Dan Gwinn is an internationally renowned quantitative ecologist with technical expertise in several key areas that will benefit the management of Australia’s fisheries. Of particular interest to FRDC are his expertise in parameter estimation, monitoring design, and fisheries modeling. Dr Gwinn is experienced in developing innovative estimation methods to specifically deal with the inherent issues with imperfect data as is the case for fisheries and ecological research. Dr Gwinn’s work in this area has focused on the customization of statistical models to account for the specific idiosyncrasies of data sets to best extract biological information and inform the management decision process. Often, this work had included developing innovative analyses of existing data sets to answer new questions. Dr Gwinn also has expertise in use of analysis tools including the application of stochastic simulations for evaluating and optimizing experimental and monitoring designs, which are particularly useful for determining the most fiscally efficient sampling designs for meeting monitoring objectives.

We propose to facilitate a study tour for Dr Gwinn to enable him to meet with fisheries researchers and managers from several jurisdictions to review and discuss key freshwater and marine projects, present to the research and management community on innovative methods being employed in the United States to address common issues, and workshop strategies to enhance adoption of R&D outputs.

We believe that this visit will deliver significant benefit to the future management of Australia's fisheries resources.