John W. McManus, PhD. is a Professor of Marine Biology and Fisheries at the Rosenstiel School of the University of Miami. In 2007, he chaired the Five-Year Review of the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, which led to major changes in its structure and activities. As the former Leader of the Aquatic Environments Program of the WorldFish Center in Southeast Asia (formerly ICLARM), he was the founder of ReefBase, the Global Coral Reef Database, and the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN).
He is known for innovative approaches to science in support of coastal and watershed management which ranging from simple approaches by which villagers can assess their resources to cutting-edge science and technology. He and his wife Dr. Liana McManus were recognized by the World Technology Network for being among ‘the most innovative individuals in the world in 2006’. A pioneer in decision-support and scenario-testing modeling applications in the marine environment, he teaches annual courses on “Object-Oriented Programming and Agent-Based Modelling”, “Coral Reef Science and Management”, and “Introduction to Marine Science”. The author of over 80 publications, his current work includes studying the relationships among food webs, ecological dynamics, reef geomorphology, human impacts, and climate change, as well as developing a new coastal ecohydrology modelling approach to facilitate integrative research and management decision-making. He also continues to assist efforts to develop a large Spratly Island International Peace Park in the South China Sea, an idea often attributed to an early reef connectivity study he conducted. His students have worked on a wide range of topics in marine ecology, often involving field-verified computer models.
Teaching and Mentoring
McManus teaches courses on Introductory Marine Science, Marine Conservation, Coral Reef Science and Management, and Agent-Based Modelling. He has supervised numerous M.S. and Ph.D. students.
Service at UM and for the Wider Scientific Community
McManus has helped organize, chair or co-chair numerous international conferences, workshops or training programs, and has reviewed articles for a variety of scientific journals.
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