Jack L. Manera

I am an early-career researcher in behavioural ecology and ecotoxicology at Monash University, where I am completing my PhD under the supervision of Prof. Bob Wong, Asst. Prof. Michael Bertram, and Dr. Jake Martin. My research sits at the intersection of animal behaviour, cognitive ecology, and environmental toxicology, asking how the chemicals we release into waterways alter the way aquatic animals think, interact, and survive.

My PhD investigates whether common psychoactive pharmaceutical pollutants disrupt cognition, collective behaviour, and social information transfer in fish. Using the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) as a model, I combine behavioural assays, video tracking, and rigorous statistical analysis to reveal how contaminants detected in waterways worldwide may undermine processes critical for survival.

Prior to my PhD, my honours research demonstrated that different types of boat noise could differentially alter individual behaviours in a fish–shrimp mutualistic relationship. I am deeply committed to open science: I develop and maintain public analytical tools, including the R package cleanRfish, and I contribute to the scientific community as a Data Editor for Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

I am motivated by a desire to generate research that informs conservation policy, particularly around the regulation of emerging contaminants in aquatic ecosystems. I thrive in collaborative, close-knit teams and thoroughly enjoy communicating science to diverse audiences.