Lea McQuillan – Guest Lecturer
Lea McQuillan is a marine biologist who has a keen interest in plants, birds and mammals. After completing an honours degree in Environmental Management, she worked on various international research projects including, coral reef habitat mapping on the second biggest barrier reef, which is in Belize. Lea also worked for the Santiago Museum on collecting invertebrates in macrocystis plants and marine biotype studies in the intertidal zone of southern coastal Chile. Working at the Charles Darwin Research Station and studying sponge taxonomy in the Galapagos Islands. Following a return to Australia where Lea completed her Master of Science in Marine Biology, she worked for both the Department of Conservation and Land Management and the Western Australian Museum on various marine research projects for three years. A sea-change and career change coincided with moving from the research field into the tourism education field. Lea has now worked all over the world on various expedition ships. She is passionate about the marine environment and indeed the natural biodiversity and is eager to increase everyone’s understanding of the natural environment, in particular, to promote and encourage marine conservation.