Big marine datasets promise big insights, but only if the data can be trusted. When WA researchers pooled thousands of underwater video surveys into one national dataset, they found that combining data from many teams is as much a process challenge as a technical one. Our “Fish on Film” session explores what it took to turn messy, mismatched survey data into a reliable resource for monitoring Australia’s marine life.

Why Attend?

This webinar is part of the WA Environment Profession 101 series, designed for students, early career professionals and those new to environmental practice in WA.

If you work with ecological or environmental data, or rely on it to make decisions, this session offers practical lessons on making data trustworthy, shareable and reusable. It’s relevant to researchers, consultants, regulators and managers who want to understand what’s needed to bring many datasets together and have confidence in the results.

Presented by Tim Langlois, Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the UWA Oceans Institute, the session will cover:

• How baited remote underwater video (BRUV) is used to survey fish across Australia
• Building a national dataset of nearly 30,000 video deployments, 1.77 million fish and almost 2,000 species, contributed by more than 30 researchers from over 15 institutions
• Common data problems, from inconsistent species names and spelling to implausible fish sizes and missing metadata
• CheckEM, an open-source workflow tool developed by the research team that flags errors and creates transparent reports without altering the original data
• How this data can feed into national State of the Environment reporting

Meet the Speaker - Tim Langlois

Tim Langlois is a marine ecologist who studies how commercial and recreational fisheries can be optimally managed to meet their objectives while maximising the broader benefits of healthy marine ecosystems to society. His research uses no-take marine reserves and fisheries closures to better understand ecosystem dynamics and the impacts of fishing, demonstrating that these closures can provide important value-add to fisheries science.

Tim's research is multidisciplinary, spanning socio-economics, oceanography and statistical theory. It includes international collaborations on how long-term and acute environmental and anthropogenic disturbances affect marine ecosystems. In Australia, he uses non-destructive underwater video surveys to track changes in fish assemblages. Tim is a Research Fellow at the Oceans Institute and a lecturer in the School of Plant Biology at the University of Western Australia.

What to Expect

This is an accessible, practical session for anyone interested in how large-scale environmental data is built, checked and put to work. The webinar includes a 30-minute presentation followed by a Q&A session.

This webinar will run on Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) and will be recorded. A link to the recording will be sent to all registered delegates in the days following the event.

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