taking cultures from small laboratory flasks towards larger cultivation systems to support research on coral resilience.

JB Quijano (PhD, University of Western Australia)

JB is from the Philippines and holds a BSc in Biology from the University of the Philippines Baguio and an MSc in Marine Biology from the University of the Philippines Diliman. His research explores approaches to enhancing coral heat tolerance, including coral selective breeding and microbiome manipulation, and Symbiodiniaceae-based approaches. He has also studied Symbiodiniaceae diversity in corals and giant clams and the host and environmental factors shaping these associations. After working as a research associate at Bolinao Marine Laboratory in the Philippines, he moved to Perth to pursue a PhD at the University of Western Australia. His current project, Scaling Resilience, investigates the assisted evolution and large-scale production of heat-tolerant Symbiodiniaceae, as well as their potential for deployment across reefs to support coral restoration under climate change.

Kira Brereton (PhD, University of Western Australia)

Growing up in landlocked Canada, Kira's love for the ocean began during childhood trips to the Caribbean, where she developed a fascination with marine life and coral reefs. This passion eventually led her to tropical North Queensland, Australia, where she completed a Bachelor of Sustainability at James Cook University in Cairns. Between her undergraduate and postgraduate studies, Kira spent time travelling through Central America, exploring the underwater world through diving and working as a sea turtle biologist along the remote Pacific beaches and tropical rainforests of Costa Rica.

Kira went on to complete a Master of Environmental Science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where she conducted research in coastal geomorphology. Her research experience also includes investigating microplastic contamination in coral reef environments in Tonga. Through these experiences, she developed a growing interest in the physical and ecological processes that shape marine ecosystems, particularly how ocean currents, coastal environments, and biological processes influence the movement and connectivity of marine species.

Now pursuing a PhD at the University of Western Australia, Kira's research focuses on coral larval dispersal and seascape connectivity, with a particular interest in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Western Australia. By integrating oceanography, reef geomorphology, and ecological processes, she aims to better understand how coral populations are connected across spatial scales and what this means for reef recovery, resilience, and adaptation in a changing climate.

Teresa Nobre (PhD student, Minderoo/UWA)

Teresa comes from Lisbon, Portugal. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology from the University of Plymouth (UK) and an MSc in Aquatic Tropical Ecology from the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) and Universität Bremen (Germany). Through the years she has studied Symbiodiniaceae functional diversity, heavy metal pollution in seagrass and coastal sediment, and the interplay between species metabolism, competition, and community functioning using phytoplankton. After working as a research technician with the Functional Ecology group at the Gulbenkian Institute of Science in Portugal, she moved to Perth where she is now pursuing a PhD in coral molecular ecology. Her project focusses on the potential of selective breeding to enhance coral heat tolerance by crossing colonies from sites with markedly different temperature profiles. For this she gets to work in the beautiful World Heritage Sites of Shark Bay and Ningaloo Reef. To indulge her soft spot for algal endosymbionts (the unsung heroes of the reef!) she is also mapping the currently unknown Symbiodiniaceae community composition along those regions.

Alex Macadam (PhD student, AIMS@JCU)

Alex grew up in Devon, UK, where he spent his weekends at the beach searching for critters in the inter-tidal pools. As soon as he was old enough, Alex took the opportunity to learn to dive. This is where his fascination with coral reefs began. Alex perused a Bachelors (Hon) degree in Marine Biology at Swansea University and continued on to a Masters by Research. After graduating, Alex spent a year travelling, before securing a job as Research Coordinator at a research station in Norway. After several years in the Arctic, Alex was drawn back to the reef. He has recently been working at the Australian Institute of Marine Science under several roles, including Experimental Research Technician with Kate on the Assisted Gene Flow project and Field and Lab Technician with the Water Quality team. Now, Alex is continuing his research journey by pursuing a PhD examining genomic predictions of heat tolerance in selectively bred corals.

Alex's research interests include coral reproduction and thermal tolerance in early life stages of corals. His PhD aims to assess the use of “Assisted gene flow” to enhance heat tolerance of multiple coral genera across the Great Barrier Reef by assessing three key phenotypic traits (survival, growth, bleaching) by using both tank experiments and deploying corals onto the reef. Using these offspring, he will aim to identify the key underlying genomic and transcriptomic drivers underpinning phenotypic trait variation in inter and intra- population offspring.

Sydney Bell (PhD student, JCU)

Sydney grew up in Perry, NY (nowhere near the ocean). Childhood trips to beaches and aquariums, as well as constantly being outdoors, inspired her love for marine biology from an early age. During her undergraduate career at Stony Brook University, Sydney became interested in coral ecology through internships at Mote Marine Laboratory’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration and the Central Caribbean Marine Institute. More recently, Sydney graduated with an MS in Biological Sciences from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University. As part of Florida’s largest coral restoration experiment to date, Sydney used high-resolution 2bRAD and ITS2 sequencing to genotype the corals and characterize their algal symbiont communities for a state-wide collaborative project. Her background also includes work in sea turtle and seal rehabilitation, ocean acidification, and scientific/safety diving. Outside of the lab, Sydney has merged art and science into a sustainable ocean apparel company (SLB Art Co) and the To Dive For Podcast, focused on making the intersection between diving and marine science accessible through the amplification of the diverse voices of those who live it firsthand. She is excited to be pursuing her PhD in Townsville working on understanding and characterizing free-living Symbiodiniaceae communities from a range of World Heritage sites using bioinformatics and exploring their impacts on coral fitness when introduced to the host. This project will combine scientific diving, coral spawning, genomics, and algal symbiont culturing!

Ashtyn Isaak (PhD student, University of Victoria, Wellington, NZ)

Hannah Whitaker (PhD student, UWA)

Alex Lee (MSc, UWA)

Lab Alumni:

Dr. Nicole Said (PhD ECU)
Dr. Emiy Washington (PhD JCU)
Alexandra Kler Lago (MSc student, Minderoo/ Uni Bremen, Germany)
Megan Bilodeau (MSc, JCU)
Dr. Lauren Howe-Kerr (Postdoc)
Jo Nielsen (PhD, AIMS@JCU)
Luke Morris (PhD, AIMS@JCU)
Ponchanok Weeriyunan (MSc, Ghent Uni/IMBRSea)
Carys Morgans (MSc, AIMS@JCU)
Alyx Terrell (MSc, AIMS@JCU)
Lindsey Kraemer (MSc, JCU/Minderoo)
Anamaria Muniz (MSc, JCU)
Olivia Smailes (MSc, JCU)
Amy Leung (MSc, JCU)

Minderoo Exmouth Research Lab (MERL) science communication project by Olivia

As part of Olivia's placement with Minderoo Exmouth Research Lab (MERL) and James Cook University, she produced an education-focused science communication package. The aim of this package was to highlight the significance of the Ningaloo coast and to raise awareness about the lab's core research priorities: identify, monitor, and protect. Below you can enjoy the posters Olivia created during her placement. If you want to learn more about the research which supported this project, click on each poster to view the relevant bibliography!