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

Advanced passive acoustic monitoring to support evaluation of conservation management effectiveness
Lin Schwarzkopf
08 Jun 2026 - 30 Jun 2027
This one-year project will build on previous ecoacoustic research to investigate and test methods for applying passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) to monitor, evaluate, and report on environmental condition across Commonwealth national parks. The project will focus on both recognizer development and implementation, for successful monitoring.
Harnessing the full potential of genomic data to investigate the adaptability of Southern Ocean benthos to climatic change
Edel Sheerin
10 Jun 2026 - 10 Dec 2027
This project applies the most advanced DNA sequencing technology to investigate the population dynamics of a Southern Ocean benthic invertebrate. The outcome of this extended research includes detecting the past and present day population connectivity patterns with precise detail and uncovering the genomic architecture of the species, thus revealing their adaptability to climate change. This project will inform conservation management strategies for Southern Ocean ecosystems.
Listening for Deer: Acoustic Early Detection for Smarter Biosecurity
Lin Schwarzkopf
03 Jul 2026 - 30 Sep 2027
Feral deer are an expanding biosecurity threat across Australia, causing ecological damage, agricultural loss, and management challenges, particularly at low population densities, when detection is difficult. This project will rigorously test whether passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) can provide a reliable, cost-effective method for early detection of feral deer across vegetation types, seasons, and species. Most deer vocalise conspicuously during breeding, group contact, and alarm situations. We will leverage these vocal behaviours to evaluate acoustic detection success and directly compare it with conventional surveillance approaches (camera trapping). Using several year-long datasets collected across contrasting habitats, we will quantify detection probability, seasonal performance, and relative cost-efficiency of acoustic versus camera-based and eDNA based monitoring. The intended outcome is clear, evidence-based guidance on when and where acoustic monitoring is most effective for detecting low-density deer populations. By validating scalable and scientifically robust surveillance tools, this project will enhance early detection capacity, improve response times, and strengthen landscape-scale biosecurity monitoring. The results will directly support coordinated, proactive management under national feral deer strategies, helping to reduce environmental impacts, limit spread, and protect biodiversity and agricultural assets across Australia.
Hub Mission Leader (Old ID 27433)
Helene Marsh
01 Jul 2021 - 30 Jun 2027
Delivering the Hub Mission focused on threatened and migratory species and threatened ecological communities. As stated in the Resilient Landscapes Hub research scope, the Activity Outcomes related to the cross-cutting Mission includes: i Delivering tools and advice to support the conservation of habitat important for priority threatened species, threatened ecological communities and migratory species; ii Updating the National list of threatened ecological communities and species; iii Improving detection of cryptic, ‘difficult’ and other data deficient species; and iv Monitoring and supporting the management of species / community recovery post extreme events. Service to be provided by Professor Helene Marsh, a researcher of international repute able to drive multidisciplinary outcomes, deliver outputs into national information repositories and guide relevant investment across the four research hubs.
Baseline invasive ant fauna and impact survey in the Torres Strait (Old ID 27827)
Peter Yeeles
18 Oct 2022 - 30 Jun 2024
The project aims to collect a representative baseline sample of ant fauna on all inhabited Torres Strait islands and five communities in the northern peninsula area of Cape York. The focus is on invasive and non-native ant fauna.
Project CE140100020
Mia Hoogenboom
01 Jan 2014 - 31 Dec 2020
grant
Barron River Bridge Planning Study (Old ID 28979)
Conrad Hoskin
01 Mar 2023 - 01 Jun 2023
Arup Australia Pty Ltd is working with Qld Department of Transport & Main Roads to assess environmental impacts of upgrading/replacing the Barron River Bridge. Their main concern is the Critically Endangered Kuranda Treefrog, for which I am the expert. The project is to fund me to do range-wide surveys of the species to estimate current population size and the proportion of the population that may be impacted by the bridge. Additionally, my expert advice on how to mitigate impacts. I consider this ‘contract research’ because it funds research I planning to do anyway (i.e., a current range-wide survey), and that data will be used by one of my PhD students.
Tectonic and Geodynamic Controls on Critical Mineral Systems in Proterozoic Australia
Youseph Ibrahim
01 Jun 2026 - 31 Dec 2026
This project investigates the tectonic and geodynamic controls on critical mineral systems in Proterozoic Australia. Australia's supergiant sediment-hosted deposits, including Mount Isa, Century, McArthur River, and Olympic Dam, formed in Proterozoic basins during the assembly and breakup of the Nuna supercontinent, yet the conditions that enabled mineralisation at this scale remain poorly understood. These basins are typically interpreted using geodynamic frameworks built for the modern Earth, which assume colder, stronger lithosphere than existed at the time. Using coupled thermo-mechanical and landscape evolution modelling (Underworld and Badlands), the project will test how rift mode under elevated Proterozoic geotherms controls basin architecture, fault spacing, heat flow, and sediment distribution. Coupled thermo-mechanical and landscape evolution models will be tested against field data from Proterozoic terranes in northern Australia,
A Proterozoic Framework for Australia's Critical Mineral Systems
Youseph Ibrahim
01 Jun 2026 - 01 Jun 2027
Recent advances in high-performance computing and open-source geodynamic modelling codes now make it possible to simulate the complexity of Proterozoic tectonic processes in three dimensions, capturing how a hotter lithosphere rifts, how basins subside and fill, and how heat and fluids move through the crust over millions of years. This project leverages these technologies to investigate: • RQ1: How does the mode of continental rifting under hot Proterozoic conditions control basin architecture, fault spacing, and subsidence patterns? • RQ2: How do wide rift basins evolve towards narrow rifts, and what are the structural and geomorphological consequences of narrow rift development within already-thinned crust? • RQ3: How is strain partitioned when a wide rift is inverted, and does this explain the structural traps and fluid pathways that characterise world-class Proterozoic ore districts?
Using radiocarbon to measure microbial respiration of charcoal (Old ID 22994)
Michael Bird
18 Jul 2016 - 17 Jul 2017
Building on previous AINSE funding, this project aims to determine the contribution of indigenous charcoal carbon to CO2 respired from the charcoal after three years environmental exposure on a tropical rainforest soil surface at the Daintree Rainforest Observatory, Cape Tribulation. The results will unequivocally demonstrate the degree to which the microbial carbon pool contains carbon derived from radiocarbon dead charcoal.
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
Title: Engineers Australia (EA)
Reseracher: Mahmood Sadat Noori (Senior Lecturer, Civil Engineering)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2017
Title: James Cook University team citation for “Enhancing career and learning outcomes for students in aquaculture through an industry-led and technology integrated teaching approach.
Reseracher: Dean Jerry (Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2020