MarSocSciAus members meet and plan 2026 activities

The Marine Social Sciences Network is a growing community of like-minded people who have interacted informally together over several years. In November 2025, 15 members of the Marine Social Science Network (Australian Chapter) came together in Sydney to develop action areas for 2026. 

Participants of the Gathering included: Bethany Smith (JCU), Carla Sbrocchi (UTS), Emily Ogier (UTAS), Freya Croft (UoW), Georgina Gurney (JCU), Jackie Gould (CDU), Jamie Alnutt (FRDC), Jess Melbourne-Thomas (CSIRO), Kate Barclay (UTS), Matt Navarro (UWA), Michelle Dyer (AIMS), Michelle Voyer (UoW), Natasha Stacey (CDU), Rebecca Shellock (UNSW) and Swee-Hoon Chuah (UTAS). 

Continue reading about updates and planned activities for the coming 12 months. 

Membership categories

To meet different needs across our membership we will now have two categories of network membership:

1. Member – anyone interested in marine social science and receiving communications and event invitations. To encourage sharing and interactions between members, we have set up a private LinkedIn group. Anyone is welcome to join and participate in conversations! Please join here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14068187/
2. Active Australian Social Scientist – those who are active marine social scientists in Australia, for any social science field (including economics, behavioural science, political economy, MEL, sociology, social-ecological modelling, etc) can apply to be showcased in the new online database. Please sign up here: https://marsocsci.au/add-me-to-the-database/

Leadership

For 2026, we’ll be looking for an interim convenor to join the team. In addition, we’re expanding the overarching leadership team to include Leads of the new working groups, and representatives of our financial partners. Read below for more information about the working groups, and keep an eye out for invitations to participate in these new leadership roles. 

Working Groups

We are commencing working groups in several areas and will be looking for volunteers to lead and participate in these exciting work programs. These include:

1. Events – This group will identify opportunities to promote member networking and information sharing through existing or new events, conferences or workshops 
2. Indigenous partnerships – This group will initiate partnerships with Indigenous scholars and identify ways our network can support Indigenous voices in marine science research and applications
3. Network strategy, vision and governance – This group will establish a strategic vision and governance principles for the network and look at options for formalisation
4. Data and Knowledge Sharing – This group will develop critical resources (e.g. national social data dictionary) and investigate collaborative platforms for knowledge sharing 
5. Policy and Science Partnerships – This group will develop and progress strategic actions that promote integration with marine policy organisations and science-society outcomes

Join the private LinkedIn group to receive further announcements and invitations to join in this important work.  Thank you to everyone for your support and involvement to date. We’re really looking forward to an expanded set of activities in 2026.