Juliano Morais

PhD Candidate

Despite his passion for the ocean since his childhood, Juliano grew up in Brazil more than 1000 km from the coast, where he undertook his Bachelor in Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Goiais. In 2016, he moved to the Northeast coast of Brazil to do his Master's degree at Federal University of Paraiba and get closer to his great interest and passion: marine life diversity. During his Master’s, he worked with coral reef diversity and also collaborated with the creation of a 422 km2 marine protected area in the state of Paraiba. After completing this step, he decided to move to Australia to dive deeper in this field and, in 2020, he joined Professor David Bellwood's lab to do his PhD focusing on interactions between fish and corals in a functional approach.

Juliano’s recent publications

Jessica Valenzuela

Masters Student Alumna / Research Assistant

Growing up in the landlocked region of north Texas in the United States, Jessica's passion for marine biology arose from her father's love for marine life, David Attenborough documentaries, and trips to the local aquarium. Determined to explore the ocean for herself, she moved to southern California, where she completed her undergraduate degree in 2016 at Claremont McKenna College. In 2019, she came to James Cook University to pursue her interest in tropical reef fishes. Under the supervision of David Bellwood and Renato Morais, she completed her masters in 2020. Her research project investigated ontogenetic habitat shifts in Caesioninae, a group of planktivorous fishes. Jessica now works as a research assistant for the Reef Function Hub.

Jess’s publications