CHRISTOPHER E. MIRBACH
165 Mitchell st, North Ward, QLD 4810 AU #: 0499 289 472
email: chrismirbach@gmail.com
For an up to date and more extensive CV, please see my Website: www.cemirbach.com
EDUCATION
-Wayland High School, Wayland, MA 01778
-Bachelor of Science, Biology, Framingham State University
-Masters of Marine Biology, James Cook University
2003
2008
2014
PRIOR CAREER AND SEMI-RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Started IT consulting company, ChrisFixesIT.com and ‘Boston PC Experts’
2007-2012
-Comptia A+ certified computer/network technician
-27 clients, primary client is small biotech startup (~30 employees) in Cambridge MA as
IT project manager
Cold Marine Volunteer Aquarist, New England Aquarium
2009-2011
- Fed, monitored and raised 100+ species of northern Atlantic and Pacific fish and invertebrates
- Maintained water quality of 25+ tanks ranging in size between 100 and 3000 gallons
- Completed care, training and handling of giant pacific octopus
- Educational tours of the cold water marine area
PADI Divemaster
2012-present
-Guided dozens of trips to the Townsville region of the GBR, the SS Yongala and Whitsunday Islands.
Deckhand and Divemaster on Adrenalin, run by Adrenalin Dive
2013-2014
President, JCU Dive Club
2013-2015
- Restructured club infrastructure to save committee members hours per week worth of work.
Introduced and developed a new website, new membership management system, new newsletter
system and new payment system.
- Helped organize and run 8 trips, each with between 5 and 20 customers/divers.
Coxswain, Deckhand/Divemaster, Affordable Charters
2013-present
QUALIFICATIONS
- ADAS 1 (unrestricted) commercial diver
- Coxswains NC 1 (master on commercial vessels under 12m, engineer on vessels under 250 kW)
- PADI Divemaster
- Elements of Shipboard Safety (Australia)
- QLD Recreational Marine Operators License
- EFR/CPR/AED/o2 provider (current)
- Marine Radio Operator (VHF, HF) MROCP
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FIELD WORK EXPERIENCE (PAST 3 YEARS)
Over 8.5 months of field time as a volunteer research assistant across the following projects, including
field time for my own projects and research for projects which co-authored (in bold)
1. NERP Shark Nursery Project that involved deployment and retrieval of fishing gear, handling animals
(tagging, measuring, tissue samples), taking environmental measurements, and data recording. 100+
sharks handled including large tiger, hammerhead and bull sharks (4 weeks; Steve Kelso Moore)
2. Coral Reef Fish Herbivores (10+ weeks field work; Simon Brandl):
2a. Effects of micro-topography on interactions between benthic organisms and herbivorous fish:
the project aimed to investigate the role of micro-topography on one of the most important processes
on coral reefs, fish based herbivory, using arrays of artificial surfaces with varying structural complexity.
2b. Life-history patterns of pairing rabbitfishes: in this project, the life history of pair members in
various species of pairing rabbitfishes was explored to reveal potential processes underpinning the
formation of pairs in these species.
2c. An investigation of foraging paths in herbivorous reef fishes: to extract potential differences in
the foraging strategies of herbivorous fishes, the foraging paths were assessed using acoustic telemetry
and visual observations.
2d. Coordinated sentinel behaviour in a coral reef fish: the project quantified a novel behaviour in
coral reef fishes, a coordinated sentinel behaviour, using video observations.
