Biography summary
Paul’s research career has a focus on environmental science that sits at the interface between high-quality research and science-based management of ecosystems. From further developing the science to offset carbon emissions through wetland restoration and protection, to the management of resilient coastal ecosystems. Paul has developed strong skills in experimental design and data analysis that underpins all of his work. Paul also has a strong background in fieldwork on marine and freshwater ecosystems, including seagrass, mangroves, saltmarsh, kelp forests and inland wetlands. It is in these coastal and inland wetland habitats, that Paul has been leading carbon stock assessments in the Blue Carbon Lab over the last couple of years. Through these projects Paul has developed strong relationships with Parks Victoria, Catchment Management Authorities in Victoria and New South Wales, Greenfleet and The Nature Conservancy.
Research interests
My research aims to support government and non-government organisations to manage, protect and rehabilitate marine, coastal and freshwater ecosystems. This is done via:
-Evaluating the ecosystem services (eg. blue carbon, coastal protection, fisheries) of marine, coastal and freshwater ecosystems, and how this varies in time and space
-Utilising data on ecosystem extent, condition and services to create Environmental- Economic accounts that aim to optimise the benefits of nature through protection and restoration.
- Developing effective and efficient monitoring programs that report against Limits of Acceptable Change in an Adaptive Management Framework
Teaching interests
Ecology, Marine Biology, Marine Botany, Biogeochemistry, Fisheries, Environmental Economics, Wetlands, Climate Change
Units taught
SLE 265 Marine Botany
SLE 328 Oceans, Coasts and Climate Change
SLE 345 Oceanography
Professional activities
Australian Marine Science Assosciation, national and state branch council member 2019- . https://www.amsa.asn.au/council-members
Media appearances
Scope TV Chanel 10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPiK9zeX2OY&t=54s
Importance of coastal wetlands for carbon sequestration and other values. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMQaU9p5s08&t=5s
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-23/victorians-urged-to-feast-on-sea-urchins-to-control-populations/100118378
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/kelp-needed-as-port-phillip-bay-seafloor-cleared-by-march-of-urchins-20180309-p4z3nu.html
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/wetlands-mask-entire-vic-city-s-emissions
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/hobart/programs/breakfast/climate-change-invaders/9564038
https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/divers-urged-to-feast-on-fast-spreading-sea-urchins-in-australia-v69f82167
https://www.rrr.org.au/explore/podcasts/radio-marinara/episodes/4075-radio-marinara-23-february-2020
https://www.fieldandgame.com.au/2018/08/27/1358482/wetlands-are-carbon-capture-kings
https://www.vrfish.com.au/2019/03/05/sea-urchins-taking-over-port-phillip-bay/
Research groups
Blue Carbon Lab
Deakin MARINE, Centre for Marine, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences
Centre for Integrative Ecology
Projects
Optimal management of overabundant sea urchins in Victoria. DELWP funded. https://www.bluecarbonlab.org/kelp-segrass-restoration/
Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program. DELWP funded. https://www.bluecarbonlab.org/our-research/wetland-restoration/
Mapping Ocean Wealth Australia. https://oceanwealth.org/project-areas/australia/ and summary report here: https://www.natureaustralia.org.au/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/australia/MOW_Report_Web.pdf
Carbon sequestration by Victorian wetlands. Victorian Government, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.14319
Wetland Carbon Monitoring Program. Murray Local Land Services.
