Iain’s research explores the fundamental trophic basis of coastal and estuarine ecosystems and the far-reaching effects of the East Australian Current and its diversity of eddies. 

The focus for this work concerned the early life history of fish - their critical larval stages - in relation to their growth, survival and contribution to future fisheries. He has explored the biological influence of eddies, sea mounts and shelf-slope canyons. We identified “Eddy Avenue” off the NSW coast – a region of intense eddy formation and dynamics that is critically important to coastal fisheries.

Recently, a sharp turn inland used this biophysical perspective for restoring freshwater ecosystems with a novel pipe fishway.