2e. CE Mirbach, SJ Brandl (In review), Ontogenetic shifts in habitat utilization and sociality in
pairing coral reef rabbitfishes (f. Siganidae)
3. Kramer MJ et al (2014) Where are the benthic Crustacea on coral reefs? A quantitative survey. Marine
Ecology Progress Series. (2 weeks field work)
4. Skippering and diving for; Kristen Anderson “Latitudinal variation in the growth of branching corals on
the GBR” and “Dynamics of A. hyacinthus growth on the GBR”. (1 week field work)
5. Sea turtle observation, tagging, measuring and weighing (1 week field work )
6. Skippering to the outer reef from Lizard Island for Martina De Freitas Prazer to study Foraminifera
response to climate change and local impacts: the influence of reef-scale adaptation (2 weeks field
work)
7. Captured/ tagged/ collected muscle and fin tissue from over 50 reef sharks, including 1 tiger and 2
lemon sharks. PAPER: Ashley J. Frisch, Matthew Ireland, Justin R. Rizzari, Oona M. Lönnstedt, Katalin
A. Magnenat, Christopher E. Mirbach, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs (In review), Reassessing the trophic role of
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reef sharks as apex predators on coral reefs. (1 month field work)
8. Shark, mesopredator, pelagics and caesionids surveys in the Swains, GBR. PAPER: JM Casey, AH Baird,
MO Hoogenboom, SJ Brandl, JR Rizzari, CE Mirbach, AJ Frisch, SR Connolly (In review), Confronting the
trophic cascade hypothesis: patterns of coral reef herbivorous fishes and benthic communities across
a predator density gradient. (2 weeks field work)
9. Long Term Monitoring Project aboard R.V. Cape Ferguson/tenders in Cairns, Cooktown and Lizard
Island sectors of the GBR. Small boat driver, photo transects, transect tapes, diver support, watch/
deckhand duties (3 weeks field work)
10. Top and meso-predator interactions on coral reefs. (1 month field work, co-author in prep)
REFERENCES
JCUSimon Brandl (PhD candidate) E: simon.brandl@my.jcu.edu.au M: 468 939 167
Kristen Anderson (PhD candidate) E: kristen.anderson2@my.jcu.edu.au M: 416 534 469
Jordan Casey (PhD candidate) E: jordan.casey@my.jcu.edu.au
Justin Rizzari (PhD candidate) E: justin.rizzari@my.jcu.edu.au M: 450 551 087
Steve Kelso Moore (Field Technician/ Relief Skipper) E: steve.moore@jcu.edu.au M: 0451 060 989
Ashley Frisch (Post Doc Research Fellow) E: ashley.frisch@jcu.edu.au
Glen Ewels (Boating and Diving Officer)E: glen.ewels@jcu.edu.au
Brock Bergseth (PhD candidate) E: brock.bergseth@my.jcu.edu.au
UQMartina De Freitas Prazeres (PhD candidate) E: m.prazeres@uq.edu.au
GBRMPAAndrew Schofield (Diving officer) E: andrew@goprotownsville.com
Department of Parks and Wildlife, WATom Holmes (Research Scientist) E: tom.holmes@dpaw.wa.gov.au M: 0408 156 569
AIMSMike Emslie (Researcher) E: m.emslie@aims.gov.au
ADASBrendan Janson (Instructor) M: 0479 014 904
CoxswainsPeter McDonald (Instructor) M: 0427 291 685
Research and Recreational Vessels3|Page
Dave Stewart (Skipper, Owner and Operator) E: davestewy@bigpond.com M: 0409 297 413
Dan Pretto (Skipper, RV Cape Ferguson)
(Further contact details for anyone on this list can be provided upon request)
PUBLICATIONS
1. CE Mirbach, SJ Brandl (In review), Abundance, distribution and behaviour of juvenile rabbitfishes (f.
Siganidae) on a mid-shelf reef on the Great Barrier Reef.
2. AJ Frisch, M Ireland, JR Rizzari, OM Lönnstedt, KA Magnenat, CE Mirbach, JA Hobbs (In review),
Reassessing the trophic role of reef sharks as apex predators on coral reefs
3. JM Casey, AH Baird, MO Hoogenboom, SJ Brandl, JR Rizzari, CE Mirbach, AJ Frisch, SR Connolly (In
preparation), Confronting the trophic cascade hypothesis: patterns of coral reef herbivorous fishes and
benthic communities across a predator density gradient.
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