A paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts states: “the deep oceans cover over two-thirds of the surface of the world, and yet more is known about the shape of the surface of the moon than is known about that of the bottom of the ocean”. This refers specifically to the scant amount of data available on the topography of the sea floor and predates both the first crewed descent to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench (), and the first moon landing ().

Through these discussions, it quickly became clear that estimates of fish production in the country were based on little more than the number of registered fishing vessels. It meant that one of the early successes of PeskAAS was in providing a more accurate estimate of the national catch. This, in turn, provided decision makers with a clearer idea of what needed to be done to meet targets for national fish consumption, and how the gap could be plugged by the country’s nascent aquaculture sector.

Alex Tilley’s research focuses on understanding how better data can lead to improved food systems and livelihoods in aquatic systems developing and testing digital reporting systems and automatic analytics to obtain reliable near-real time data for adaptive management and empowerment of small-scale fishers in the blue economy. Alex has been engaged in small-scale fisheries and marine research since in Mozambique, Belize, Turks & Caicos Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Myanmar, Cambodia and Timor-Leste. He joined WorldFish in early following a two-year postdoctoral fellowship with the Smithsonian Institution. He has a PhD in Marine Biology from Bangor University based on fish movement and trophic ecology.

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Since , as Founder and Co-Chair of Minderoo Foundation, Nicola has established and driven programs of work to create positive change for children, the arts, women and communities. Nicola’s contribution has seen her recognised as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), awarded the University of Canberra Chancellor’s Award for Philanthropy and invited to chair a working group on behalf of the Prime Minister of Australia to drive integration between the philanthropic, community and business sectors.