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ABOUT

About Simon

Dr Simon Costanzo

An independent perspective.
A practical partner.

Dr Simon Costanzo is an environmental scientist with a PhD in marine biology and more than 30 years of work across Australia, Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Pacific.

Much of that work has involved helping governments, partnerships and development programs understand the condition of the places they manage and decide what to do next. Darwinian Consulting is his independent practice, based in Brisbane.

Bringing the right people together

Much of Simon’s work starts with assembling the right team. Over three decades he has built working relationships across government agencies, development banks, universities, consultancies and community organisations, in Australia and internationally.

When a challenge needs expertise he doesn’t hold himself, he knows who does, and he brings them together around a shared purpose. He has led international partnerships with local teams in five countries, convened specialist panels and workshops on four continents, and assembled multidisciplinary bid teams with universities and consulting firms.

Current roles

  • Principal, Darwinian Consulting

    Brisbane · 2019 to present

  • Independent Chair, Wet Tropics Waterways Partnership

    Queensland · 2025 to present

  • Technical Advisory Panel, Australian Water Partnership

    Indo-Pacific · 2025 to present

  • Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, Griffith University

    Australian Rivers Institute

Background

Simon began as a researcher at the University of Queensland, studying how nutrients and contaminants move through rivers and coastal waters. At the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency he managed the South East Queensland estuarine and marine monitoring program and served as an expert witness in environmental harm prosecutions.

He has since held senior roles in international engineering consultancies, leading water science teams and advising on environmental approvals, climate risk and sustainability. From 2011 to 2019 he was Science Integrator at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, where he led the Healthy Rivers for All partnership with WWF. He has also designed and taught courses with the International Water Centre, and established Darwinian Consulting in 2019.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Marine Biology)

    University of Queensland · 2002

  • Bachelor of Science (Honours Class I)

    University of Queensland · 1996

  • Bachelor of Science

    University of Queensland · 1994

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Selected publications

  1. Costanzo SD, Blancard C, Davidson S, Dennison WC, Escurra J, Freeman S, Fries A, Kelsey RH, Krchnak K, Sherman J. 2017. Practitioner’s Guide to Developing River Basin Report Cards. IAN Press, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
  2. Costanzo SD, Kirkwood J. 2020. Waterway Health Report Cards: An Australian Perspective. Australian Water Partnership, Canberra.
  3. Costanzo SD, Watkinson AJ, Murby EJ, Kolpin DW, Sandstrom MW. 2007. Is there a risk associated with the insect repellent DEET commonly found in aquatic environments? Science of the Total Environment 384: 214–220.
  4. Costanzo SD, Udy J, Longstaff B, Jones A. 2005. Using nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ15N) of macroalgae to determine the effectiveness of sewage upgrades. Marine Pollution Bulletin 51: 212–217.
  5. Costanzo SD, O’Donohue MJ, Dennison WC. 2003. Assessing the seasonal influence of sewage and agricultural nutrient inputs in a subtropical river estuary. Estuaries 26: 857–865.
  6. Costanzo SD, O’Donohue MJ, Dennison WC, Loneragan NR, Thomas M. 2001. A new approach for detecting and mapping sewage impacts. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42: 149–156.
  7. Suárez CF, Paez-Vasquez M, Trujillo F, Usma JS, Thieme M, Bassi AM, Naranjo LG, Costanzo SD, Manrique O, Pallaske G. 2021. How to protect free flowing rivers: the Bita River Ramsar site as an example of science and management tools working together. Sustainability 13: 1775.
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Books and guides

  1. Barajas Pardo DP, Cárdenas García D, Costanzo SD, Delreal Cáceres G, Freeman S, Fries A, Granja Salcedo YT, Naranjo LG, Pérez Gutierrez N. 2020. Technology and Science in the Orinoquia and the Amazon. Ediciones Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia.
  2. Barajas Pardo DP, Cárdenas García D, Costanzo SD, Delreal Cáceres G, Freeman S, Fries A, Granja Salcedo YT, Naranjo LG, Pérez Gutierrez N, Rodríguez Darabos EI. 2019. Tecnología y Ciencia en la Orinoquia y la Amazonía. Ediciones Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia.
  3. Costanzo SD, Blancard C, Davidson S, Dennison WC, Escurra J, Freeman S, Fries A, Kelsey RH, Krchnak K, Sherman J. 2017. Practitioner’s Guide to Developing River Basin Report Cards. IAN Press, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Journal articles