Publications
The potential of viruses to influence the magnitude of greenhouse gas emissions in an inland wetland
Giuditta Bonetti, Stacey Trevathan-Tackett, Paul Carnell, Peter Macreadie
(2021), Vol. 193, Water Research, Oxford, Eng., C1
Managing agricultural grazing to enhance the carbon sequestration capacity of freshwater wetlands
K Limpert, P Carnell, P Macreadie
(2021), Wetlands Ecology and Management, Dordrecht, Netherlands, C1
Giuditta Bonetti, Stacey Trevathan-Tackett, Paul Carnell, Sarah Treby, Peter Macreadie
(2021), Vol. 163, Applied Soil Ecology, Amsterdam, Netherlands, C1
Estimating blue carbon sequestration under coastal management scenarios
M Moritsch, M Young, P Carnell, P Macreadie, C Lovelock, E Nicholson, P Raimondi, L Wedding, D Ierodiaconou
(2021), Vol. 777, pp. 1-12, Science of the total environment, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Stable isotopes infer the value of Australia's coastal vegetated ecosystems from fisheries
H Janes, P Macreadie, E Nicholson, D Ierodiaconou, S Reeves, M Taylor, P Carnell
(2020), Vol. 21, pp. 80-90, Fish and fisheries, Chichester, Eng., C1
B Huang, Mary Young, Paul Carnell, Simon Conron, D Ierodiaconou, Peter Macreadie, E Nicholson
(2020), Vol. 710, pp. 1-11, Science of the total environment, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Assessing passive rehabilitation for carbon gains in rain-filled agricultural wetlands
S Treby, P Carnell, S Trevathan-Tackett, G Bonetti, P Macreadie
(2020), Vol. 256, Journal of environmental management, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Overgrazing of seagrass by sea urchins diminishes blue carbon stocks
P Carnell, D Ierodiaconou, T Atwood, P Macreadie
(2020), pp. 1-12, Ecosystems, New York, N.Y., C1
Reducing Emissions From Degraded Floodplain Wetlands
K Limpert, P Carnell, S Trevathan-Tackett, P Macreadie
(2020), Vol. 8, pp. 1-18, Frontiers in Environmental Science, Lausanne, Switzerland, C1
A Navarro, M Young, B Allan, P Carnell, P Macreadie, D Ierodiaconou
(2020), Vol. 242, pp. 1-13, Remote sensing of environment, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Quantifying fisheries enhancement from coastal vegetated ecosystems
H Jänes, P Macreadie, P Zu Ermgassen, J Gair, S Treby, S Reeves, E Nicholson, D Ierodiaconou, P Carnell
(2020), Vol. 43, pp. 1-7, Ecosystem Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Drivers and modelling of blue carbon stock variability in sediments of southeastern Australia
C Ewers Lewis, M Young, D Ierodiaconou, J Baldock, B Hawke, J Sanderman, P Carnell, P Macreadie
(2020), Vol. 17, pp. 2041-2059, Biogeosciences, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, C1
A Gulliver, P Carnell, S Trevathan-Tackett, M Duarte de Paula Costa, P Masqué, P Macreadie
(2020), Vol. 7, pp. 1-13, Frontiers in marine science, Lausanne, Switzerland, C1
Paul Carnell, Michael Keough
(2020), Vol. 10, Scientific Reports, London, Eng., C1
Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities
M Whalen, R Whippo, J Stachowicz, P York, E Aiello, T Alcoverro, A Altieri, L Benedetti-Cecchi, C Bertolini, M Bresch, F Bulleri, P Carnell, S Cimon, R Connolly, M Cusson, M Diskin, E D’Souza, A Flores, F Joel Fodrie, A Galloway, L Gaskins, O Graham, T Hanley, C Henderson, C Hereu, M Hessing-Lewis, K Hovel, B Hughes, A Randall Hughes, K Hultgren, H Jänes, D Janiak, L Johnston, P Jorgensen, B Kelaher, C Kruschel, B Lanham, K Lee, J Lefcheck, E Lozano-Álvarez, P Macreadie, Z Monteith, N O’Connor, A Olds, J O’Leary, C Patrick, O Pino, A Poore, M Rasheed, W Raymond, K Reiss, O Kennedy Rhoades, M Robinson, P Ross, F Rossi, T Schlacher, J Seemann, B Silliman, D Smee, M Thiel, R Unsworth, B van Tussenbroek, A Vergés, M Yeager, B Yednock, S Ziegler, J Emmett Duffy
