Andrew Chin

Dr Andrew was born and raised in southeast Asia where he became fascinated with fish and fisheries, especially sharks. After his family returned to Australia, Andrew pursued his passion for marine science and has been working in marine research since the 1990s, first in the marine ecotourism and education industry, and then ten years working at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) on coral reef surveys, impact assessments and environmental monitoring. He also developed training and capacity building and Citizen Science programs such as the Eye on the Reef Program. While at the GBRMPA, Andrew was also the editor of the State of the Great Barrier Reef Report, a synthesis of the status, pressures, management and state of knowledge about the Great Barrier Reef. He is currently an editor for the journal Pacific Conservation Biology.

Since moving to James Cook University in 2008, Andrew's research has focused on coastal ecology and fisheries, particularly sharks and rays. He is especially interested in the life history and spatial ecology of coastal predators, inter-disciplinary fisheries and conservation research, and has keen interests in coastal fisheries in SE Asia and the Pacific. Andrew is involved in research on shark fisheries in Papua New Guinea, and also works in Indigenous Knowledge and community based coastal and fisheries management, such as with the Yuku Baja Muliku Traditional Owners in Cape York. He is currently working on a project with commercial fishers to trial new gear to reduce the bycatch of sharks in gillnets. In previous projects, Dr Andrew worked on satellite tagging hammerhead sharks, and the 'Shark Report Card" an assessment of Australia's sharks. He is one of the founders of the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society, a scientific society supporting research, management, and conservation of sharks and rays, and is a long term member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. Andrew also serves on the scientific advisory board of the Save Our Seas Foundation.

Andrew also has research interests in coral reefs and in the effects of climate change on coastal fisheries and sharks and rays, and risk assessment and synthesis approaches to inform policy development. In 2011, he wrote The status of coral reefs of the Pacific and Outlook 2011 which synthesised the status, current level of knowledge, and future outlook for the coral reefs of 22 Pacific Island nations. In Oct 2017, Andrew launched Shark Search Indo-Pacific, a new long term program to document the diversity and values of sharks and rays across the Indo-Pacific, and the threats they face across the region. Each country report builds the foundations for interdisciplinary community-based research and management projects to tackle these issues.

Andrew is also committed to teaching and outreach. He teaches fisheries subjects MB5610, MB5014/3014, and MB5620 at JCU, and runs intensive field-based coral reef ecology and marine park management courses for third year and postgraduate students. He works with the tourism industry Master Reef Guides, writes articles about marine research for mainstream media. From time to time, he takes (frozen) sharks and rays to surrounding high schools to help students understand the importance of fishing sustainably and of protecting marine habitats. This includes a long involvement with the ATSIMS program to encourage Indigenous school students to get involved with marine science.