Rate My Professor Jason van de Merwe

Dr. Jason van de Merwe is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University, affiliated with the Australian Rivers Institute. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Biochemistry from the University of Adelaide (1995), a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from Griffith University (2000), a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours from the University of Queensland (2002), and a Doctor of Philosophy from Griffith University (2008). Following his PhD, he undertook postdoctoral research at the City University of Hong Kong before joining Griffith University as a lecturer and researcher in ecotoxicology. Currently based in Griffith Sciences Executive (G39) Room 4.29, he serves in Science Pathways within Environmental Sustainability and Management.

Van de Merwe's research centers on marine ecotoxicology, focusing on the fate and effects of chemical contaminants in marine environments, particularly in sea turtles of the Great Barrier Reef and other regions. He investigates pollutant accumulation, potential endocrine disruption leading to feminization in green sea turtles, and impacts from flood pollution on turtle health. A key contribution is the development and validation of cell cultures and in vitro bioassays for toxicity screening in marine wildlife, including Australia's first marine wildlife cell bank to reduce animal use in testing. His work has garnered over 3,457 citations on Google Scholar. Key publications include "Non-targeted proteomics in green sea turtles" (Chaousis et al., Environmental Research, 2023), "Dose metric evaluation for Dugong toxicity" (Bailey et al., Aquatic Toxicology, 2023), "Species-specific cell-based bioassays for green sea turtles" (Finlayson et al., Science of the Total Environment, 2020, 747:142095), "Reviews on in vitro bioassays for effluent toxicity" (Finlayson et al., 2022), and "Effects of Nest Depth, Shading, and Metabolic Heating on Nest Temperatures in Green Sea Turtle Hatcheries" (van de Merwe et al., Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 2006). He has secured grants such as the Australian Research Council-funded "Saving Nemo: Reducing animal use in toxicity assessments" (2019), WWF Australia's "Saving toxic turtles" (2018), Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation's "National marine wildlife cell culture bank" (2018), and Water Research Australia's "Ethical alternatives for toxicity assessments" (2017). Additionally, he won Griffith University's Remarkable Minutes competition in 2017.