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

ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures (Old ID 27585)
Michael Bird
01 Jul 2024 - 30 Jun 2031
ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures. The proposed Centre aims to generate a new direction in knowledge creation based on Aboriginal- and Torres Strait Islander-led approaches to managing Land and Sea Country. The Centre expects to make a legacy contribution by developing complementary Indigenous and Western knowledge frameworks for modelling environmental, cultural, and historical change in Australia over the last millennium and into the near future. Expected outcomes focus on sustainable Indigenous land and sea management planning for future decades. Benefits include improved forecasting of the trajectory of environmental change, an increase in the capacity of Indigenous research, creation of a pipeline for Indigenous students into research, and evidence-based policy-making.
Conserving riverine elasmobranchs in Borneo, focusing on threatened river sharks (Glyphis sp.) (Old ID 27129)
Naomi Gardiner
01 Jun 2021 - 30 Jun 2027
By 2050 the capital of Indonesia will be relocated to East Kalimantan, Borneo, increasing human population density and pressures on Borneo’s river environments through small-scale fishing and commercial developments. In March 2020, we obtained evidence of what is likely an undescribed Glyphis species persisting in southern Borneo. Additionally, there are four poorly known endangered ray species in freshwaters of Borneo’s rivers. In collaboration with Hasanuddin University, this projects aims to survey major river systems in East, North, and West Kalimantan to locate and taxonomically describe the southern Borneo Glyphis species, and fill knowledge gaps on the distribution and status of Borneo’s freshwater rays.
Saltmarshes Connectivity in Tropical Seascapes: An Ecohydrological Perspective (Old ID 27438)
Nathan Waltham
01 Jul 2021 - 30 Jun 2022
Saltmarshes are among the most threatened coastal ecosystems on the planet. Yet, our understanding of their functionality and ecosystem value as productive coastal habitat is derived from only a small number of studies in temperate and subtropical zones, with almost nothing known about tropical saltmarshes. The proposed research aims to address this knowledge gap by providing insights into the importance of seascape connectivity and configuration on saltmarsh patches. The relationships between saltmarsh hydroperiod (frequency, duration and depth of saltmarsh flooding) and elevation on saltmarsh plants are first investigated. This information will then be used to examine the effects of hydroperiod and seascape configuration on the diets of saltmarsh crabs and their role as trophic subsidies supporting broader estuarine food webs. This study also attempts to investigate the vulnerability of saltmarshes to sea level rise and anthropogenic changes. Together, this research will quantitatively assess the importance and mechanisms of some of the drivers of saltmarsh connectivity in tropical seascapes, thus directly contributing to an ecologically meaningful understanding of these virtually unstudied, though under threat, ecosystems.
Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (Old ID 27718)
Nico Adams
01 Apr 2022 - 31 Aug 2024
The TNQ Agricultural Innovation Hub is anchored as part of the established TNQ Drought Hub and will sit within the JCU ideas Lab in Cairns – on the traditional land of the Yirrganydji people. Under the TNQ Agricultural Innovation Hub (as part of the broader TNQ Drought Hub) JCU will bring together producers, agriculture companies, supply chain businesses, innovators, start-ups, investors, and researchers to drive agricultural innovation in Northern Australia. The TNQ Agricultural Innovation Hub can also leverage the expertise of JCU’s Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC) and Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) as/when required to support new project concepts.
Future proofing and restoring Australia’s tropical seagrasses (Old ID 27805)
Alana Grech
01 Jan 2023 - 31 Dec 2026
This project aims to develop and apply a comprehensive framework for restoration of Australian tropical seagrasses using innovative approaches and partnerships. The project expects to provide coastal managers with tools to mitigate and restore seagrass to minimise effects of climate and development related loss, protecting ecosystem services measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. Expected outcomes include new techniques for tropical seagrass restoration, a blueprint for seagrass friendly marine infrastructure, and restoration decision tools applied at local and regional scales. This will provide significant benefits by protecting seagrass ecosystem services and place Australia at the forefront of global seagrass restoration efforts.
