Exploring WA's Deep Sea: Q&A panel

Dates

Sunday 9 February | 2pm - 3pm

Dates
-
Ages
All ages
Cost

Free event | Bookings required

Site access information

WA Maritime Museum is mostly accessible, excluding tours aboard the HMAS Ovens. Call 1300 134 081 for assistance. More about accessibility and amenities >

Join us for a Q&A event that will take you on an in-depth journey exploring the abyssal world of West Australian waters. 

Hear from the team of researchers linked to the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre. Learn about findings from their ambitious two-year project aimed to uncover the mysteries of Australia’s deep marine parks. You’ll hear how this multi-disciplinary team of scientists deployed long-term observatories and baited landers across iconic marine parks—Gascoyne, Perth Canyon, and South-west Corner—to document the unseen, study unique fauna, and map seascapes in high definition. 

Discover what lies at depths of over 5000 meters, and witness how pioneering research brings this largely unknown environment into the light, showcasing Australia’s commitment to deep-sea research and conservation. 

Got questions for the Q&A session? Submit your questions in advance here, and the team of researchers will have the best chance to bring light to YOUR question and illuminate you with their answers.


The Exploring WA's Deep Sea exhibition is on show at WA Shipwrecks Museum and showcases some of the outcomes and research processes that this project has uncovered in this little-known part of the WA environment. This project has been led by Dr Todd Bond, Deputy Director of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre and supported by the Centre’s staff and others at the WA Museum and Minderoo Foundation. 

About the presenters

Dr Todd Bond

Dr Todd Bond – Deputy Director, Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, The University of Western Australia.

Dr Todd Bond is a marine ecologist with over 10 years of experience in academic research and teaching that has centred on fish and shark ecology. His current research focuses on hadal and abyssal ecology where he utilises his extensive experience with underwater video technology and sampling methods.  

Todd is a WA Science Ambassador and an avid science communicator whose knowledge of marine systems and stewardship for the oceans has led him all over the world from Fiji to Japan, Antarctica to Hawaii, the US to the UK, and many places in between. His research is awarded at international conferences and saw him receive a Premier’s Science Award in 2020.

Dr Yakup Niyazi

Dr Yakup Niyazi – Research Fellow, Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, The University of Western Australia. 

Although, Yakup Niyazi grew up in an oasis city in the margin of the Taklamakan Desert in the Central Asia, he dedicated himself to the study of the oceans. Currently, he is a Marine Geoscientist at the Deep-Sea Research Centre. His research involves mapping the deep seafloor using acoustic imaging techniques and using his expertise in geomorphology, geology and geophysics to understand the regional and global context of the deep-sea geomorphology. 

Dr Niyazi's main research interests include submarine geomorphology of various seafloor features, their interactions with the oceanographic conditions and their influence on the benthic biological communities. In 2020, as a member of the Deakin Marine Mapping Group, he was awarded a prestigious Australian Museum Eureka Prize for a world-first initiative that monitors the health of Victoria's coastline.

Dr Prema Arasu

Dr Prema Arasu – Research Fellow, Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, The University of Western Australia.

Prema Arasu is a writer and poet interested in the phenomenology of the deep sea. They have an MLitt in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture from the University of St Andrews and a PhD in Creative Writing from The University of Western Australia.

Dr Arasu is interested in how speculative fiction and experimental forms might provide us with new ways of talking about and conceptualising the oceans, particularly in the context of the Anthropocene. Their approach is interdisciplinary; integrating the methodologies of literary studies, creative arts, environmental humanities, philosophy, and science communication.

Dr. Andrew Hosie

Dr. Andrew Hosie – Curator, WA Museum

Andrew is the curator in charge of the Crustacean and Worm Collections at WA Museum. Andrew’s research focusses on documenting the biodiversity of crustaceans and worms from some of Australia's most remote and deep habitats including the Indian Ocean Territories, Gascoyne Marine Park and coastal Kimberley reefs. These field surveys serve to provide representative specimens to further our knowledge of very diverse and abundant groups of marine invertebrates. 

Andrew has particular expertise in the taxonomy of barnacles and is engaged in describing numerous species from around Australia and beyond. Key to his research is using genetic sequences to help study how symbiotic relationships can drive species diversity.

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