Crystle Wee

Crystle is currently pursuing her PhD at James Cook University in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science on coral seeding technology, particularly their transferability to remote island communities in the Maldives for reef restoration.

She previously worked for about 5 years in the environmental consultancy sector, on marine environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and environmental management and monitoring planning (EMMPs). This includes around 60 projects such as large-scale coral relocation, monitoring and restoration work, a mangrove blue carbon and citizen science programme and novel biodiversity enhancement projects within urban marine environments. Subsequently, she worked as a Technical Adviser at ITOPF to provide technical advice on emergency preparedness and response for ship-source pollution incidents.

Crystle is fascinated by anything connected to the ocean, but her main research interests involve coral reef ecology. She holds a Masters of Science in Biodiversity Conservation and Nature-Based Climate Solutions at the National University of Singapore, with a thesis focused on coral traits that increase resilience to thermal stress. She also previously obtained her Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Biology) programme from the same university, where she published her honours thesis on epifauna in coral nurseries.

A skilled scientific and certified commercial diver with more than a thousand logged dives, she has since worked on marine research and biodiversity conservation projects across Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Maldives, Japan, Egypt and the USA. She is adept at communicating about marine conservation issues and is a firm believer in the need for environmental outreach and education.