photo
Projects

4

Publications

52

Awards

0


Biography

Dr Claire Brennan is a lecturer in History at JCU. She teaches and supervises at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and is an active researcher in environmental history.

Claire's honours project led her to an interest in the history of sport hunting, first in New Zealand, then globally. Her University of Melbourne PhD thesis looked at the history of hunting in New Zealand and Australia, and placed it in its global context. Since coming to Townsville Claire's interests have become more tropical. She continues to research the history of hunting (including the history of recreational fishing, of the safari, and of crocodile hunting in northern Australia) and her interest in animal history has extended to include the history of livestock breeding. Her teaching has led her to publish within global history, and her place at James Cook University has led her to an interest in the physical process of early European exploration within the Pacific and across the Australian continent.

Claire is currently working on the Coral Discovery project, and is engaged in digitally mapping all the European scientific voyages that entered the Pacific between 1768 and 1834. Mapping these voyages and providing connections to the journals kept by captains and scientific workers will help address questions about Pacific pasts, support identification of the origins of scientific specimens, and support the work of modern scientists interested in environmental baselines.

Claire is a successful supervisor, and supervises a wide range of topics at doctorate, masters, and honours levels. She is regularly interviewed by the media.

Research

Research Interests

Environmental History of Australia and New Zealand

History of Hunting: Claire has published on this topic and continues to research the history of sport hunting; the history of recreational fishing; and commercial and sport hunting of crocodiles within Australia

Townsville History: Claire has been part of projects supported by small grants to research and produce public exhibitions: Townsville Turns 150: the Old and the News; Between Battles: Commemorating the Cultural Lives of Soldiers. She is part of JCU grant funded projects exploring Tropical Heritage and Townsville naming practises. She is presently completing a Townsville Council-funded project that will make student research conducted a JCU accessible to the public

Digital History: Claire has published an overview of the field of digital history

Projects
Research Data

Teaching

Teaching Interests

Digital History: in 2017-2018 Claire recieved an LTSE grant and updated assessment across the history major to include digital history components

History of Exploration: Claire teaches in this area and has published on debates surrounding Pacific exploration, and on the constraints Cook's ship imposed on his first circumnavigation.


Research Advisor Accreditation
Advisor Type

Mentor

Research Advisor Accreditation
Role

Chair; Independent Academic


Current JCU Research Students
An Army of Naturalists: John Gould's Australian Network of Collectors and Correspondents.
Doctorate by Research - time-based
Management of South East Queensland Forestry: On the Boundary between Economy and Ecology
Doctor of Philosophy (Society and Culture)
History of botanical illustration at Endeavour River Valley, Queensland, Australia, 1770-1999
Doctor of Philosophy (Society and Culture)
"In any direction it would be difficult to find one acre of level ground”: The Mining and Social Landscapes of the Normanby Goldfield, near Bowen, North Queensland
Doctor of Philosophy (Society and Culture)
Completed JCU Research Students
Northern Promise: North Queensland and the politics of northern development, from 1939 to 1969
Doctor of Philosophy (Society and Culture)- 2023
Small sugar farmer agency in the tropics 1872—1914 and the anomalous Herbert River Farmers’ Association
Doctor of Philosophy (Society and Culture)- 2019
Slavery and feminism in the writings of Madame De Stael
Doctor of Philosophy (Society and Culture)- 2020
The Near North and the Far North: The Nikkei Community in North Queensland, 1885-1946
Doctor of Philosophy (Society and Culture)- 2023