  1. Suárez CF, Paez-Vasquez M, Trujillo F, Usma JS, Thieme M, Bassi AM, Naranjo LG, Costanzo SD, Manrique O, Pallaske G. 2021. How to protect free flowing rivers: the Bita River Ramsar site as an example of science and management tools working together. Sustainability 13: 1775.
  2. Gallagher L, Kopainsky B, Bassi AM, Betancourt A, Buth C, Chan P, Costanzo SD, Freeman SSG, Horm C, Khim S, Neang M, Rin N, Sereyrotha K, Sok K, Sovann C, Thieme M, Watkins K, Wyborn CA, Bréthaut C. 2020. Supporting stakeholders to anticipate and respond to risks in a Mekong River water-energy-food nexus. Ecology and Society 25(4): 29.
  3. Howarth LM, Filgueira R, Jiang D, Koepke H, Frame MK, Buchwald C, Finnis S, Chopin T, Costanzo SD, Grant J. 2019. Using macroalgal bioindicators to map nutrient plumes from fish farms and other sources at a bay-wide scale. Aquaculture Environment Interactions 11: 671–684.
  4. Glaser M, Breckwoldt A, Carruthers TJB, Forbes DL, Costanzo SD, Kelsey RH, Ramachandran R, Stead S. 2018. Towards a framework to support coastal change governance in small islands. Environmental Conservation 45: 227–237.
  5. Watkinson AJ, Micalizzi GB, Bates JB, Costanzo SD. 2017. Occurrence of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli in waterways of southeast Queensland, Australia. Medical Research Archives 5(9): 1–16.
  6. Alquezar R, Glendenning L, Costanzo SD. 2013. The use of the brown macroalgae, Sargassum flavicans, as a potential bioindicator of industrial nutrient enrichment. Marine Pollution Bulletin 77: 140–146.
  7. Gordon HF, Viskovich PG, Thompson AL, Costanzo SD, West EJ, Boerlage SFE. 2012. The effects of Gold Coast Desalination Plant operations on the marine environment. IDA Journal of Desalination and Water Reuse 4(2): 12–21.
  8. Watkinson AJ, Murby EJ, Kolpin DW, Costanzo SD. 2009. The occurrence of antibiotics in an urban watershed: from wastewater to drinking water. Science of the Total Environment 407: 2711–2723.
  9. Costanzo SD, Watkinson AJ, Murby EJ, Kolpin DW, Sandstrom MW. 2007. Is there a risk associated with the insect repellent DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) commonly found in aquatic environments? Science of the Total Environment 384: 214–220.
  10. Watkinson AJ, Micalizzi GB, Graham GM, Bates JB, Costanzo SD. 2007. Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in wastewaters, surface waters, and oysters from an urban riverine system. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73: 5667–5670.
  11. Watkinson AJ, Micalizzi GR, Bates JR, Costanzo SD. 2007. Novel method for rapid assessment of antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli isolates from environmental waters by use of a modified chromogenic agar. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73: 2224–2229.
  12. Watkinson AJ, Murby EJ, Costanzo SD. 2007. Removal of antibiotics in conventional and advanced wastewater treatment: implications for environmental discharge and wastewater recycling. Water Research 41: 4164–4176.
  13. Takahashi E, Yu Q, Eaglesham G, Connell DW, McBroom J, Costanzo SD, Shaw GR. 2007. Occurrence and seasonal variations of algal toxins in water, phytoplankton and shellfish from North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia. Marine Environmental Research 64: 429–442.
  14. Costanzo SD, Udy J, Longstaff B, Jones A. 2005. Using nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ15N) of macroalgae to determine the effectiveness of sewage upgrades: changes in the extent of sewage plumes over four years in Moreton Bay, Australia. Marine Pollution Bulletin 51: 212–217.
  15. Costanzo SD, Murby J, Bates J. 2005. Ecosystem response to antibiotics entering the aquatic environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin 51: 218–223.
  16. Costanzo SD, O’Donohue MJ, Dennison WC. 2004. Assessing the influence and distribution of shrimp pond effluent in a tidal mangrove creek in north-east Australia. Marine Pollution Bulletin 48: 514–525.
  17. Heil CA, Chaston K, Jones A, Bird P, Longstaff B, Costanzo SD, Dennison WC. 2004. Benthic microalgae in coral reef sediments of the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Coral Reefs 23: 336–343.
  18. Burford MA, Costanzo SD, Dennison WC, Jackson CJ, Jones AB, McKinnon AD, Preston NP, Trott LA. 2003. A synthesis of dominant ecological processes in intensive shrimp ponds and adjacent coastal environments in NE Australia. Marine Pollution Bulletin 46: 1456–1469.
  19. Costanzo SD, O’Donohue MJ, Dennison WC. 2003. Assessing the seasonal influence of sewage and agricultural nutrient inputs in a subtropical river estuary. Estuaries 26: 857–865.
  20. Costanzo SD, O’Donohue MJ, Dennison WC, Loneragan NR, Thomas M. 2001. A new approach for detecting and mapping sewage impacts. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42: 149–156.
  21. Costanzo SD, O’Donohue MJ, Dennison WC. 2000. Gracilaria edulis (Rhodophyta) as a biological indicator of pulsed nutrients in oligotrophic waters. Journal of Phycology 36: 680–685.

