Andrew Temple, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research Interests

Andrew is a postdoctoral fellow in the Red Sea Research Center and a member of the first cohort of the KAUST Global Fellowship Program for postdocs. He is an interdisciplinary researcher working across the fields of ecology, fisheries science, and socioeconomics.

Andrew’s studies the interactions between fisheries and large marine vertebrates (marine mammals, sharks, rays, turtles, and finfish), with a particular interest in the management and conservation of data-poor species and fisheries. To achieve this, Andrew combines a wide range of mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) approaches, ranging from traditional fisheries landings and market monitoring to satellite-derived “big data”, local ecological knowledge, bioacoustics, and life history assessment.

The goal of Andrew’s fellowship is to improve the impact of conservation science by helping to transform the discipline from a reactive science, responding to species declines, into a proactive one. To achieve this, his vision is to combine evolutionary and ecological science with powerful machine learning techniques in a novel interdisciplinary approach which proactively identifies species least resilient to human exploitation, and those vital to ecosystem health and the human communities dependent upon them. His belief is that this approach can facilitate prioritisation of the most at-risk species and, in doing so, facilitate targeted and effective conservation and management action.

Selected Publications

  • Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing impacts: A systematic review of evidence and proposed future agenda. Temple AJ, Skerritt DJ, Howarth PEC, Pearce J, Mangi SC. Marine Policy (2022).
  • Bycatch risk for toothed whales in global small-scale fisheries. Temple AJ, Westmerland E, Berggren P. Fish and Fisheries (2022).
  • Comparison of local knowledge and researcher-led observations for wildlife exploitation assessment and management. Temple AJ, Stead SM, Jiddawi N, Berggren P. Environmental Conservation (2020).
  • Life-history, exploitation and extinction risk of the data-poor Baraka’s whipray (Maculabatis ambigua) in small-scale tropical fisheries. Temple AJ, Stead SM, Jiddawi N, Wambiji N, Dulvy NK, Barrowclift E, Berggren P. Journal of Fish Biology (2020).
  • Echolocation click classification of Indian Ocean humpback (Sousa plumbea) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose (Tursiops aduncus) dolphins from Menai Bay, Zanzibar, East Africa. Yang L, Sharpe M, Temple AJ, Jiddawi N, Xu X, Berggren P. PLOS ONE (2020).
  • Population structure, connectivity and demographic history of an apex marine predator, the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas. Pirog A, Ravigne V, Fontaine MC, Riewx A, Gilabert A, Cliff G, Clua E, Daly R, Heithaus MR, Kiszka JJ, Matich P, Nevill JEG, Smoothey AF, Temple AJ, Berggren P, Jaquemet S, Magalon H. Ecology and Evolution (2019). 
  • Marine megafauna catch in southwestern Indian Ocean small-scale fisheries from landings data. Temple AJ, Wambiji N, Poonian CNS, Jiddawi N, Stead SM, Kiszka JJ, Berggren P. Biological Conservation (2019). 
  • Marine megafauna interactions with small-scale fisheries in the southwestern Indian Ocean: a review of status and challenges for research and management. Temple AJ, Kiszka JJ, Stead SM, Wambiji N, Brito A, Poonian CNS, Amir OA, Jiddawi N, Fennessy ST, Perez-Jorge S, Berggren P. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (2018).
  • Social, economic and trade characteristics of the elasmobranch fishery on Unguja Island, Zanzibar, East Africa. Barrowclift E, Temple AJ, Stead S, Jiddawi NS, Berggren P. Marine Policy (2017).
  • Spatial and temporal variations in the occurrence and foraging activity of coastal dolphins in Menai Bay, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Temple AJ, Tregenza N, Amir OA, Jiddawi N, Berggren P. PLOS ONE (2016).

Education

  • 2014–2018: PhD, Newcastle University, UK.
  • 2012–2014: MPhil, Newcastle University, UK.
  • 2009–2012: BSc Hons, Marine Biology, Newcastle University, UK

Professional Profile

  • 2022–Present: Global Postdoctoral Fellow, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia.
  • 2021–2022: Senior Fisheries Consultant, MRAG Ltd, UK.
  • 2018–2021: Research Associate, Newcastle University, UK.
  • 2015–2019: Research Consultant (ad hoc), Newcastle University, UK

KAUST Affiliations

  • ​Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
  • Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE)

Research Interests Keywords

Biodiversity Fisheries Marine ecology Machine learning Statistical modelling Socioeconomics Species life history Marine mammals Elasmobranchs Sharks Fish Sea turtles