Taxonomic assessment of corals in the Australian Indian Ocean Territory (Old ID 28958)
Peter Cowman
08 Mar 2023 - 30 May 2024
Document the species richness of the coral fauna of Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) islands (Australian Indian Ocean Territory), with a focus on identifying new species, species endemic to the region or vulnerable to threats due to low abundance or limited distributions.
Expert technical advice regarding project water quality and catchment modelling (Old ID 31066)
Scott Smithers
03 Jul 2023 - 03 Feb 2026
The project is to provide expert technical advice regarding the water quality and catchment modelling components of the Environmental Impact Statements for the proposed Big Rocks Weir, the raising of the Burdekin Falls Dam and the methodology behind the cumulative impact assessment.
Does the emotional state of male Melomys cervinipes affect their spatial learning and navigational abilities? (Old ID 22610)
Tasmin Rymer
01 Feb 2016 - 31 Dec 2016
The loss of environmental complexity in tropical rainforests due to anthropogenic deforestation is a major threat to mammals. How an animal copes with these changes may be dependant on integrated physiological, behavioural and cognitive responses to environmental stimuli. The aim of this study is to investigate whether environmental complexity influences these responses of Melomys cervinipes. I predict that animals from complex habitats will demonstrate lowered anxiety and stress and will show enhanced learning and performance in a cognitive behavioural task. This study is the first to investigate the links between environmental complexity, physiology, behaviour and cognition in an Australian mammal.
Pathogen Genomics North Queensland (Old ID 26564)
Matt Field
03 Jul 2019 - 03 Dec 2020
This project will develop pathogen genomics to improve time to best treatment of serious infectious diseases. We aim to incorporate pathogen genomics into the workflow of clinical microbiology units in regional Queensland Health Hospitals for investigation of potential or known infectious disease.
Stress and problem solving in Melomys cernipes (Old ID 26571)
Tasmin Rymer
01 Jul 2019 - 30 Jun 2020
We know surprisingly little about how stress and anxiety affects animals' problem solving abilities, and what this means for their survival. Without understanding this, we cannot accurately predict whether species will have the capacity to cope with increasing problems associated with environmental change. I will investigate how stress and anxiety affect problem solving. These data are important to help us understand whether animals can use their problem solving abilities to cope with environmental changes.
Title: JCU reef scientist goes global after plumbing the depths, Townsville Bulletin
Reseracher: Gemma Galbraith (AIMS@JCU Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Reef Connectivity)
Start Date: 10 Nov 2024
Title: Deep dive: How I use robots to survey coral reefs, Nature
Reseracher: Gemma Galbraith (AIMS@JCU Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Reef Connectivity)
Start Date: 31 Mar 2025
Title: Bengali
Reseracher: Khandakar Faisal Ibn Murad (Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering and Related Technologies))
Title: English
Reseracher: Khandakar Faisal Ibn Murad (Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering and Related Technologies))
Title: Wet Tropics Management Authority - Scientific Advisory Committee
Reseracher: Nathan Waltham (Associate Professor, Blue Carbon)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2024
Title: Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF), Australia
Reseracher: Simon Das (Research Fellow - Grouper Nutrition)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2024
End Date: 01 Jan 2027
Title: ARC Future Fellow ($680,000), Global Change: Rainforest responses to experimental drought
Reseracher: Susan Laurance (Professor, Personal Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2014
Title: American Society of Naturalists
Reseracher: Megan Higgie (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2003
Title: PhD, James Cook University
Reseracher: Alana Grech (Professor)
End Date: 01 Jan 2010
Title: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Led "Super Gurus" team on the CSIRO ON Prime #15 program from 03/03/2024 to 25/06/2024 conducting customer discovery for the “Digital Twin Student” Educational Technology Project.
Reseracher: Kranthi Addanki (Lecturer, Information Technology)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2024
End Date: 01 Jan 2024