(2020), Vol. 117, pp. 28160-28166, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., C1
P Crockett, P Carnell
(2020), Vol. 137, pp. 258-268, Victorian naturalist, Melbourne, Vic., C1
P Carnell, M Keough
(2019), Vol. 42, pp. 765-778, Estuaries and coasts, New York, N.Y., C1-1
G Bonetti, S Trevathan-Tackett, P Carnell, P Macreadie
(2019), Vol. 10, Frontiers in microbiology, Lausanne, Switzerland, C1
Microhabitats can be recruitment refuges and sinks
P Carnell, M Sams, M Keough
(2019), Vol. 626, pp. 15-27, Marine ecology progress series, Oldendorf, Germany, C1
Australian vegetated coastal ecosystems as global hotspots for climate change mitigation
O Serrano, C Lovelock, T B. Atwood, P Macreadie, R Canto, S Phinn, A Arias-Ortiz, L Bai, J Baldock, C Bedulli, P Carnell, R Connolly, P Donaldson, A Esteban, C Ewers Lewis, B Eyre, M Hayes, P Horwitz, L Hutley, C Kavazos, J Kelleway, G Kendrick, K Kilminster, A Lafratta, S Lee, P Lavery, D Maher, N Marbà, P Masque, M Mateo, R Mount, P Ralph, C Roelfsema, M Rozaimi, R Ruhon, C Salinas, J Samper-Villarreal, J Sanderman, C J. Sanders, I Santos, C Sharples, A Steven, T Cannard, S Trevathan-Tackett, C Duarte
(2019), Vol. 10, pp. 1-10, Nature Communications, London, Eng., C1
Mapping Ocean Wealth Australia: the value of coastal wetlands to people and nature
Paul Carnell, Simon Reeves, Emily Nicholson, Peter Macreadie, Daniel Ierodiaconou, Mary Young, Jaya Kelvin, Holger Janes, Alejandro Navarro, James Fitzsimons, Chris Gillies
(2019), Carlton, Vic., A6
Variability and vulnerability of coastal 'blue carbon' stocks: a case study from Southeast Australia
C Ewers Lewis, P Carnell, J Sanderman, J Baldock, P Macreadie
(2018), Vol. 21, pp. 263-279, Ecosystems, New York, N.Y., C1
A global map of mangrove forest soil carbon at 30 m spatial resolution
J Sanderman, T Hengl, G Fiske, K Solvik, M Adame, L Benson, J Bukoski, P Carnell, M Cifuentes-Jara, D Donato, C Duncan, E Eid, P zu Ermgassen, C Lewis, P Macreadie, L Glass, S Gress, S Jardine, T Jones, E Nsombo, M Rahman, C Sanders, M Spalding, E Landis
(2018), Vol. 13, Environmental research letters, Bristol, Eng., C1
Carbon stocks, sequestration, and emissions of wetlands in south eastern Australia
Paul Carnell, Saras Windecker, Madeline Brenker, Jeff Baldock, Pere Masque, Kate Brunt, Peter Macreadie
(2018), Vol. 24, pp. 4173-4184, Global change biology, Chichester, Eng., C1
Mary Young, Peter Macreadie, Clare Duncan, Paul Carnell, Emily Nicholson, Oscar Serrano, Carlos Duarte, Glenn Shiell, Jeff Baldock, Daniel Ierodiaconou
(2018), Vol. 14, Biology letters, London, Eng., C1
Carbon sequestration by Australian tidal marshes
P Macreadie, Q Ollivier, J Kelleway, O Serrano, P Carnell, C Ewers Lewis, T Atwood, J Sanderman, J Baldock, R Connolly, C Duarte, P Lavery, A Steven, C Lovelock
(2017), Vol. 7, pp. 1-10, Scientific reports, London, Eng., C1
Global patterns in mangrove soil carbon stocks and losses
T Atwood, R Connolly, H Almahasheer, P Carnell, C Duarte, C Lewis, X Irigoien, J Kelleway, P Lavery, P Macreadie, O Serrano, C Sanders, I Santos, A Steven, C Lovelock
(2017), Vol. 7, pp. 523-528, Nature climate change, London, Eng., C1
The influence of herbivores on primary producers can vary spatially and interact with disturbance
P Carnell, M Keough
(2016), Vol. 125, pp. 1273-1283, Oikos, C1
P Carnell, M Keough
(2014), Vol. 175, pp. 409-416, Oecologia, Berlin, Germany, C1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Other Public Sector Funding
Control charts for Victoria's Marine Protected Areas
Dr Paul Carnell
- 2015: $2,280
