Dr. Nicholas Yap is a Research Fellow at the St John’s National Marine Laboratory in Singapore and is the Designated Research Fellow for this research project.

An invertebrate taxonomist by training, Nicholas has led studies that integrate both biological and molecular data to advance knowledge on the taxonomy and reproductive biology of jellyfish and sea anemones. Over the years, he has published several papers clarifying the identities and the biology of these enigmatic creatures.

Nicholas obtained both his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences and B.Sc. in Life Sciences from the National University of Singapore in 2021 and 2009 respectively. His Ph.D. dissertation was “A taxonomic revision of the sea anemone family Phymanthidae Andres, 1883, through detailed morphological and phylogenetic analyses.”

Nicholas is also active in Singapore’s marine biology community, and has served as the Editor to ‘The Singapore Blue Plan 2018,’ a ground-up initiative that presents views and recommendations from over 100 local stakeholders to the Government every decade, in order to protect local marine spaces.

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