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Dr Maria del Mar Palacios

Project Manager & Science communicator

Centre for Integrative Ecology
Deakin University, Burwood campus
221 Burwood Hwy, VIC 3125

m.palacios@deakin.edu.au

Maria's research

Maria is a marine ecologist, project manager, and science communicator based at Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab. She is originally from Colombia and received her PhD from James Cook University, Queensland in 2017. Maria has worked for  10+ years in marine and coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves and tidal marshes.

After joining the Blue Carbon Lab, Maria established the award-winning Blue Carbon Citizen Science program – which has engaged 350+ citizen scientists into coastal wetland research across Australia and New Zealand. To date the program has collected over 1000 carbon stock samples from 12 sites and  surveyed more than 300 plots of mangroves and saltmarsh.  The program began as a partnership with HSBC Australia and Earthwatch Institute targeting corporate executives from Australia’s top industries, but has now expanded to include community groups and schools.

Maria is the project manager for the ‘Roadmap to Blue Carbon opportunities in Seychelles’ program (funded by the Seychelles’ Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust) and the ‘Building Adaptive Capacity in the Gippsland Region: Wetland Restoration Citizen Science‘ program (funded by DELWP’s Community Climate Change Adaptation grants).  Additional to her experience managing large research teams and undertaking stakeholder surveys/interviews, Maria coordinates the science communication strategy for the Blue Carbon Lab (website, social media, media releases).  She has 12+ peer-reviewed publications and has received $280K+ in research grants.

Keywords

Blue Carbon Citizen science, coastal wetlands, science communication, community engagement, #BlueCarbonArmy

Career Highlights

  • Blue Grants, Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust(SeyCCAT), Seychelles (2020)
  • Community Climate Change Adaptation grant from DELWP Victoria, Australia (2019)
  • Australian Financial Review (AFR) Higher Education Award for Industry Engagement, Australia (2019)
  • Woman in Science Travel Award (2018)
  • PhD Marine Ecology, James Cook University, Australia (2017)
  • Ian Potter Doctoral Fellowship at Lizard Island, Australia (2015)
  • Australian Coral Reef Society research award, Australia (2015)
  • International Postgraduate Research scholarship, James Cook University, Australia (2012)
  • PhD scholarship from COLCIENCIAS, Colombia (2012)
  • BSc (Honours) Biology, Universidad del Valle, Colombia (2010)

Selected publications

Malerba ME, MM Palacios, YM Palacios Delgado, J Beardall, DJ Marshall .2019. Cell size, photosynthesis and the package effect: an artificial selection approach New Phytologist 219: 449-461

Palacios, MM, SS Killen, LE Nadler., JR White & MI McCormick 2016. Top- predators negate the effect of mesopredators on prey physiology. Journal of Animal Ecology 85: 1078-1086

Palacios, M.M., D.T. Warren & M.I. McCormick 2016. Sensory cues of a top‐predator indirectly control a reef fish mesopredator. Oikos 125: 201 -209

Palacios, M.M., C.G. Muñoz & F.A. Zapata. 2014. Fish corallivory on a pocilloporid reef and experimental coral responses to predation. Coral Reefs 33: 625 -636

Palacios, M.M. & F.A. Zapata. 2014. Fish community structure on coral habitats with contrasting architecture in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation 62(1): 343-357

All publications

Selected media

City bankers forego afternoon tea in pursuit of innovative climate change solution (Sunday Star Times, Auckland)

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Deakin University
  • Home
  • About
    • What we are about
    • Who we are
      • Professor Peter Macreadie
      • Dr Paul Carnell
      • Dr Stacey Trevathan-Tackett
      • Dr Maria del Mar Palacios
      • Dr Pawel Waryszak
      • Dr Melissa Wartman
      • Dr Micheli Duarte de Paula Costa
      • Dr Noyan Yilmaz
      • Dr Christina Birnbaum
      • Dr Martino Malerba
      • Dr Tiffany Sih
      • Dr Taryn Laubenstein
      • Dr Christina Asanopoulos
      • Ashley Whitt
      • Katy Limpert
      • Holger Jänes
      • Giuditta Bonetti
      • Jaya Kelvin
      • Charlie Townsin
      • Sarah Watson
      • Alejandro Navarro
      • Abbi Scott
      • Erlania
      • Yi Mei Tan
      • Oli Dalby
      • Interns and Volunteers
      • Alumni
  • Research
    • Wetland Carbon
      • Blue Carbon
        • Queensland Blue
        • Victoria’s Blue Carbon
        • Blue Carbon Management
      • Teal Carbon
        • Farm dams
        • Teal Wetlands for Carbon Offsetting
        • Victoria’s Teal Carbon
      • TeaComposition H2O
    • Ecosystem Services
    • Ecosystem Restoration
      • Wetland Restoration
      • Kelp & Segrass restoration
      • Maximising Teal Carbon capture
    • Citizen Science
      • HSBC citizen science
    • Marine Biosecurity
    • Decommissioning Infrastructure
  • Publications
  • Vacancies
  • News
  • Live feed
  • Donate
  • Contact
Blue Carbon Lab