Removal strategies of the introduced kelp Undaria pinnatifida and its interaction with the native algal canopy in Victoria's Marine Sanctuaries
A/Prof Daniel Ierodiaconou, Dr Paul Carnell, Prof Peter Macreadie
- 2016: $3,000
- 2015: $3,000
RPP 1415 P18- Conservation plans for marine protected areas
Dr Paul Carnell, Prof Peter Macreadie
- 2015: $4,500
Wetland Monitoring Program Development
Prof Peter Macreadie, Dr Paul Carnell, Dr Jan Barton, Prof Rebecca Lester
- 2016: $10,000
- 2015: $70,000
Carbon sequestration and storage in freshwater Victorian wetlands
Prof Peter Macreadie, Dr Paul Carnell
- 2016: $53,040
- 2015: $60,000
A pilot monitoring program for Victoria's marine national parks and sanctuaries
A/Prof Daniel Ierodiaconou, Dr Paul Carnell, Mr Paul Tinkler
- 2018: $123,007
- 2017: $114,689
Evaluating the carbon sink-source capacity of inland wetlands within the Murray region
Prof Peter Macreadie, Dr Paul Carnell
- 2017: $128,034
Restoring healthy ecosystems in subtidal reefs: an integrated approach
Dr Paul Carnell, Prof Peter Macreadie, Miss Beck Morris, Asst/Prof Steve Swearer
- 2020: $12,912
- 2019: $12,736
- 2018: $12,272
Enhancing monitoring programs for Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park using remote observation, rock lobster pots and sonar technologies
A/Prof Daniel Ierodiaconou, Dr Paul Carnell, Mr Paul Tinkler, Mr Jordan Logan
- 2019: $124,141
- 2018: $37,650
- 2017: $69,338
Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration
Prof Peter Macreadie, Dr Paul Carnell
- 2020: $91,000
- 2019: $131,000
- 2018: $403,000
Are feral herbivores impacting carbon storage in alpine peatlands?
Dr Paul Carnell, Prof Peter Macreadie, Ms Sarah Treby
- 2019: $5,000
An updated monitoring program for Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park.
A/Prof Daniel Ierodiaconou, Mr Paul Tinkler, Mr Sam Wines, Dr Paul Carnell, Prof John Arnould
- 2020: $86,381
- 2019: $45,000
An updated monitoring program for Cape Howe Marine National Park.
A/Prof Daniel Ierodiaconou, Mr Paul Tinkler, Mr Sam Wines, Dr Paul Carnell, Dr Mary Young
- 2021: $48,780
- 2019: $45,000
Optimal Management of Overabundant Sea Urchins in Victoria.
Dr Paul Carnell, A/Prof Daniel Ierodiaconou, Dr Eric Treml, A/Prof Craig Sherman, Dr Adam Miller, Dr Mary Young, Prof Peter Macreadie
- 2021: $222,500
- 2020: $97,500
- 2019: $70,000
Development of an ongoing monitoring program for saltmarsh & seagrass in Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
Dr Paul Carnell
- 2021: $6,033
- 2020: $24,132
Review of effects of wind powered vessels on wildlife within Victoria's MPAs and sensitive coastal areas.
Dr Paul Carnell, A/Prof Mike Weston
- 2021: $7,182
- 2020: $7,182
Industry and Other Funding
Sea urchin outbreak in Noorumunga Marine and Coastal Park: implications for seagrasses and their carbon-sink capacity
Prof Peter Macreadie, A/Prof Daniel Ierodiaconou, Dr Paul Carnell
- 2017: $1,000
- 2015: $9,000
The Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program: Protecting Victoria¿s Saltmarsh Through Fencing
Prof Peter Macreadie, Dr Melissa Wartman, Dr Paul Carnell, Dr Micheli Costa
- 2021: $87,234
Supervisions
Giuditta Bonetti
Thesis entitled: The role of prokaryotes, viruses and viral infection strategies for carbon dynamics in inland wetlands
Doctor of Philosophy (Biol & Chem), School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Katy Elizabeth Limpert
Thesis entitled: Maximising carbon drawdown in freshwater wetlands
Doctor of Philosophy (Life & Env), School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Holger Janes
Thesis entitled: Values of coastal ecosystems from fish and fisheries
Doctor of Philosophy (Life & Env), School of Life and Environmental Sciences