Book chapters and conference papers

  1. Watkinson AJ, Costanzo SD. 2017. Antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistant bacteria in Australia. In: Keen PL, Fugère R (eds) Antimicrobial Resistance in Wastewater Treatment Processes. John Wiley & Sons, 109.
  2. Watkinson AJ, Murby EJ, Costanzo SD. 2006. Antibiotics in sewage, recycled water and the aquatic environment: an Australian perspective. 5th International Conference on Pharmaceuticals and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Water. National Ground Water Association, Costa Mesa, California.
  3. Costanzo SD, Udy JW, Longstaff B, Jones A. 2004. Using nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ15N) of macroalgae to monitor changes in the extent of sewage impacts in Moreton Bay, Australia. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
  4. Dennison WC, O’Neil JA, Costanzo SD, Hewson I, Prange J, Dillon P. 1999. Effect of hydric soil disturbance on ecological health of coastal waters. In: Hey KM, Ahern CR, Eldershaw VJ, Anorov JM, Watling KM (eds) Acid Sulphate Soils and their Management in Coastal Queensland, 1–6.
  5. O’Donohue MJ, Heil CA, Lowe S, Horrocks J, Abal EG, Costanzo SD, Dennison WC. 1998. Assessing the impact of a flood event on Moreton Bay using marine plants as bioindicators of water quality. In: Moreton Bay and Catchment, 585–596.

Reports

  1. Costanzo SD, Kirkwood J. 2020. Waterway Health Report Cards: An Australian Perspective. Australian Water Partnership, Canberra.
  2. Costanzo SD, Lookingbill T, et al. 2016. Shenandoah National Park Natural Resource Condition Assessment. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.
  3. Costanzo SD, Hawkey J, Kelsey H, Dennison WC, et al. 2015. Our Path Forward: The Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Maryland’s Coastal Bays (2015–2025).
  4. Walsh B, Costanzo SD, Dennison WC, Campbell JP, Lehman M, Nortrup M, Carmouche C, Kelley E, Petersen P. 2015. Natural Resource Condition Assessment for Prince William Forest Park, National Capital Region. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.
  5. Costanzo SD, Watkinson AJ. 2007. Chemicals of Concern in Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent: State of the Science in Australia. Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment.
  6. Gaus C, Costanzo SD, Toms L, Harden F, Ng J, Ping J, Müller J, Shaw G, Moore M, Webster B. 2003. Literature review on the human health effects associated with exposure to the herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, and dioxins.
  7. Counihan R, Costanzo SD, et al. 2002. Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program 2001–2002 Annual Report. CRC for Coastal Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management.
  8. Moss A, Costanzo SD. 1998. Levels of Heavy Metals in the Sediments of Queensland Rivers, Estuaries and Coastal Waters. Department of Environment, Queensland.

Thesis

  1. Costanzo SD. 2002. Development of Indicators for Assessing and Monitoring Nutrient Influences in Coastal Waters. PhD thesis, University of Queensland.

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