Rate My Professor Maria Byrne

Professor Maria Byrne is Professor of Marine Biology in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, at the University of Sydney. Her research on the impacts of environmental stressors on marine species with a focus on the impacts of climate change across latitudes is generating crucial findings on species' vulnerabilities and resilience for management and conservation. The overarching goal is to determine the ecologically and economically important species that may be resilient to changing climate. Her research on the complex interactions between stressors across life stages and species groups is influential. Recent research on the impacts of marine heatwaves shows that warming is the contemporary stressor of greatest concern, including work with the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce and investigation of species' poleward range extension. Prof Byrne is world expert on echinoderms (sea urchins, the crown of thorns starfish, beche de mer sea cucumbers) and her research on these species is providing key findings to address the challenge for their management. In long standing research her work on closely related species with contrasting modes of development is providing breakthroughs on the molecular mechanisms underlying developmental change, generation of evolutionary novelty and speciation in the sea.

Professor Byrne's contributions to marine biology have been recognized with election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2019 and conferral of a Doctor of Science (honoris causa) by the University of Galway in 2023. She served as Director of the University of Sydney's One Tree Island Research Station for 12 years and has advanced understanding of the marine phylum Echinodermata through a definitive textbook and monograph for Australia. Her work as a leader in global change biology documents the impacts of ocean acidification and warming on marine invertebrate life stages. With over 31,000 citations on Google Scholar, her research on evolution of development and marine ecology has greatly enriched knowledge of Australia's marine biodiversity and the adaptability of marine species to future environmental challenges. Fields of research include marine and estuarine ecology, animal developmental and reproductive biology, ecology, and animal physiological ecology.