Robert Streit is a University of Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellow co-funded by WorldFish in Penang and an Adjunct Research Fellow at James Cook University. A functional ecologist by training, Bert is interested in developing interdisciplinary systems insights into marine governance in the Anthropocene. Bert was born in Kenya and educated in Germany and Australia, where he has worked on both functional ecology of coral reefs and climate adaptation options for farmers. In 2022, he was awarded a Top 5 Science media residency at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Sydney. Bert’s current research explores how principles of functional ecology may be useful to understanding changing marine governance systems. He asks: who are the keystone governance actors, what are the key nodes and critical functions, where are the vulnerabilities, redundancies, and conflicts, and how can we use this information to steer climate-impacted systems for maximum long-term stability, prosperity, and justice? Ultimately, Bert is interested in who decides what a stable, desirable future looks like.