College of Science & Engineering

Sophia Love

Sophia Love

Romain Vaucher

Romain Vaucher

Jenny Fisher

Jenny Fisher

Ambili Narayanan

Ambili Narayanan

Sarfaraz Ali

Sarfaraz Ali

Mikaeylah Davidson

Mikaeylah Davidson

Liuxin Chen

Liuxin Chen

Rafael Cabral Carvalho

Rafael Cabral Carvalho

Tom Lloyd

Tom Lloyd

Mohamadreza Chalak Qazani

Mohamadreza Chalak Qazani

2022 Scientific Consensus Statement / Review of Water Quality Targets Projects (Old ID 27867)
Nathan Waltham
06 Dec 2022 - 30 Jun 2026
Project Part A: Lead authors selected to deliver synthesis of evidence for assigned questions forming the 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement Project Part C: Review of the GBR end of catchment water quality (sediment and nutrient) targets.
AutoFish: Automatic Fish Phenotyping Tool for Sustainable Aquaculture and Smart Fisheries (Old ID 28947)
Dave Jones
01 Mar 2023 - 30 Jun 2023
This project aims to advance an initial implementation of a new automatic fish phenotyping tool, named AutoFish, that will enhance aquaculture farming and post-harvest processing practices by accelerating the collection of data and automatically analysing and leveraging it using the latest advances in computer vision and machine learning technologies. We have already developed a ground-breaking solution for the aquaculture industry, and produced a Proof Of Concept (POC) device, which has been successfully tested. This POC is ready to get tailored, integrated and/or retrofitted into an available fish and aquaculture farm for grading, phenotypic collection and/or processing lines, due to its modular stand-alone nature. The AutoFish concept has been proven with Barramundi as a test species. However, it can be used to collect images of, and trained to predict features of other fish and/or aquaculture species. AutoFish can also be trained to detect and predict any customertailored features and traits of the fish/product, and/or be used to assess the health of fish/product, if th health issues are visually recognisable by an RGB camera and the background phenotypic data present for training. Hence this technology would be scalable and can be implemented for other aquaculture products worldwide. The main aim of this project is to unlock the potential of our initial AutoFish POC by applying it to, or altering it for, a partner Barramundi (or Prawn) farm, to solve a real end-users’ problem. This problem can be about any monitoring aspect, as long as cameras can capture it. We have narrowed down the scope of this project to Barramundi (and/or Prawn) due to our wider industry network in these two species.
Investigating differences in the behavioural syndromes of Melomys cerninipes from different habitat types (Old ID 22195)
Tasmin Rymer
01 Jul 2015 - 30 Jun 2016
Behavioural syndromes or personalities are a series of correlated behaviours that are consistently displayed within an environment by an individual. I aim to study whether the fawn-footed melomys, Melomys cervinipes, in the Wet Tropics has distinct behavioural syndromes and whether these behavioural syndromes are associated with habitat disturbance. I hypothesise that individual M. cervinipes will show distinct behavioural syndromes depending on their habitat. This study will provide a greater understanding of the relationship between behavioural syndromes and habitat disturbance in a poorly studied Australian rodent. This knowledge will provide an insight into how individual and population fitness could be affected in degraded environments and how animals may cope with environmental change.
Investigating the effects of insecticide exposure, pathogens, and heat stress on bee diversity, abundance, and health (Old ID 28974)
Peter Yeeles
01 Apr 2023 - 30 Apr 2026
Bees are threatened by multiple stressors including insecticide exposure, disease, loss of habitat, and climate change. Studies investigating stressors facing Australian bees are becoming more common, but many knowledge gaps still exist and while some studies document the effects of stressors in isolation, they stop short of investigating the effects of stressors in combination. My project will investigate how the stressors of insecticide exposure, pathogens and heat stress affect native bee diversity, abundance, and health, as well as investigate whether bee hotels cause increased pathogen and parasitism prevalence, and predation rates in native bees.
Canid alphaherpesvirus-1 in a Queensland district: seroprevalence and risk factors (Old ID 27363)
Paul Horwood
01 Sep 2021 - 31 Dec 2023
Canid alphaherpesvirus 1 (CaHV-1; previously known as canine herpesvirus-1) causes a highly fatal haemorrhagic disease in newborn puppies, as well as embryonic and foetal losses, manifested as infertility, abortion and stillbirth. In dogs over 5 weeks of age, CaHV-1 is of low pathogenicity but can cause genital lesions as well as respiratory (kennel cough) and ocular disease. CaHV-1 has been identified in numerous countries worldwide and is probably ubiquitous. In Belgium, around 46% of dogs sampled were seropositive to CaHV-1, where “seropositive” implies that the dog was infected during the preceding weeks to months. In South Africa, over half of sampled breeding kennels in one province were found to have one or more CaHV-1 seropositive dogs. In England, 94% of sampled dogs showed evidence of prior infection with CaHV-1. In Australia, surprisingly little has been reported on CaHV-1. Sudden deaths in a litter of greyhound