Dr Simon Willcox is the Projects Lead – Blue Policy and Planning for the Blue Economy CRC.

Simon has a PhD in marine ecology from the University of Tasmania and has worked extensively across public and private sectors in natural and cultural resource management.

Simon is a strong advocate for sustainable and effective use of our aquatic resources and has over 25 years of experience working in project management, policy and legislation development, and regulation and assessment of industry.   Simon has outstanding skills in stakeholder management and navigating to effective and strategic solutions in complex environments.

Simon has worked for the last 18 years in State Government in portfolio areas including: the Environment Protection Authority, the Parks and Wildlife Service, Marine Resources, Community Parnerships and Priorities and Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania, as well as a number of years as a Senior Advisor to the Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage.  Prior to this, Simon was a researcher at the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute working working across a range of projects in sustainable fisheries management, marine habitat mapping and fisheries stock assessments.