Rate My Professor Gary Kendrick

Professor Gary Kendrick is an Emeritus Professor and Senior Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia (UWA), affiliated with the UWA Oceans Institute and Institute of Agriculture. A distinguished marine plant ecologist, he has held numerous leadership positions, including Acting Director of the UWA Oceans Institute (2009-2011), Inaugural Director of the Centre for Marine Futures (2008), Head of the School of Plant Biology (2016), and Deputy Head of School for Plant Biology (2006-2009) and Biological Sciences. His academic career at UWA commenced in 1998 as Lecturer in Biological Oceanography in the Botany Department, progressing through Senior Lecturer (2001-2006), Associate Professor (2006-2009), and Professor roles. Prior to UWA, he worked as Marine Plant Ecologist at CSIRO Division of Fisheries (1992-1996).

Kendrick's research specializes in marine landscape ecology, spatial ecology of seagrasses, dispersal and genetics of seagrasses and macroalgae, habitat mapping, seagrass restoration, and the impacts of climate change on marine foundation species. He has secured over $15 million in research funding since 2000 and supervised 19 PhD, 1 MSc, and 22 Honours students. His highly influential publications include "Accelerating loss of seagrasses across the globe threatens coastal ecosystems" (Waycott et al., 2009), "A global crisis for seagrass ecosystems" (Orth et al., 2006), "Seagrass ecosystems as a globally significant carbon stock" (Fourqurean et al., 2012), "Global analysis of seagrass restoration: the importance of large-scale planting" (van Katwijk et al., 2016), and "Lessons learnt from revisiting decades of seagrass restoration projects in Cockburn Sound, southwestern Australia" (Kendrick et al., 2025). His teams have won awards including the Chair’s Innovation Award (Coastal CRC, 2004), Navy’s Hydrological Award for Innovative Habitat Mapping (2005), Victoria’s Coastal Award (2006), and WA Science and Education Coastal Award (2009). Kendrick's contributions have shaped national marine policy, advanced community-based restoration techniques, and heightened global awareness of seagrass conservation, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals 14 (Life Below Water) and others.