Michael has been conducting research on topical marine habitats focusing on seagrass ecology for over 28 years. He heads the Seagrass Ecology Lab based in JCU's Cairns campus. He was awarded a PhD from JCU for research investigating recovery and succession in tropical seagrass communities. Michael's passion is finding science based solutions to apply in the management of marine habitats. He has built a team whose work focuses on coastal development and risk and has significantly impacted on the way seagrass and marine habitats are managed and protected. Results of his work not only lead to advances in the field of seagrass ecology, but have changed practices within coastal development, ports and shipping industries and improved the ability of regulators and managers to protect marine habitats.