Phebe Fidge (Rowland)
Blue Carbon Technical Officer
Hybrid. Based in Wollongong, NSW.
Deakin Marine Research and Innovation Centre
Deakin University, Burwood campus
221 Burwood Hwy, VIC 3125
Phebe's work
Phebe is a marine ecologist passionate about repairing nature and mitigating the effects of climate change. She has worked in a variety of technical and mentoring roles across the public and private sectors. Phebe has over five years of experience in environmental education and science communications with an Honours degree in ecology and conservation biology from the University of Queensland. She has extensive field and lab experience, having assisted on numerous PhD and citizen science projects involving coral reefs, seagrass, mangrove forests, marine mammals, tropical fish, and blue carbon restoration. Her research interests include coastal wetland change, blue carbon restoration projects for climate change mitigation, and the potential of citizen science for environmental monitoring and stewardship.
Phebe is excited to be working with the Blue Carbon Lab on projects investigating farm dams and ungulate control in wetlands as emissions reduction and nature repair strategies.
Keywords
Coastal wetlands, blue carbon, nature repair, citizen science
Career highlights:
- Technical Officer, Blue Carbon Lab, Deakin University (2023 – ongoing)
- Policy Officer, Blue Carbon & International Partnerships, Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (2022 – 2023)
- Graduate Development Program, Australian Fisheries Management Authority (2022)
- Education Program Coordinator, Second Nature Education (2017 – 2021)
- Ambassador for CoralWatch and the Organisation for the Research and Rescue of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) (2017 – 2021)
- Bachelor of Science (with Honours Class IA), University of Queensland (2021)
Selected publications
Rowland, P. I., Wartman, M., Bursic, J., & Carnell, P. (2024). Restored and created tidal marshes recover ecosystem services over time. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 24, 100539.
Rowland, P. I. & Lovelock, C. E. (2024) Global impacts of introduced ungulates on wetland carbon and biodiversity: A review. Biological Conservation, 290, 110432.
Rowland, P. I., Hagger, V. & Lovelock, C. E. (2023) Opportunities for blue carbon restoration projects in degraded agricultural land of the coastal zone in Queensland, Australia. Regional Environmental Change, 23, 42.
Grol, M. G. G., Vercelloni, J., Kenyon, T. M., Bayraktarov, E., van den Berg C. P., Harris, D., Loder J. A., Mihaljević, M., Rowland, P. I., & Roelfsema C. M. (2020) Conservation value of a subtropical reef in south-eastern Queensland, Australia, highlighted by citizen-science efforts. Marine and Freshwater Research.
