Asia has been with Project Manta since early 2013. She was brought on board to assist with community engagement and to manage the east coast sighting database. Asia completed her undergraduate studies in 2014, receiving an Honours Class I for her research with Project Manta looking at manta ray feeding aggregations at Lady Elliot Island.
This research was published as an article, Prey Density Threshold and Tidal Influence on Reef Manta Ray Foraging at an Aggregation Site on the Great Barrier Reef, in the open access journal PLoS One early 2016. Asia has just been awarded an APA scholarship with The University of Queensland to pursue her PhD candidature commencing August 2016.
Asia's interests lie in improving our understanding of manta ray critical habitat selection and use, as well as examining the threats facing these animals, with a view to improving their conservation status.
Journal Articles
Erler, Dirk V., Dudgeon, Christine L., Armstrong, Asia O., Banks, Eddie W., Ramirez‐Valle, Orlando, Gutiérrez‐Jurado, Hugo A., Gilby, Ben L. and Townsend, Kathy A. (2024). Linking Transpiration to Reef Nitrogen Supply on a Tropical Coral Island. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 129 (2) ARTN e2023JG007413. doi: 10.1029/2023jg007413
Rambahiniarison, Joshua, Agustines, Ariana, Alexopoulos, Konstantinos, Araujo, Gonzalo, Armstrong, Asia O., Arnold, Shannon, Barruga, Aldrin, Cañete, Titus, Conales, Segundo, Delijero, Kymry, Enolva, Nonie P., Flam, Anna L., Keane, Eliya, Labaja, Jessica, Legaspi, Christine G., Murie, Calum, Murray, Ryan, Oliver, Simon P., Pierce, Simon J., Ponzo, Alessandro, Rohner, Christoph A., Schifferer, Rosanna, Snow, Sally, Spakowski, Martina, Stevens, Guy M. W., Tilgel, Timur, Wong, Jessica N. C., Yaptinchay, Arnel Andrew and Barr, Yotam (2023). Distribution of the reef manta ray Mobula alfredi and the oceanic manta ray Mobula birostris in the Philippines: a collaborative effort for conservation. Journal of Fish Biology, 102 (2), 492-503. doi: 10.1111/jfb.15283
Andrzejaczek, Samantha, Lucas, Tim C.D., Goodman, Maurice C., Hussey, Nigel E., Armstrong, Amelia J., Carlisle, Aaron, Coffey, Daniel M., Gleiss, Adrian C., Huveneers, Charlie, Jacoby, David M. P., Meekan, Mark G., Mourier, Johann, Peel, Lauren R., Abrantes, Kátya, Afonso, André S., Ajemian, Matthew J., Anderson, Brooke N., Anderson, Scot D., Araujo, Gonzalo, Armstrong, Asia O., Bach, Pascal, Barnett, Adam, Bennett, Mike B., Bezerra, Natalia A., Bonfil, Ramon, Boustany, Andre M., Bowlby, Heather D., Branco, Ilka, Braun, Camrin D. ... Curnick, David J. (2022). Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology. Science Advances, 8 (33) eabo1754, 1-19. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abo1754
Armstrong, Asia O., Stevens, Guy M.W., Townsend, Kathy A., Murray, Annie, Bennett, Michael B., Armstrong, Amelia J., Uribe-Palomino, Julian, Hosegood, Phil, Dudgeon, Christine L. and Richardson, Anthony J. (2021). Reef manta rays forage on tidally driven, high density zooplankton patches in Hanifaru Bay, Maldives. PeerJ, 9 e11992, 1-21. doi: 10.7717/peerj.11992
Armstrong, Asia O., Armstrong, Amelia J., Bennett, Michael B., Richardson, Anthony J., Townsend, Kathy A., Everett, Jason D., Hays, Graeme C., Pederson, Hugh and Dudgeon, Christine L. (2021). Mutualism promotes site selection in a large marine planktivore. Ecology and Evolution, 11 (10) ece3.7464, 1-18. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7464
McEnnulty, Felicity R., Davies, Claire H., Armstrong, Asia O, Atkins, Natalia, Coman, Frank, Clementson, Lesley, Edgar, Steven, Eriksen, Ruth S., Everett, Jason D., Anthony Koslow, J., Lønborg, Christian, McKinnon, A. David, Miller, Margaret, O’Brien, Todd D., Pausina, Sarah A., Uribe-Palomino, Julian, Rochester, Wayne, Rothlisberg, Peter C., Slotwinski, Anita, Strzelecki, Joanna, Suthers, Iain M., Swadling, Kerrie M., Tonks, Mark L., van Ruth, Paul D., Young, Jock W. and Richardson, Anthony J. (2020). A database of zooplankton biomass in Australian marine waters. Scientific Data, 7 (1) 297, 297. doi: 10.1038/s41597-020-00625-9
