Jasmin Martino

Jasmin is an accomplished aquatic ecologist, specialising in fish and cephalopod biology and isotope ecology. At UNSW, Jasmin is part of a multidisciplinary team formed between the Water Research Laboratory and the Centre of Ecosystem Science (BEES) that is building an innovative fishway solution, called the Tube Fishway. The Tube Fishway project combines expertise in fish biology and ecology with hydraulic engineering to address the critical issue of widespread barriers to freshwater fish migration. The team's mission is to develop and implement as an efficient and cost-effective solution for fish passage. Jasmin’s role includes conducting laboratory experiments using full-scale models on native Australian fish and undertaking field deployments to trial the Tube Fishways in natural ecosystems. 

Before joining UNSW, Jasmin completed her PhD at the University of Adelaide in 2019 where her research centred on connecting sclerochronology and physiology with isotopic tracers in marine fish. Subsequently, she gained valuable experience as a shipbound postdoc at the University of South Australia investigating population and spatial dynamics of octopus. During this time, she also conducted systematic evaluations of oxygen isotopes in cephalopod carbonates as thermal proxies, and constructed global isotopic maps to geolocate marine animals. Leveraging her expertise, Jasmin then worked at Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) where she coupled nuclear analyses with machine-learning modelling and databases to validate the authenticity of natural products, such as seafood and indigenous foods.