Alastair Birtles

Dr Alastair Birtles grew up in the UK, studied Zoology at Oxford University (MA Oxon) and obtained a PhD in Marine Biology at James Cook University. He has over fifty years of experience in tropical research and teaching including over a decade of teaching at JCU in marine biology & zoology in Great Barrier Reef environments including coastal mangroves, continental shelf soft sediment communities, coral reefs and the deep sea - with a particular focus on echinoderms.

Following a period as a conservation officer/planner with the Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service, he spent nearly 30 years teaching & researching on ecotourism, environmental management, wildlife management, integrated coastal zone management and ecologically sustainable tourism.

He is Chief Investigator and Team Leader of the 30-year Minke Whale Project (conducting field studies since 1996) which is now his main research focus in his role as Adjunct Professor in Marine Biology. He has also led many other other marine wildlife tourism research projects (featuring sharks, whales, dolphins, turtles, dugongs, groupers and scuba diving); also tourism in protected areas (especially World Heritage Wet Tropics Rainforest and the GBR), visitor management, interpretation and Aboriginal tourism – all aimed at enhancing tourist experiences, minimising impacts and developing more ecologically sustainable management practices.

He has worked extensively in developing countries, supervised over 100 Honours and postgraduates from 25 countries and has produced many publications and natural history films.