Blog icon

Dr Karen Wild-Allen

Principal Research Scientist

https://people.csiro.au/w/k/karen-wild-allen

Contact

Please enter a valid first name

Please enter a valid last name

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter your message to send to the contact

Biography

Karen Wild-Allen is a Principal Research Scientist and biogeochemical modeller in the Coastal Environmental Modelling team. She is an established leader of large and complex projects that tackle ‘wicked’ multi-disciplinary research problems, and deliver scientific information and management solutions to marine industries, State and Federal governments. In 2016 she delivered the foundational Great Barrier Reef (eReefs) sediment, biogeochemical and optical model that has been taken up widely across research and management sectors. Model results have since contributed to the Great Barrier Reef health assessment, 25 publications, and are central to current efforts to understand coral bleaching, crown of thorns starfish outbreaks and venomous Irukandji jellyfish.

Karen is an international authority on the environmental impacts of salmon farming and has applied models to quantify and characterise the environmental impacts of anthropogenic loads to coast and shelf scale systems in Tasmania and Chile. Karen is passionate about multiscale model validation against observations and advocates for the deployment of advanced technologies for fine spatial and temporal resolution of biogeochemical properties including systems for autonomous nutrient analysis. Karen has authored 36 papers and 2 book chapters (696 citations; Web of Science H-index 11).

Current Roles

  • Principal Research Scientist & Biogeochemical Modeller
    Coastal Biogeochemical Modelling Team

  • Project Leader
    Storm Bay Biogeochemical Modelling & Information System: Supporting sustainable aquaculture expansion in Tasmania (FRDC 2017-215)

  • Project Leader
    Hydrodynamic and Oxygen Process Modelling Macquarie Harbour (FRDC 2016-067)

  • Work Package Leader
    Environmental Modelling & Monitoring, SIMA Austral (Integrated Ecosystem-based Sanitary and Environmental Management System for Aquaculture), Chile

  • Member
    ASLO (Association for the Sciences of Limnology & Oceanography)

  • Member
    Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association

Academic Qualifications

  • 1996

    PhD Biological Oceanography & Modelling
    University of Wales, Bangor, UK

  • 1990

    BSc (J Hons) Physical Oceanography & Marine Biology
    University of Wales, Bangor, UK

  • 1986

    International Baccalaureate
    United World College of the Atlantic, Wales, UK

Community and Corporate Citizenship

  • 2004-present

    Workplace First Aider

  • 2008-present

    Scout Leader (currently with Clarence District Venturers)

Publications

We have publications by Dr Karen Wild-Allen