Pete Waldie
Country Director, Solomon Islands Program
Honiara, Solomon Islands
Peter Waldie Peter Waldie headshot. © TNC
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Program mgmt, community-based natural resource mgmt, conservation science, marine ecology
Biography
Peter (Pete) Waldie has led The Nature Conservancy’s Solomon Islands Program as
Acting Country Director since September 2022. Before that, he worked for six years
across The Nature Conservancy’s Pacific and Melanesia Divisions as a Coastal Fisheries
Scientist and Marine Program Manager. Pete has a strong background in management
and a deep understanding of both the ecological and social aspects of natural resource
management and conservation. He completed his PhD in 2016 with James Cook
University, where he investigated the suitability of community-based management in
conserving large, threatened, fishery-targeted coral reef fishes. Pete’s PhD research
was conducted in New Ireland Province in Papua New Guinea, where he spent many
months living in rural communities and working closely with subsistence and artisanal
fishers.
In his role as Acting Country Director, Pete leads the TNC team in Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islands forms the south-eastern corner of the Coral Triangle and is home to
some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. TNC has been working in close
partnership with communities, government and other stakeholders to conserve
Solomon Islands’ natural environment for more than 30 years—including supporting
the establishment and ongoing protection of the Arnavon Islands under Solomon
Islands’ first National Park.
Leatherback Turtle Dives Deeper than a Navy Sub, Smashing World Record in the Process
Climate Connections - Solomon Islands' First Female Rangers Break Barriers To Help Save Leatherback Turtles
Stormy leather: Turtle pair's incredible journey
Satellite Tracking the Pacific’s Most Endangered Leatherback Turtles
Women Lead Leatherback Conservation in the Solomon Islands
Giving Voice to Haevo’s Women Rangers
It Takes A Village
Follow that Grouper: What Migration Data Tell Us About Locally Managed Marine Conservation
Sustainable Sea Cucumbers: Saving the “Gold Bars” of the Ocean
Visit Pete’s Google Scholar Profile for a full list of publications.
2024
Waldie, P., Feary, D.A., Bode, M., Matawai, M., Harrison, H.B., Berumen, M.L., Molai, C.,
Karo, M., Hamilton, R.J. (2024). Dispersal patterns of sandfish (Holothuria scabra) larvae in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea. Frontiers in Marine Science. 11, 1380235
Hamilton, R.J., Vuto, S., Brown, C., Waldie, P., Pita, J., Babaua, R., Masu, R., Peterson, N.,
Madden Hof, C., Limpus C. (2024). Freedivers harvest thousands of sea turtles a year in
the Solomon Islands. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 11:1,
e4050
2021
Hamilton, R.J., Desbiens, A., Pita, J., Brown, C.J., Vuto, S., Atu, W., James, R., Waldie, P., Limpus, C. (2021). Satellite tracking improves conservation outcomes for nesting hawksbill turtles in Solomon Islands. Biological Conservation. 261, 109240
2020
Payet, S.D., Lowe, J.R., Mapstone, B.D., Pratchett, M.S., Sinclair‐Taylor, T.H., Taylor, B.M., Waldie, P.A., Harrison, H.B. (2020). Comparative demography of commercially important species of coral grouper, Plectropomus leopardus and P. laevis, from Australia's great barrier reef and Coral Sea marine parks. Journal of Fish Biology. 97(4): 1165-1176
2016
Waldie, P.A., Almany, G.R., Sinclair‐Taylor, T.H., Hamilton, R.J., Potuku, T., Priest, M.A., Rhodes, K.L., Robinson, J., Cinner, J.E., & Berumen, M.L. (2016). Restricted grouper reproductive migrations support community‐based management. Royal Society Open Science. 3(3):150694.
2015
Cortesi, F., Feeney, W.E., Ferrari, M.C.O., Waldie, P.A., Phillips, G.C., McClure, E.C., Sköld, H.N., Salzburger, W., Marshall, N.J., & Cheney, K.L. (2015). Phenotypic Plasticity Confers Multiple Fitness Benefits to a Mimic. Current Biology, 25, 1-6.
2014
Robinson, J., Graham, N.A.J., Cinner, J.E., Almany, G.R., & Waldie, P.A. (2014). Fish and fisher behavior influence the vulnerability of groupers (Epinephelidae) to fishing at a multispecies spawning aggregation site. Coral Reefs, 34(2), 371–382.
2011
Waldie, P.A., Blomberg, S.P., Cheney, K.L., Goldizen, A.W., & Grutter, A.S. (2011). Long-Term Effects of the Cleaner Fish Labroides dimidiatus on Coral Reef Fish Communities. PLoS ONE 6(6): e21201. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021201
Grutter, A.S., Rumney, J.G., Sinclair-Taylor, T., Waldie, P.A., & Franklin, C.E. (2011). Fish mucous cocoons: the ‘mosquito nets’ of the sea. Biology Letters 7(2), doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0916
Clague, G.E., Cheney, K.L., Goldizen, A.W., McCormick, M.I., Waldie, P.A. & Grutter, A.S. (2011). Long-term cleaner fish presence affects growth of a coral reef fish. Biology. Letters, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0458