Tropical Water & Ecosystems

Scott Morrissey

Scott Morrissey

Tim Smith

Tim Smith

Alejandro Navarro Otero

Alejandro Navarro Otero

Jack Koci

Jack Koci

Sarah McDonald

Sarah McDonald

Emily Webster

Emily Webster

Abbi Scott

Abbi Scott

Catherine Collier

Catherine Collier

Rob Coles

Rob Coles

Aaron Davis

Aaron Davis

Benthic Mapping with Traditional Owners and Wellesley Islands Rangers in the Gulf of Carpentaria Marine Park
Catherine Collier
07 Jun 2024 - 28 Oct 2026
There is little recent information on benthic habitats in the Gulf of Carpentaria Marine Park (GOCMP) and adjacent Thuwathu/Bujimulla Indigenous Protected Area (TBIPA), which is needed to make management decisions around zoning, habitat protection, assisted recovery, and species conservation. Marine habitats of the southern Gulf of Carpentaria have long been identified as ecologically and culturally significant, with large areas of seagrass supporting high densities of dugongs and turtles, and traditional, commercial and recreational fisheries. Wellesley Islands Rangers and scientists from JCU and CDU will conduct mapping at a scale that can comprehensively inform marine park management and the Lardil, Yangkaal, Kaiadilt and Gangalida peoples’ sustainable management of Sea Country.
NESP 4.6: Developing Traditional Owner community-led dugong monitoring in the Kimberley region
Christophe Cleguer
01 Feb 2024 - 11 Dec 2026
keystone species with considerable ecological and cultural value across northern Australia. In the Kimberley region of Western Australia, dugongs have been identified as one of the top priorities to monitor in an effort to ensure the population is maintained and traditionally harvested in a sustainable manner. This project aims to have Traditional Owners and ranger groups across the Kimberley use cost-effective and culturally appropriate approaches to (1) fill knowledge gaps on the dugong’s population structure and connectivity at a range of spatial and temporal scales and (2) monitor the animals’ presence, density and habitat use in areas that are ecologically and culturally important to the local community and state and federal managers. This program directly addresses the national priorities of conserving, protecting and sustainably managing biodiversity through research and information management.
NESP 4.11: Scaling-up long-term seagrass restoration in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Michael Rasheed
05 Feb 2024 - 04 Jan 2027
There is an urgent community-driven need to develop appropriate seagrass restoration approaches at scale for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (CKI). Fast-tracking larger-scale restoration research is required to prevent imminent collapse and functional extinction of seagrasses at CKI due to past disturbance and current green turtle grazing pressure. This project builds on pilot studies to design and establish a network of larger-scale turtle exclusion areas where locally appropriate restoration approaches can be refined. At the same time, this will provide “seagrass refuges” to initiate recovery, monitor ecological effects, and provide for future restoration efforts. The project has been co-developed with the CKI community and Parks Australia, addressing their highest research priority identified in the newly established Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park. The project will provide an action plan for ongoing interventions and strategies to future-proof local seagrasses and support seagrass-dependent species, such as green turtles and fish, in the long term.
Development of mangrove indicators for the 2024 Gladstone Harbour Report Card
Norm Duke
10 Jun 2024 - 30 Aug 2024
This 2024 program extends on those in 2018 & 2019 (Shultz et al. 2019, 2020). As before, a wide range of expertise will be used in this environmental management project in the PCPA TUMRA Indigenous Protected Area. The multiple threatened ecosystems of this Central Queensland region will be evaluated. The program will support GHHP efforts for the better management of shoreline environmental values. This will be achieved through the on-going implementation of an integrated monitoring and archiving program, bringing together the research, and remote sensing, gathered and compiled by expert mangrove tidal wetland scientists from James Cook University. The integrated project will help identify environmental indicators and reporting options based on an updated thorough assessment of estuarine and coastal shorelines of their habitat condition, biodiversity conservation and landscape scale connectivity of shoreline ecosystems as described in the GHHP tender document. Ongoing consultation with the GHHP and other stakeholders will ensure a robust and lasting outcome.
Integrating Ecological, Social, and Cultural Values of the Coastal Waters of Roebuck Bay
Christophe Cleguer
21 Mar 2023 - 31 Mar 2027
Integrating Ecological, Social and Cultural Values of the Coastal Waters of Roebuck Bay. JCU researchers will lead the dugong component of this work, deploying telemetry tags on adult wild dugongs in collaboration with local indigenous Traditional Owners and dugong hunters to study the use of Roebuck Bay and greater region by the animals.
Tropical Seagrass Management Project (Stage 1)
Alexandra Carter
19 Jul 2024 - 30 Dec 2030
This project will design Management Plans at three priority sites across the Wet Tropics, Dry Tropics, and West Cape York/Gulf of Carpentaria regions. These Management Plans will allow Queensland's Department of Environment, Science and Innovation to achieve a conservation outcome at a regional scale from financial offset payments for impacts to seagrass and benthic habitats.
Seagrass Restoration Opportunities in the Russell-Mulgrave Basin & Mutcharoo Inlet
Michael Rasheed
28 Jun 2024 - 09 Jan 2026
Conduct seagrass assessments and identify restoration opportunities in the Russell Mulgrave / Wanjuru Yidinji Country, including training and workshops with Traditional Owners
Tiwi Islands seagrass surveys and development of ranger-led monitoring program
Catherine Collier
01 Mar 2024 - 30 Jun 2027
Tiwi People aspire for a healthy, managed Sea Country and to establish an integrated Marine IPA (MIPA). Tiwi Sea Country estate has high cultural and biodiversity significance, but this is poorly documented. The presence of important species such as dugong and turtle is known, but habitats important to these species has not been quantified. Collecting data efficiently and co-designing monitoring that rangers can maintain in their workplans is a priority of the Tiwi rangers. Subtidal seagrass needs to be mapped and monitoring of these habitats designed for rangers to implement. We will: • Participate in On-country consultations and knowledge sharing sessions (timing to be determined) • Co-design subtidal benthic habitat surveys with Tiwi Resources • Undertake benthic habitat surveys using a drop camera in collaboration with Tiwi sea rangers • Analyse drop camera images, create maps and prepare draft data report • Co-design and undertake two years of monitoring in collaboration with Tiwi sea rangers • Purchase underwater camera system for Tiwi sea rangers • Contribute to progress reports from Tiwi Resources to the Northern Territory Government as needed
Exploring eDNA methods for an ornamental snake detection
Cecilia Villacorta Rath
24 Jun 2024 - 31 Oct 2024
This project aims to develop and validate an environmental DNA assay targeting the ornamental snake, Denisonia maculata. This includes in-silico and in-vitro assay development and validation on eDNA samples collected on the field from sites where the target species had been observed within < 5 m distance.
Queensland Smithsonian Fellowships Grant Program
Cecilia Villacorta Rath
01 Aug 2024 - 31 Jul 2025
This project, carried out in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), aims to create improved determination of ecosystem health through novel detection of indicator microbial species. It build-up on my work at TropWATER, focused on applying genomic tools for detection of species of management concern.

Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves

Mid-late Holocene sea-level variability in eastern Australia

Recruitment in time and space: the dynamics and distributions of reef fish populations on a low latitude coral reef

  • 2006
  • Researchers:Maya Srinivasan

Patterns in tropical seagrass photosynthesis in relation to light, depth and habitat

Niche shifts and local competition between two coral reef fishes at their geographic boundary

A multi-trace element coral record of land-use changes in the Burdekin River catchment, NE Australia

Assessment of the water quality and ecosystem health of the Great Barrier Reef (Australia): conceptual models

Chlorophyll fluorescence measures of seagrasses Halophila ovalis and Zostera capricorni reveal differences in response to experimental shading

Sediment and nutrient exports for the Burdekin River catchment, north Queensland: a comparison of monitoring and modelling data

A review of load tools available for calculating pollutant exports to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon: a case study of varying catchment areas

Title: Fine-scale Water Quality Monitoring Program Technical Reference Group
Reseracher: Zoe Bainbridge (Senior Research Fellow)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2025
Title: Queensland Community of Practice for STEM Engagement
Reseracher: Zoe Bainbridge (Senior Research Fellow)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2026
Title: Associate Editor Marine and Freshwater Research
Reseracher: Tim Smith (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2026
Title: Indian Institute of Technology Bhudaneswr Seagrass and Mangroves Restoration Workshop
Reseracher: Tim Smith (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2026
End Date: 01 Jan 2026
Title: Global Seagrass Nursery Network Seminar Series Presentation
Reseracher: Tim Smith (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2026
End Date: 01 Jan 2026
Title: Project manager, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Reseracher: Skye McKenna (Principal Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2005
End Date: 01 Jan 2012
Title: Fisheries Technician, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Reseracher: Skye McKenna (Principal Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2003
End Date: 01 Jan 2005
Title: Reef and Rivers, S5E4 Reef and Rivers Wet Tropics Waterways podcast
Reseracher: Samantha Tol (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 04 Sep 2023
Title: Changing Planets - Series 2: Episode 2, BBC
Reseracher: Samantha Tol (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 03 Apr 2023
Title: Scientists discover seagrass grows better after its seeds have been eaten by dugongs, turtles, ABC
Reseracher: Samantha Tol (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 31 Aug 2021