Dr John Keane is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania. He is both the Wild Fisheries Program Leader & Dive Fisheries Team Leader.

John has 15 years of fisheries and environmental research experience, primarily focusing on commercial dive species: sea urchin, periwinkle, clams and native oysters, as well as small pelagic fisheries.

Over the last decade research has focused on the climate-invasive Longspined Sea Urchin (Centro) in southeastern Australia. He has been instrumental in bringing a National focus to addressing the Centro problem and has championed a range of applied solutions including enhancing the wild harvest fishery, the spatially variable catch subsidy and developing innovating solutions for urchin waste. John led the IMAS submission to the Federal Government Centro Senate Inquiry last year and has continued to push for National action to address this problem. John aims to work at the global level to develop nature-based solutions and reef repair markets for kelp ecosystem restoration and production, particularly those damaged from climate change.

John completed his undergraduate studies at the Australian Maritime College, winning the Captain Thomas Swanson and Raptis prizes for best performance in the Bachelor of Applied Science (Fisheries) degree program. After receiving first class honours he moved to Hobart where he completed his PhD at the University of Tasmania on larval fish assemblages and their links with the East Australian Current. Since graduating he has been working at the University of Tasmania on numerous ARC, FRDC and Tasmanian Government funded environmental and fisheries research projects.