Professor Jessica Meeuwig is the Director of the Centre for Marine Futures at the University of Western Australia and the co-founder of Blue Abacus, an organization set up to share efficient, high-tech methods for counting fish populations and using the data collected to better understand the health of underwater ecosystems.  

Jessica was born in Canada and raised in Saudi Arabia. She has worked all around the world, carrying out field research to understand how marine fish communities are affected by human activities, in destinations including the Caribbean, North Atlantic, Baltic Sea, Southeast Asia and Australia. 

She studied for her PhD at McGill University in Quebec, exploring statistical modeling of aquatic ecosystems. Jessica’s past research projects have included studying how sharks and fish use underwater banks and canyons, investigating the displacement of humpback whales due to coastal development and understanding the economic and ecological benefits of creating protected marine parks.