Armstrong, Amelia J., Armstrong, Asia O., McGregor, Frazer, Richardson, Anthony J., Bennett, Michael B., Townsend, Kathy A., Hays, Graeme C., van Keulen, Mike, Smith, Jessica and Dudgeon, Christine L. (2020). Satellite tagging and photographic identification reveal connectivity between two UNESCO World Heritage Areas for reef manta rays. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7 725. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00725
Armstrong, Amelia J., Armstrong, Asia O., Bennett, Michael B., McGregor, Frazer, Abrantes, Kátya G., Barnett, Adam, Richardson, Anthony J., Townsend, Kathy A. and Dudgeon, Christine L (2020). The geographic distribution of reef and oceanic manta rays (Mobula alfredi and Mobula birostris) in Australian coastal waters. Journal of Fish Biology, 96 (3) jfb.14256, 1-6. doi: 10.1111/jfb.14256
McGregor, Frazer, Richardson, Anthony J., Armstrong, Amelia J., Armstrong, Asia O. and Dudgeon, Christine L. (2019). Rapid wound healing in a reef manta ray masks the extent of vessel strike. PLoS One, 14 (12) e0225681, e0225681. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225681
Armstrong, Asia O., Armstrong, Amelia J., Bennett, Michael B., Richardson, Anthony J., Townsend, Kathy A. and Dudgeon, Christine L. (2019). Photographic identification and citizen science combine to reveal long distance movements of individual reef manta rays Mobula alfredi along Australia’s east coast. Marine Biodiversity Records, 12 (1) 14. doi: 10.1186/s41200-019-0173-6
Stewart, Joshua D., Jaine, Fabrice R.A., Armstrong, Amelia J., Armstrong, Asia O., Bennett, Michael B., Burgess, Katherine B., Couturier, Lydie I.E., Croll, Donald A., Cronin, Melissa R., Deakos, Mark H., Dudgeon, Christine L., Fernando, Daniel, Froman, Niv, Germanov, Elitza S., Hall, Martin A., Hinojosa-Alvarez, Silvia, Hosegood, Jane E., Kashiwagi, Tom, Laglbauer, Betty J.L., Lezama-Ochoa, Nerea, Marshall, Andrea D., McGregor, Frazer, di Sciara, Giuseppe Notarbartolo, Palacios, Marta D., Peel, Lauren R., Richardson, Anthony J., Rubin, Robert D., Townsend, Kathy A., Venables, Stephanie K. and Stevens, Guy M.W. (2018). Research priorities to support effective Manta and Devil Ray conservation. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5 (SEP) 314. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00314
Armstrong, Asia O., Armstrong, Amelia J., Jaine, Fabrice R. A., Couturier, Lydie I. E., Fiora, Kym, Uribe-Palomino, Julian, Weeks, Scarla J., Townsend, Kathy A., Bennett, Mike B. and Richardson, Anthony J. (2016). Prey density threshold and tidal influence on reef manta ray foraging at an aggregation site on the Great Barrier Reef. PLoS One, 11 (5) e0153393, e0153393. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153393
Thesis
Haines (Armstrong), Asia (2022). The spatial ecology of Manta Rays: movement, habitat use and connectivity. PhD Thesis, Medicine Faculty, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/4fcdc0f
Research Reports
Jabado, Rima, IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group, Kyne, Peter, Garcia-Rodriguez, Emiliano, Charles, Ryan, Armstrong, Asia, Mouton, Theophile, Gonzalez-Pestana, Adriana, Battle-Morera, Amanda and Rohner, Christoph (2024). WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: A REGIONAL COMPENDIUM OF IMPORTANT SHARK AND RAY AREAS. IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group. doi: 10.59216/ssg.isra.2023.r7
Jabado, Rima, IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group, García-Rodríguez, Emiliano, Kyne, Peter, Charles, Ryan, Armstrong, Asia, Bortoluzzi, Jenny, Mouton, Théophile, Gonzalez-Pestana, Adriana, Battle-Morera, Amanda, Rohner, Christoph and Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe (2023). Mediterranean and Black Seas: A regional compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas. IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. doi: 10.59216/ssg.isra.2023.r3
Data Collections
Armstrong, Asia (2021). 2017 Maldives Zooplankton. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/98ddbde
Armstrong, Asia (2020). Acoustic Detections - LEI 2017-2018. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/2e79b25
McGregor, Frazer, Richardson, Anthony J, Armstrong, Amelia J, Armstrong, Asia O and Dudgeon, Christine L (2019). Reef manta ray cut measurements. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.869