Activities

Employment
Associations

Output

Brennan, Claire (2022) Beyond Cook: Explorers of Australia and the Pacific. Townsville, QLD, Australia: [Teaching Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2021) Urban flooding in Australia. Santa Barbara, CA, USA: [Reference Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2021) Protecting the environmental integrity of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Santa Barbara, CA, USA: [Reference Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire; Hodgson, Patrick (2021) Unprecedented? Pandemic memory and responses to Covid-19 in. Instanbul, Turkey: [DOI] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Lloyd, Rohan; White, Patrick; Brennan, Claire (2020) Escaping water: living against floods in Townsv. Singapore: [DOI] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire; Sharp, Rhod; Mercer, Phil (2018) BBC Radio 5 Live Up All Night: interview with Clai. [Other] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire; Megarrity, Lyndon; Fielding, Trisha (2018) From swords to ploughshares: Townsville . ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire; Karvelas, Patricia (2018) Why are these unexpected animals protected in Australia? . [Other] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Newlands, Maxine; Brennan, Claire; Hodgson, Patrick; Moran, Viv; Roebuck, Ann; M'Balla-Ndi, Marie (2...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire; Ryder, Jane; Styan, Anthony; Liebich, Susann; Ortega Martinez, Maria Liliana (2015)...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2013) Australian safari: hunting dangerous game in Australia's tropical north. Townsville, QLD, Australia: ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2011) Canal building in Asia. Santa Barbara: [Reference Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire; Kocsis, Laszlo (2011) Lemuria is not the invention of religious enthusiasts, but ra. Santa Barbara: ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Haarmann, Harald; Brennan, Claire (2011) The Hawaiian and other Polynesian seafarers developed navig. Santa Barbara, CA, USA: ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2011) Invasive species, 1945-present. Santa Barbara, CA: [Reference Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2011) Spread of invasive species. Santa Barbara, CA: [Reference Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2011) The mapping of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Santa Barbara, CA: [Reference Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2011) Canal building: the Suez canal. Santa Barbara, CA: [Reference Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2011) Canal building in Europe. Santa Barbara, CA: [Reference Material] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2009) Livestock and Landscape: a history of the settlement of Queensland by cattle. Townsville, QLD, Australia: ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2007) New Zealand's Passport To Paradise: a guide to the history of New Zealand's n. Auckland, New Zealand: [Non-Research Book] ...
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2024) 'Land and Sea: the significance of named places in digitally mapping historic. M/C Journal, 27 (5). ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2019) 'The physical Endeavour: how a wooden ship shaped Cook's first circumnavigati. Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 105 (2):135-158. ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2018) 'Digital humanities, digital methods, digital history, and digital outputs: h. History Compass, 16 (10). [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2017) 'Australia's Northern Safari'. M/C Journal, 20 (6). ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2015) 'An Africa on your own front door step: the development of an Australian safa. Journal of Australian Studies, 39 (3):396-410. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2002) 'Animal and destruction on a scale unprecedented outside a state of war: 1080. 30 :55-65. ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire; Luetchford, Alice; Ovaska, Claire (2023) 'Open Access: Projects, Problems and Prosp Journal of the Queensland History Teache, 2023 :26-28. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2021) 'Mallee Country offers up deep and recent, human and more-than-human, regiona History Australia, 18 (1) :180-181. [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Vidonja Balanzategui, Bianka; Brennan, Claire (2021) 'Hidden women of history: Melanesian indentured The Conversation, May 19 2021 . ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2020) '50 treasures: lectures on north Queensland history' JCU Library News, September 02, 2020 . ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
White, Patrick; Brennan, Claire (2020) 'Lessons from history point to local councils’ role in Austra The Conversation, 4 June 2020 . ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2020) 'Meet North Queensland First, the party that wants to kill crocs and form a n The Conversation, 16 October 2020 . ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2019) 'Book review of Animals Count: how population size matters in animal-human re Journal of Australian Studies, 43 (4) :542-544. [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2019) 'Tropical Australia's crocodile entrepreneurs' Arcadia, Spring 2019 . [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2016) 'Croc safari: why selling licences to rich hunters isn’t fair' The Conversation, 21 September 2016 . ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2015) 'Tropical cattle: the Brahman' 4 February 2015 . ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
McGregor, Russell; Brennan, Claire (2014) 'No clear track' History Australia, 11 (1) :230-232. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2013) 'Review of a review of a review of a book' History Australia, 10 (3) :292-292. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2013) 'Crocodile hunting' 21 August 2013 :1-3. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2012) 'Can't tell a yahoo from a yowie?' History Australia, 9 (2) :229-231. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2010) 'Book review of Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and his rivals by Geoffrey Blain Journal Of Pacific History, 45 (3) :376-377. [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2010) 'Book review of Going Bush: New Zealanders and Nature in the Twentieth Centur Environment and History, 16 (1) :134-137. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2009) 'Book review of Made in Queensland: A New History by Ross Fitzgerald, Lyndon Queensland Review, 16 (2) :89-91. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2008) 'Book review of How a Continent Created a Nation By Libby Robin, University o Environmental History, 13 (4) :790-791. [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2008) 'Book review of Natural Science and the Origins of British Empire. Empires in Itinerario, 32 (3) :129-130. [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2007) 'Book review of The Traveler's World: Europe to the Pacific by Harry Lieberso Itinerario, 31 (1) :152-154. [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2007) 'Book review of The Great Land Rush and the Making of the Modern World by Joh Itinerario, 31 (3) :118-119. [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2007) 'Book review of Weather Makers: environmental activism by Tim Flannery, Text 34 :120-122. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2007) 'Book review of Smallholders and Stockbreeders: histories of foodcrop and liv New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 9 (1) :197-200. ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire; Stevenson, Ana (2023) Australasian Cook Monuments, and Australasian Cook Landings [. [Other] ...
Creative Works ResearchOnline@JCU
Brennan, Claire (2024) 'Writing the More-Than-Human History of Northern Australia's Many Waters: Env In: Brennan, Claire (2024) Writing the More-Than-Human History of Northern ...