Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) Research Team Leader Dr Manuel Gonzalez-Rivero will be the new Global Coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) .
Dr Gonzalez-Rivero takes on the role from Dr Britta Schaffelke, who is leaving AIMS after a remarkable 20-year career at the institute.
The GCRMN is a global network of scientists, managers and organisations that monitor the condition of coral reefs throughout the world, under the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). AIMS has hosted the GCRMN for most of its 30-year history.
Dr Gonzalez-Rivero leads ReefCloud , a project enabling the world's coral reef monitoring community to share data and work together in real time, which he presented at the One Ocean Science Conference in Nice, France, earlier this month.
He was involved in the production of the Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2020 report, and is a member of the GCRMN Data Taskforce, contributing to ongoing discussions about artificial intelligence-driven data and analysis platforms, such as Coral Net, ReefCloud and Data Mermaid.
The GCRMN are collating reef monitoring data from around the world for the development of the seventh 'Status of Coral Reefs of the World' global report, which will be released in 2026.
Dr Schaffelke is currently AIMS' manager of International Partnerships. Before this role, she was focused on the research and management of environmental impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, particularly from water quality. She led AIMS' coastal and Great Barrier Reef research programs and helped evolving AIMS' research from observation and understanding to exploring ways to apply that knowledge.
In addition to her science leadership, Dr Schaffelke has been instrumental in forming research and monitoring partnerships, a trusted mentor to staff and students, and a leader of gender equity initiatives at AIMS.
In 2022, Dr Schaffelke received the AIMS medal , a biennial award that recognises the outstanding, sustained, and enduring commitment of a staff member to excellence, and the exemplification of AIMS values.
As Global Coordinator of the GCRMN, Dr Schaffelke was instrumental in the creation of the GCRMN Data Taskforce in 2023 to address the challenges of data management, analysis and integration across the different regions of the world.
We warmly welcome Dr Manuel Gonzalez-Rivero to his new role as Global Coordinator of the GCRMN and extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr Britta Schaffelke for her extraordinary contributions and leadership over two decades at AIMS.
