Bernadine Everett, a South African citizen, is a graduate of the University of Tromsø, Norway and has a PhD in Marine Biology. She began her scientific career in 1998 at the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban, South Africa where she is still based. She has focussed on researching various fisheries since the start of her career and has led the WIOFish Project, which collates fisheries information for the WIO, since 2005. She currently works on the benthic macrofauna communities that are associated with demersal trawl fishery grounds but also collaborates with scientists from the WIO on various other fisheries in the region. She has a passion for data management and for making data accessible for the benefit of managing the region’s fisheries in a sustainable manner.