For the past 28 years Rhys Coleman has worked at Melbourne Water with a focus on waterway research and strategic management planning. Early roles involved the coordination of waterways environmental monitoring and investigations programs, as well as waterway restoration planning and strategy development. In his current role, Rhys is the Waterways and Wetlands Research Manager, which involves the facilitation and co-ordination of waterway research programs and participation in several collaborative research projects with universities and government agencies, including Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage projects, Cooperative Research Centres, and is the co-research coordinator for two major research initiatives with the University of Melbourne – the Melbourne Waterways Research and Practice Partnership and RMIT University – the Aquatic Pollution Prevention Partnership (A3P). Rhys’ technical background is in freshwater ecology, including a PhD at the University of Melbourne, Master of Science at Monash University and Bachelor of Science (hons) at Deakin University.