AUT - Dr Barbara Breen
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Dr Barbara Breen
Senior Lecturer - Environmental Sciences
Qualifications
Msc Marine Bio (Auckland), PhD Environmental Studies (James Cook University, Australia)
Barbara is a senior lecturer in the School of Applied Sciences. Her research interests are in GIS applications, ecosystem management and spatial ecology. She has over 20 years experience working in government and NGO's in both Australia and New Zealand. Her research focus has recently been the identification and selection of Marine Protected Areas, mapping the distribution of Mauis Dolphins from public sightings data and integrating social data with environmental and biological information using decision support systems and multivariate statistics.
Teaching Areas
Undergraduate and Post Graduate GIS Applications
Coastal Management
Research Areas and Current Projects
I am interested in developing methods for integrating biophysical and social data in the development and evaluation of marine protected areas in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific using GIS, decision support systems, advanced spatial statistics and geospatial modelling. I also conduct research which explores the interaction between human perceptions and the ecological status of the tropical and temperate aquatic areas.
I currently lead a marine education, awareness and research programme for WWF-NZ which includes developing marine environmental education programmes for schools and community groups; research on socioeconomic, biological and physical values of the North Eastern Bioregion, Kaipara Harbour and Manukau Harbour; and advocacy programmes to promote the benefits of marine protected areas in New Zealand.
Recent Publications
Bollard-Breen, B. and Breen D. (2008) Quantifying community perceptions of marine environments for marine protected area planning: when is the reef too crowded? Tourism in Marine Environments
Bollard-Breen, B. (2006) Integrating social and biophysical data to develop and evaluate marine protected area planning at a local scale: the Cairns Area Plan of Management as a case study. PhD Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.