Melissa Abdallah

Melissa is a PhD candidate and casual academic within the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. She completed her Bachelor of Advanced Science (Hons) majoring in Ecology, Bachelor of Music (Pedagogy), and Master of Teaching (Secondary) at UNSW. Her undergraduate research explored the impacts of aridity and grazing on shrub-dwelling spiders, whilst her PhD work focuses on improving aquaculture sustainability. Melissa's interests span numerous disciplines, including aquaculture ecology, invertebrate ecology, environmental impact assessment, education, and working with local communities to help improve livelihoods.

Melissa has experience working in high school science teaching, university demonstrating/tutoring, research assistance, and environmental consulting. She is passionate about education and aims to enrich her students' understanding and appreciation of the natural world, and strategies for solving environmental issues.

Supervised by: Prof. Jes Sammut and Dr. Debashish Mazumder

Project Title: Developing a sustainable cage-fish farming model in reservoirs using isotopic and nuclear data to enhance inland fish farming in Papua New Guinea

Project Description: My PhD research will develop a sustainable cage fish farming model to support the scaling of aquaculture in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to improve food and income security. A lake limnology study will be conducted, and the impacts of cage-fish farming on wild food web structures, including trophic niches and niche space diversity, will be determined. Stable isotopic and elemental composition analysis will be conducted at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), our primary collaborator. Wild fish community structure will also be determined, and a fish species inventory will be developed as a baseline for the modelling work. Our project, funded by ACIAR, will assist the National Fisheries Authority in PNG to improve aquaculture regulations and farming guidelines by applying sustainable cage-based models to reduce waste and costs, avoid environmental impacts, and improve health and social outcomes.