David Abrego

Biography

Dr. David Abrego is a marine ecologist at the National Marine Science Centre. David’s interest are in reef-building corals and their responses to changing oceans. He has led and collaborated on research covering individual to community responses in corals across the Indo-Pacific, including studies in Australia, Japan, and the Persian Gulf.

Research

Dr. Abrego’s research investigates critical aspects in early life history of corals (recruitment, settlement, symbioses establishment), as well as environmental stress tolerance and adaptation to warming oceans. This knowledge is essential for sound conservation and restoration decisions. He conducts field/lab studies using genetics, photo-physiology, chemistry, husbandry, and selective breeding tools. His current focus is on investigating how coral-microalgal symbioses can boost recovery in impacted reefs, strategies to enhance symbioses establishment, and characterising corals living in marginal environments to help predict future impacts.

Teaching

Dr. Abrego teaches into the Bachelor of Marine Science and Management program at SCU and has previously taught into Environmental Science programs overseas (UAE) and the Marine Biology program at JCU. He has coordinated and taught units in Biology, Ecology and conservation, and Biology of reef-building corals; and lectured in Earth systems I and II, and Global environmental issues.