Sterling Tebbett

Post Doc

Sterling grew up on Australia’s Sunshine Coast where he became interested in the marine environment and fishes, from a young age. He has been at JCU since 2012 and completed a BSc in Marine Biology in 2014 and an Honours in 2016, under the supervision of David Bellwood and Chris Goatley. His honours examined how sediments mediated interactions between surgeonfishes and algal turfs on coral reefs. Since completing his honours he worked as the lab manager in the Bellwood Lab up until the end of 2018. In 2019 he started his PhD under the supervision of David Bellwood and Sean Connolly. Sterling’s PhD research built on his earlier honours research to understand how fishes, sediments and productivity interact to sustain the functioning of future coral reef configurations.

As a postdoc in the Reef Function Hub, Sterling is now undertaking a diverse array of research that covers multiple taxonomic groups and spatial scales. This research ranges from small-scale field-based studies aimed at examining the functional roles of key organisms through to global-scale studies that utilise a macroecological approach to understand coral reef change. His research also extends to the conceptual side of studying ecosystem functions and he is particularly passionate about continuing the development of process-based perspectives to investigate coral reefs. Despite this diverse array of research, it all shares one common theme: a focus on understanding how coral reefs function.

Sterling’s recent publications