Dr Nur Arafeh Dalmau
![](https://environment.uq.edu.au/sites/environment.uq.edu.au/files/styles/uq_core_small_portrait/public/ckfinder/images/staff_profile/35947.jpeg?itok=QhwbPfzx)
Researcher biography
I am currently an Honorary Fellow at The University of Queensland and a postdoc at UCLA and Stanford. I am a marine community ecologist and marine spatial planner. My research focuses on understanding the impacts of marine heatwaves on kelp forest ecosystems. I also research the role of marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures for providing climate resilience and designing networks of climate-smart marine protected areas. I support conservation initiatives with NGOs, parks, and fishers, and teach decision tools such as Marxan. My heart remains in my beautiful Costa Brava, Spain (Catalonia), where I do my best to support conservation. I am a naive dreamer, and I know future generations will dive into healthy kelp forests and thriving marine ecosystems.