G. Robin South,^* Posa A. Skelton,^** Joeli Veitayaki,^*** Alan Resture,^**** Clive Carpenter,^***** Craig Pratt,^****** Alena Lawedrau<sup>*******


*</sup>G. Robin South is Canadian, and is the Director of the International Ocean Institute Regional Centre for Australia and the Western Pacific, and an Adjunct Professor of the School of Tropical Environment Studies and Geography of James Cook University, Queensland, Australia. He is an expert on the systematics of tropical marine algae, and has worked in Canada, New Zealand, Fiji and Australia. He has published numerous papers on algae, oceans policy, and related topics, and is a past Editor of Phycologia, and Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Botany; currently he is a member of the Editorial Board of the New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, and the Ocean Yearbook. robin.south@impac.org.au
^**Posa Skelton is the Project Officer for the International Ocean Institute Regional Centre for Australia and the Western Pacific. He received his BSc degree from Wellington Polytechnic, New Zealand in the area of public health, and his Masters in Marine Science from the University of the South Pacific. Posa has worked with the IOI since 1998, where he coordinated the Southwest Pacific Node of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network; previously he was a Fisheries Research Officer with the Government of Samoa. His expertise is in coral reef monitoring, and the systematics of tropical benthic marine macroalgae. He is currently completing his PhD on the biodiversity of marine algae of the Apia district, Samoa.
^***Joeli Veitayaki is Coordinator of the Marine Affairs Programme at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, where he is also a senior lecturer in Ocean Resources Management in the School of Social and Economic Development. He completed his BSc and MSc degrees at the USP, and his PhD at the Australian National University in Canberra. He specialises in fisheries and rural development, and in coastal zone management in small island developing states. He has an extensive background in teaching of marine affairs. Joeli has been associated with the International Ocean Institute for 8 years, most recently as Director of the IOI's Operational Centre for the Pacific Islands, and coordination of the South Pacific hearings for the Independent World Commission on the Oceans.
^****Alan Resture is an assistant lecturer at the Marine Affairs Programme of the University of the South Pacific who is originally from Tuvalu. Alan has a background in marine affairs and geography. He holds a Masters of urban and regional planning (MURP) degree from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Hawaii. Alan's research interests are in the area of community-based resource management, socio-economic impacts of climate change, and coastal area planning for small island states. His Master's research was on traditional resource management practices in Tuvalu. In early 2001, Alan conducted an UNDP-funded workshop on community-mobilisation and empowerment in Tuvalu to enable local governments to manage their own resources with minimal assistance from outside. Alan is currently writing his research on Women in the Shell Trade Industry in Tuvalu. His other research is on Traditional Fishing Practices in Nukufetau, Tuvalu.
^*****Clive Carpenter is employed directly by SOPAC as the Water and Sanitation Specialist under funding from DFID (Pacific), of the United Kingdom. He is currently Head of the Water Sector. He has a BSc (Hons) in Geology from the University of Bristol, and an MSc in Hydrogeology and Groundwater Resources from the University of Birmingham. Clive is a Chartered Geologist (C. Geol) and Fellow of the Geological Society of London (FGS), Member of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (MCIWEM) and registered engineer for Disaster Relief (REDR). He has 12 years postgraduate experience in applied hydrogeology, including water resources assessment, environmental impact assessment, water quality and groundwater engineering. He has worked throughout Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Far East, for environmental and engineering consultancies and water utilities. sopacuk@yahoo.co.uk
^******Craig Pratt is Project Coordinator for the Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) Project and joined SOPAC in 1998 when the EVI Project was initiated. He has an academic background in ecology and environmental management. He holds several qualifications including a BSc (Biology & Chemistry): PGDip (Biology); PGDip (Environmental Studies) and an MSc in Environmental Studies from the Macquarie University, Sydney. His thesis explored the development of integrated marine resource management through conservation in Fiji. His expertise in environmental management has led to extensive research work done in 18 Pacific Island Countries. He has also worked with NGOs and independently on waste management, marine resource management, biodiversity, conservation and other environmental issues. craig@sopac.org
^*******Alena Lawedrau is the Water Resources Officer in the Water Sector. SOPAC took her on board to be Project Assistent for the GIWA Study in August 2002. She graduated from the University of the South Pacific in June of 2002 with a BSc in biology and earth sciences. alena@sopac.org