Chris Cornelisen

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT CHRIS CORNELISEN

Chris Cornelisen currently leads the Blue Technologies Group at Cawthron Institute, which specializes in R&D engineering and Field Operations. With over 20 years’ research experience in coastal processes and marine ecology, Chris focuses on science leadership and forging pathways to impact. Chris led the Synthesis-Integration for Impact programme for the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge (NSC), bringing together 10 years of research into actionable knowledge for end users. He also led the highly collaborative Science for Technological Innovation NSC Precision Aquaculture Spearhead, which led to two Ending with Impact projects that are now start-up companies. Chris and the teams he leads have significantly advanced ocean observing and the sustainable management of marine resources in New Zealand through the development of best management practices and standards for aquaculture, integrated frameworks for monitoring state of the marine environment, remote monitoring technologies, and tools and technologies for enabling marine ecosystem-based management and a blue economy.Chris began his work in New Zealand as a Postdoctoral researcher at University of Otago carrying out research on food web connectivity in Fiordland. His doctoral research in Florida focused on hydrodynamics and nutrient transfer in seagrass and hardbottom communities. Earlier in his career, he assessed the effectiveness of coastal restoration efforts for the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment as an inaugural U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Management Fellow and spent several years as a marine educator in the Florida Keys and at Chicago\'s Shedd Aquarium.