Society for Marine Mammalogy
Australia and New Zealand Student Chapter
7th Biennial Conference
Auckland, New Zealand
24-27 October 2025
The Conference
Connect with your peers, present and network
The 7th meeting of the SMM Australia/New Zealand Student Chapter will be held at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, from 24-27 October 2025. It will include student talks, guest speakers, a necropsy workshop, whale and dolphin safari as well as several social and networking opportunities.
The 6th meeting of the SMM Australia/New Zealand Student Chapter was held at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart, Tasmania. In April 2023. we had 28 students come together for an exciting and much needed in-person event. The conference included student speed talks, four guest speakers, an in-depth workshop and many social and networking opportunities. The workshop was held in collaboration with the IMAS Marine Predator (MPred) lab with the theme: “The theory and practise of establishing linkages between marine predators and their prey in a changing ecosystem.”​ It was very special to have the opportunity to get together in person for this event. By much of the grateful praise to the committee, we all walked away inspired from learning about each other’s projects and cannot wait to progress further in the marine mammal space.
Guest Speakers
Below are the guest speakers from our 2023 conference.
Check back soon to read all about those we have lined up in 2025!
Dr Brian Miller (AAD)
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Brian is a marine mammal acoustician, who develops and uses specialised underwater listening devices and software to detect and locate sounds produced by marine mammals. For his PhD at Otago University, he conducted 3D acoustic tracking of sperm whales in Kaikoura, New Zealand, and developed passive acoustic software for measuring individual growth in sperm whales. Since 2011 he has been working at the Australian Antarctic Division as part of the Australian Marine Mammal Centre. His work is focused on understanding the role and recovery of large whales throughout the Southern Ocean. In addition to Antarctic research, he also provides scientific advice on the effects of man-made underwater noise on marine mammals around Australia and Antarctica.
Prof Mary-Anne Lea (UTAS)
Dr Mary-Anne Lea is a Professor at the Ecology and Biodiversity Centre at the Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania.
She is interested in the way in which the environment and climate change affect the behaviour, distribution and life history of marine and polar vertebrates. She studies the behavioural ecology of many species of seals and seabirds in temperate, Southern Ocean and Alaskan waters and has participated in over 25 expeditions and voyages.
Her research focuses on the way in which marine predators, especially migratory animals, interact with their environment at different temporal and spatial scales, and the fine-scale relationships between animal behaviour and prey dynamics. Much of her and the Marine Predator Lab group’s research focuses on the use of emergent technologies to study the influence of climate change and variability within the marine environment on top predator behaviour and distributions in the Southern Ocean and globally.
Dr Karen Evans (CSIRO)
Dr Karen Evans is a Team Leader and principal research scientist with CSIRO and an adjunct fellow with the Centre of Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania based in Hobart, Tasmania. She leads and contributes to research focused on progressing scientific understanding and developing options to improve marine resource management, particularly in relation to national and international fisheries and threatened, endangered and protected species. Her projects deliver strategic research to national agencies, regional programmes in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and international agencies, including the United Nations.
Dr David Hocking (TMAG)
Dr David Hocking is the Senior Curator of Vertebrate Zoology and Palaeontology at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG). David is a leading expert on the evolution of Australian and Southern Ocean marine mammals. His work combines traditional palaeontology and natural history with cutting-edge technology to better understand how animals work and why they behave like they do. Prior to joining TMAG, David worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Monash University, and he has also worked closely with Museums Victoria as a research associate, fossil preparator and exhibition curator. He is also a former ANZSCSMM member from his days as a PhD student!
Workshop
In collaboration with the Cetacean Ecology Group
​The Cetacean Ecology Research Group (CERG) of Massey University, Auckland, undertakes a wide array of marine mammal research within and beyond New Zealand. Their team of staff and postgraduate students largely investigate conservation and management orientated questions on aspects including health and anthropogenic impacts affecting cetacean populations, strandings causation and response investigations and biology and life history studies. While long-term research programmes focus on common dolphins and long-finned pilot whales, the team also works on elusive Southern Ocean species including the hourglass dolphin and spectacled porpoise. Research leader Professor Karen Stockin will deliver a necropsy workshop on one of these species which will be sure to be an informative and unique opportunity!
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Conference Schedule
1 optional evening + 3 official days
Day 1
FRIDAY 24 October - Travel day and welcome night
Relax and meet your fellow conference attendees after a big day of travel. There will be an informal welcome night with food and drinks (location TBC).
Day 2
SATURDAY 25 October - Guest speakers, student talks and BBQ night
We will invite guest speakers to present relevant research in their field and have students talks on their current research to facilitate networking and scientific discussions with the professional guests in attendance.​​We will finish the night with a casual BBQ and quiz night at MERC!
Day 3
SUNDAY 26 October - Student talks and workshop
We will continue our student talks in the morning. Professor Karen Stockin of CERG will then deliver a free necropsy workshop for those interested to learn more about cetacean anatomy and health.
Day 4
MONDAY 27 October - Student talks and cetacean safari
We will conclude with our final student talks in the morning. Those who have registered for the optional field trip activity will then head out for an afternoon on the water with Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari!
Past Events