puppies, with post mortem findings highly suggestive of CaHV-1, was reported by researchers from the University of Sydney in 1970. A diagnosis of CaHV-1 was confirmed as the cause of sudden deaths in a litter of Labrador puppies in Perth in 1971, as well as a litter of Doberman Pinschers in Queensland in 1974. In 2002, CaHV-1 isolated from a greyhound pup in Australia underwent genetic sequencing. No further case studies on CaHV-1 appear to have been reported. Moreover, no research into the seroprevalence of CaHV-1 has been undertaken in this country. Interestingly, a vaccine against CaHV-1 is available in other countries but is not currently registered in Australia. The aim of our research is to evaluate the seroprevalence of CaHV-1 in dogs in the Herbert and Lower Burdekin District of Queensland. A secondary aim is to identify risk factors for CaHV-1 infection based on a questionnaire supplied to the owners of dogs submitted for sampling. This research will provide an important first step in establishing the relevance of CaHV-1 to dog owners, breeders and veterinarians in Australia. Knowledge arising from this study may help to inform on strategies to minimise infection rates within dog populations. Furthermore, the results of this study may provide a preliminary indication on whether a vaccine against CaHV-1 could be of value to Australian breeding kennels.
Understanding fine-scale distribution and climate resilience in microhylid frogs - the Wet Tropics' most threatened vertebrates (Old ID 27600)
Conrad Hoskin
01 Apr 2022 - 31 Aug 2025
This grant will help fund field trip and equipment costs (e.g., acoustic monitoring devices) for my PhD project. My research aims to resolve current elevational ranges of threatened Cophixalus frog species in the Wet Tropics and determine what factors drive distributions and breeding activity, ultimately contributing to future management actions.
Recovery of the Great Barrier Reef (Old ID 27662)
Hillary Smith
20 May 2022 - 30 Jun 2027
This project investigates the potential for restoration of reef ecosystems around Magnetic Island. Linked with Earthwatch Australia, it is a citizen science-based project that engages volunteers to help remove macroalgae and monitor changes in coral recruitment, sediment dynamics, community composition, algae regrowth rates, and coral biology, with the hopes that removal of algae leads to an increase in coral cover. This contract represents an extension of the project for a further 3 years.
Establishing the North Queensland Liver Tumour Library: Improving HCC detection and treatment. (Old ID 27780)
Matt Field
13 Jul 2023 - 31 Dec 2026
The project will provide certain data on the usefulness of using liquid biopsy to diagnose HCC in Rural, regional and Remote patients, identify new liquid biopsy targets and test a new therapeutic approach to treat HCC.
Ecoregional planting guide: Powerful Pollinators (Townsville region) (Old ID 28934)
Daniel Montesinos Torres
15 Nov 2022 - 31 Dec 2023
I will develop an ecoregional planting guide for pollinators covering the Townsville bioregions. The guide will include a list of common native plants including forbs, shrubs and trees, that are available for purchase from local nurseries and that provide resources (nectar and/or pollen) for local pollinators. A list of local nurseries will also be provided. The Wheen Bee Foundation will use this, along with photos supplied by myself to develop a planting guide for the Townsville area.
Using pheremones to understand Australia's hyper-diverse lizard fauna (Old ID 26232)
Conrad Hoskin
17 Oct 2018 - 30 Jun 2020
I am to test if contempoary gene flow (reproductive isolation) corelates with the degree of pheremone divergence among eight genetic lineages of Heteronotia geckos in north-eastern Australia. In doing so, I aim to assess the utility of integrating pheremone data into taxonomic revisions of cryptic lizard groups.
Title: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Reseracher: Mahmood Sadat Noori (Senior Lecturer, Civil Engineering)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2015
Title: Topic Editor, Frontiers in Marine Sciences
Reseracher: Mahmood Sadat Noori (Senior Lecturer, Civil Engineering)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2022
Title: Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
Reseracher: Conrad Hoskin (Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1993
End Date: 01 Jan 1995
Title: Bachelor of Science (Honours 1st Class), The University of Queensland
Reseracher: Conrad Hoskin (Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1996
End Date: 01 Jan 1996
Title: PhD, The University of Queensland
Reseracher: Conrad Hoskin (Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2000
End Date: 01 Jan 2006
Title: BSc, University of Auckland
Reseracher: Megan Higgie (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1995
End Date: 01 Jan 1998
Title: BSc(Hons) - 1st class, University of Queensland
Reseracher: Megan Higgie (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1999
End Date: 01 Jan 1999
Title: PhD, University of Queensland
Reseracher: Megan Higgie (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2001
End Date: 01 Jan 2008
Title: Dean's Award - Highest Research Productivity
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2022
Title: ECR Merit Allocation at National Computational Infrastructure
Reseracher: Matt Field (Professor, Promotional Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2020