Dr Stacey Trevathan-Tackett

ARC DECRA Fellow

RMIT University, City Campus
STEM College, School of Science
Melbourne VIC 3001

stacey.trevathan-tackett@rmit.edu.au

Stacey's research

Dr Stacey Trevathan Tackett is a marine scientist who specialises in wetland soil carbon and function. Her multidisciplinary research integrates fundamental and applied research approaches to ensure that wetland preservation and restoration outcomes are based on robust and novel research discovery. Stacey’s research interests include seagrass wasting disease, plant and soil decomposition, how microbe-carbon interactions regulate carbon preservation and storage, and improving soil, plant and microbiome function in response to restoration actions.

Keywords

Microbes, TeaCompositionH₂O, seagrass, marine pathogens

Education

PhD, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Dynamics of Refractory Carbon Seagrass Meadows (2012 – 2016)
M.S. Biology, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL. Physiology and Biochemistry of the Tropical Seagrass Thalassia testudinum in Relation to Hypersalinity Stress and Labyrinthula sp. Infection. Funded by NOAA’s Nancy Foster Scholarship (2009 – 2011)
B.S. Marine Science & Biology, Summa Cum Laude Honours, Coastal Carolina University, SC, USA (2003 – 2007)

Experience

ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow, Deakin University (2021 – present)
Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University (2019 – 2021)
SEBE Industry Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University (2017 – 2019)
Research Fellow, Deakin University (2015 – 2017)

Selected grants

ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) Fellowship* (2021-2024, Lead CI). A global exploration of microbial carbon breakdown in wetland ecosystems. Website.
Regenerating Our Coasts* (2022-2025, Beach Energy, Lead CI). 3-year industry-funded multidisciplinary program to improve coastal wetland restoration outcomes in harsh environments. Website, ABC Interview & Article.
Hermon Slade Foundation* (2022-2025, Lead CI). Enhancing coastal restoration by accelerating saltmarsh revegetation and soil recovery.
Blue Carbon and Sea Country (2023, DEECA, Co-CI) Understanding of opportunities to support Traditional Owner led adaptation and planning to protect and restore cultural values, through blue carbon ecosystem protection and restoration.
Boosting drought resilience in the Lower Loddon Landscape (2022-2024, Wetland Revival Trust, Co-CI) Quantifying carbon cycling capacity before and after ecological restoration practices in semi-arid freshwater wetlands.

Selected publications

Microbiomes and global change

Trevathan-Tackett SM, Sherman C, Huggett MJ, et al. 2019. A horizon scan of priorities for coastal marine microbiome research. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 1509–1520.

Röthig T, Trevathan-Tackett SM, Voolstra CR, Ross C, Chaffron S, Durack PJ, Warmuth L, Sweet M. 2023. Human-induced salinity changes impact marine organisms and ecosystems. Global Change Biology 29:4731-4749.

Trevathan-Tackett SM, Kepfer-Rojas S, Engelen AH, et al. 2021. Ecosystem type drives tea litter decomposition and associated prokaryotic microbiome communities in freshwater and coastal wetlands at a continental scale. Science of the Total Environment 782: 146819.

Tan MH, Loke S, Croft LJ, Gleason FH, Lange L, Pilgaard B, Trevathan-Tackett SM. 2021. First genome of Labyrinthula sp., an opportunistic seagrass pathogen, reveals novel insight into marine protist phylogeny, ecology and CAZyme cell-wall degradation. Microbial Ecology 82:498-511

Microbiomes and restoration / ecosystem health

Birnbaum C and Trevathan-Tackett SM. 2022. Aiding coastal wetland restoration via the belowground soil microbiome: An overview. Restoration Ecology.

Bonetti* G, Trevathan-Tackett SM, Carnell PE, Macreadie PI. 2021. The potential of bacteriophages to influence the magnitude of greenhouse gas emissions in wetlands. Water Research 193: 116875.

Bonetti* G, Trevathan-Tackett SM, Carnell PE, Treby S, Macreadie PI. 2021. Local vegetation and hydroperiod influence spatial and temporal patterns of carbon and microbe response to wetland rehabilitation. Applied Soil Ecology 163: 103917.

Sullivan BK, Trevathan-Tackett SM, Neuhauser S, Govers LL. 2018. Host-pathogen dynamics of seagrass diseases under future global change. Marine Pollution Bulletin 134:75-88.

Jongen R, Marzinelli EM, Bugnot AB, Ferguson A, Fraser MW, Glasby TM, Jackson EL, Martin BC, Sherman CDH, Sinclair EA, Trevathan-Tackett SM, Vergés A, Waycott M, Wright JT, Kendrick GA and Gribben PE. Integrating belowground interactions into seagrass restoration strategies. OMBAR Accepted 1.9.2023

Coastal wetland carbon cycling

Trevathan-Tackett SM^ǂ, Kelleway J^ǂ, Macreadie PI, Beardall J, Ralph PJ, Bellgrove A. ^ǂ Joint First Authors. 2015. Comparison of marine macrophytes for their contributions to blue carbon sequestration. Ecology 96, 3043-3057.

Cragg SM, Friess DA, Gillis LG, Trevathan-Tackett SM, Terrett OM, Watts JEM, Distel DL, Dupree P. 2020. Vascular Plants Are Globally Significant Contributors to Marine Carbon Fluxes and Sinks. Annual Review of Marine Science 12: 469-497.

Trevathan-Tackett SM, Jeffries TC, Macreadie PI, Manojlovic B, Ralph P. 2020. Long-term decomposition captures key steps in microbial breakdown of seagrass litter. Science of the Total Environment 705: 135806.

Trevathan-Tackett SM, Macreadie PI, Sanderman J, Baldock J, Howes J, Ralph P. 2017. A global assessment of the potential for seagrasses to contribute to long-term carbon sequestration. Frontiers in Plant Science 8:925.

Trevathan-Tackett SM, Seymour JR, Nielsen DA, Macreadie PI, Jeffries T, Sanderman J, Baldock J, Howes J, Steven ADL, Ralph PJ. 2017. Sediment anoxia limits microbial-driven seagrass carbon remineralization under warming conditions. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 93:6.

Liu S*ǂ, Trevathan-Tackett SMǂ, Ewers Lewis CJ, Huang X, Macreadie PI. 2020. ǂ Joint First Authors. Macroalgal blooms trigger breakdown of seagrass blue carbon. Environmental Science & Technology 54: 14750-14760.

All publications

Selected Media

TeaComposition H2O:

Mangroves: Carbon sequestration superheroes (TenPlay, ScopeTv E:63) Skip to 20 min mark

‘Tea Time in the Wetlands’ (H2O radio)

‘Scientists hope wetland carbon storage experiment is everyone’s cup of tea’ (The Guardian)

TeaCompositionH2O initiative (Functional Ecologists)

Teabags buried on Phillip Island hold clues to the secret life of soil (The Sydney Morning Herald)

ReGenOurCoasts
Artificial reefs help slow erosion and grow mangroves (ABC News bulletin)

Australia’s coastal towns are facing major erosion. Are artificial reefs a solution? (ABC Victoria)

Scientists use 3D-printed biodegradable structures to halt erosion (ABC Gippsland)

Seagrass
Unsung heroes: The hidden value of seagrass meadows (Norwegian Blue Forests Network webinar)

Seaweed

Study backs seaweed’s carbon capturing potential (Phys.com)

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