Research Projects
Filters for Projects
Research Units
Nest to Ocean - Gunggandji-Mandingalbay Yidinji Rangers
The Nest to Ocean funding scheme supports community-based sea turtle nesting monitoring across Queensland. Gunggandji-Mandingalbay Yidinji Peoples Prescribed Body Corporate has successfully secured funding through the Nest to Ocean program to monitor sea turtle nesting across GMY Sea Country. TropWATER, JCU will support the GMY Rangers by providing expert advice, assisting with drone survey design and implementation, and supplying vessel and skipper support. TropWATER will also assist with data analysis and report preparation.
Advancing the Buchanan Dome Critical Minerals Project through advanced geological and metallurgical studies
This project is a Critical Minerals Trailblazer-supported collaboration between James Cook University and Strategic Metals Australia to advance Queensland's first major lithium-bearing pegmatite system, the Buchanan Dome Critical Minerals Project, toward commercial feasibility. The project will deliver the geological, mineralogical, and metallurgical knowledge required to de-risk the resource and define viable lithium extraction pathways, with the aim of integrating the project into a Queensland battery minerals supply chain. Key activities include structural mapping, lithium deportment studies, beneficiation testing, and battery-grade graphite production.
Tuberculosis modelling in the Asia-Pacific region (Old ID 22325)
This project aims to model disease transmission dynamics by quantifying key epidemiological drivers of TB transmission in the Asia Pacific region. It will take into account geospatial characteristics of the region and population vulnerabilities to tuberculosis. These include factors that lead to reactivation of TB: smoking, diabetes, HIV, malnutrition and factors that lead to transmission; household crowding, population density and late presentation to health services. This project has potential sites of data in the region including through work with JCU researchers in collaboration with PNG IMR in sites across Papua New Guinea and in other Pacific Nations.
Nursing and Allied Health Graduate Outcomes Tacking (NAHGOT) Study
The Nursing and Allied Health Graduate Outcomes Tracking (NAHGOT) Project is a large-scale longitudinal study designed to examine the practice destinations and workforce trajectories of nursing and allied health graduates across Australia (Sutton et al., 2021). Developed through collaboration between multiple University Departments of Rural Health (UDRHs) and partner universities, NAHGOT provides robust, evidence-based insights into how education and training experiences influence graduate employment outcome, particularly in rural, regional, and remote areas.
Closing the life-cycle of high-value Lysmata debelius shrimp in captivity
This project aims to enable captive breeding of the high-value ornamental shrimp Lysmata debelius, a species currently sourced exclusively from wild harvest. While demand remains strong, commercial aquaculture production has been constrained by low larval survival and prolonged development. Through a collaboration between James Cook University’s Aquaculture Breeding & Reproductive Technologies Lab, JCU’s Tropical Aquafeed Innovations Lab, and Monsoon Aquatics, the project will investigate how broodstock nutrition, larval feeding strategies, and hatchery management influence survival, development, and settlement. The outcomes will support practical, scalable life-cycle closure methods, reducing pressure on wild populations and strengthening Australia’s ornamental aquaculture capability.
The role of seagrass dispersal by marine mega-herbivores, dugong (Dugong dugon) and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). (Old ID 22411)
This project will investigate the dispersal mechanisms of tropical seagrasses and determine which mechanisms are most effective for long distance dispersal. It will examine whether marine mega-herbivores (dugongs and green sea turtles) disperse seagrass seeds through their fecal matter and whether those seeds are viable. It will determine how long seagrass fragments, created by abiotic and biotic mechanisms, remain viable and establish new meadows. This information will be used to model which seagrass meadows are at greater risk of slow recovery after a large scale loss. This recovery model will have the potential to highlight which seagrass meadows rely solely on dispersal by marine mega-herbivores for recovery.
Implementation and evaluation of an innovative student-led rehabilitation and lifestyle service in Northern Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic and disabling conditions: A pilot study. (Old ID 25133)
This project will pilot a student-led rehabilitation and lifestyle service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Napranum and Weipa in partnership with Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (TCHHS) and Apunipima Cape York Health Council (ACYC). A sequential mixed methodology will be used to evaluate the service from stakeholders' perspectives: participants, allied health students, Aboriginal and allied health workforce and collaborating organisations. To privilege the voices of Aboriginal people, Indigenous methodologies will be used. This project will provide a service for Napranum and Wei pa communities and a service model for other remote communities across Northern Australia.
Enhanced learning experiences for Sport and Exercise Science students through integration of industry technology, knowledge sharing, and placement opportunities
This CHS Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Seed Grant supported dissemination of findings from a teaching and learning project focused on enhancing Sport and Exercise Science student learning experiences through industry technology, knowledge sharing, and placement opportunities. Funding supported Lisa Simmons’ travel to Adelaide to present the project findings at the 2024 ANZAHPE Conference. The grant covered conference registration, travel, and accommodation.