Pete Waldie
Acting 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 is leading TNC’s team in the Solomon Islands. Solomon Islands forms the southeastern 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.
Follow that Grouper: What Migration Data Tell Us About Locally Managed Marine Conservation
Pete’s research shows that minimal expansions to community-based protected areas in Melanesia can greatly enhance protection of fish populations, including the brown-marbled grouper.
Sustainable Sea Cucumbers: Saving the “Gold Bars” of the Ocean
Overfishing forced Papua New Guinea to close its sea cucumber fishery for nearly a decade. As fishing resumes, Pete is working with local communities to link sea cucumber conservation with livelihood improvements for people.
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
Visit Pete’s Google Scholar Profile for a full list of publications.
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