Rate My Professor James Tweedley

Dr. James Tweedley serves as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences at Murdoch University, a position he has held since January 2011. His academic journey began with a BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology from the University of Portsmouth, completed in 2005, followed by an MRes in Marine Biology from the University of Plymouth in 2006. He then pursued his PhD in Marine Science at Murdoch University from 2007 to 2010, with his thesis titled "Relationships between faunal assemblages and habitat types in Broke Inlet, Western Australia," supervised by Fiona Valesini and Ian Potter. Prior to his current role, Tweedley conducted postdoctoral research at Murdoch University starting in 2011. His early career included fieldwork in Indonesia studying the impact of seaweed farming on fish populations in seagrass beds and participation in a multinational survey of the Mediterranean Sea.

Tweedley's research centers on the ecology of aquatic environments, particularly estuaries, exploring linkages between faunal community structures—including fish and benthic macroinvertebrates—and environmental drivers. He develops biotic indices for ecosystem health assessment, quantitative habitat classification schemes, faunal prediction models, analyses of inter-decadal faunal changes, and evaluations of environmental degradation through faunal composition. His contributions extend to fisheries management, with projects on prawn restocking in the Swan-Canning Estuary, social and economic valuations of blue swimmer crab and black bream fisheries in the Peel-Harvey and Blackwood estuaries, and artificial reefs along the Western Australian coast. Key publications include "The use of benthic macroinvertebrates to establish a benchmark for evaluating the environmental quality of microtidal, temperate southern hemisphere estuaries" (2012), "Species compositions and ecology of the riverine ichthyofaunas in two Sulawesian islands in the biodiversity hotspot of Wallacea" (2013), "The ways in which fish use estuaries: A refinement and expansion of the guild approach" (2013), "Simple shade plots aid better long-term choices of data pre-treatment in multivariate assemblage studies" (2013), and "The Contrasting Ecology of Temperate Macrotidal and Microtidal Estuaries" (2016). In recognition of his impactful work addressing ocean challenges, Tweedley was awarded Western Australia's Young Tall Poppy of the Year in 2021. He supervises doctoral students, leads teaching field camps, and participates in public outreach initiatives such as school programs and underwater podcasts.