Joyce_Ong_100x150
Joyce ONG Jia Lin
Assistant Professor

Office Location: N2-01c-48

 

Education:

  • PhD (Marine Ecology), University of Western Australia, Australia (2017)
  • B.Sc. First Class Honours in Marine Ecology and Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Australia (2007)


      Research Experience:

      • Jun 2017 – Dec 2020: Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, USA with Malin Pinsky
      • Nov 2016 – Jan 2017: Lab technician at the Center for Marine Futures, UWA Oceans Institutes, Perth, Australia with Jessica Meeuwig
      • Aug 2009 – Jan 2013: Researcher at Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore with Tan Koh Siang, Serena Teo and Sin Tsai Min
      • May 2007 – Mar 2009: Consultant with Australian Marine Ecology, Melbourne, Australia

      Biography:

      I am a fish biologist by training and have completed a PhD on the historical impacts of climate change on fish ecology. I am passionate about the aquatic environment and in particular, about the use of otoliths (fish ear stones) and the information that can be gleaned from such tiny structures, such as the age, annual growth rates, migration and environmental factors. I have also been involved in other aspects of marine and freshwater ecology such as coral reef monitoring, seagrass surveys, turtle research, in-situ coral experiments and biofouling surveys. I am particularly interested in Southeast Asia, not only because I grew up in this region, but also because marine fisheries have major socio-economic impacts on food security and human livelihoods, yet is relatively data deficient.


      Research Interests:

      I intend to examine the drivers of fish growth, which ultimately affects fisheries productivity, in Southeast Asia. I am interested in both climate drivers such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and human drivers such as fishing pressure and fisheries management. How climate change and overfishing affects fish populations require urgent attention in Southeast Asia because of the reliance that people in this region have on seafood for nutrition (hence, food security) and livelihoods. My research makes use of multi-disciplinary methods to look at multiple aspects of the linkages between climate, humans and fish.


      Selected Publications:
      • Ong JJL, Walter JA, Jensen OP & Pinsky ML. 2021. Global hotspots of coherent marine fisheries. Ecological Applications, doi:10.1002/EAP.2321.
      • Ong JJL, Meekan MG, Hsu HH, Fanning LP & Campana SE. 2020. Annual bands in vertebrae validated by bomb radiocarbon assays provide estimates of age and growth of whale sharks. Frontiers in Marine Science, doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00188.
      • Ong JJL, Rountrey AN, Black B, Nguyen HM, Coulson P, Newman SJ, Wakefield C, Meeuwig JJ & Meekan MG. 2018. A boundary current drives synchronous growth of marine fishes across tropical and temperate latitudes. Global Change Biology, 24, p1894-1903.
      • Ong JJL, Rountrey AN, Meeuwig JJ, Newman SJ, Zinke J & Meekan MG. 2015 Contrasting environmental drivers of adult and juvenile growth in a marine fish: implications for the effects of climate change. Scientific Reports, 5, 10859.

      Teaching:

      ES1007/CY1007 Living with Climate Change (Undergraduate Year 1 class, Semester II)