Scott Cutmore, PhD
Scientist
Bio
Dr. Scott Cutmore has been an avid fisherman since 12 years old and has always had a special interest in sharks and rays. He completed a BSc in Marine Biology and Zoology at The University of Queensland (UQ) in 2002 and followed this with an Honours project studying the parasites of whaler sharks. His Honours project fueled his interest in marine parasites (especially the understudied and relatively unknown helminth groups infecting Australian elasmobranchs) and he began a PhD at UQ examining the helminth parasites of the shark and ray species found in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. This research project incorporated the identification of both taxonomic and life history data for a number of helminth species, and has resulted in 4 publications and several international conference presentations. Since the conferral of my PhD in 2011, he has continued his parasitological research but has expanded into areas covering other host and parasite groups (including helminth parasites of several teleost families and bivalve molluscs).
Through Scott’s research career, he has mastered skills in shark and teleost fishing techniques, collection of fish (sharks, rays and bony fish) biological data, marine helminth identification and classification, morphological parasitological processing and and molecular genetics. His experience in teleost and host collection has enabled him to volunteer on a number of marine research field trips and collaborate on several projects focusing on teleost and elasmobranch biology. His career aspiration is to continue with marine research, focusing on the taxonomy and life history of the rich Australian marine helminth fauna.
