Research Projects
Expanding Traditional Owner led seagrass monitoring and restoration – Woppaburra TUMRA
Len McKenzie
21 May 2025 - 31 Mar 2026
This project aims to build seagrass assessment and restoration capacity and identify seagrass cultural values within Woppaburra TUMRA Sea Country and communities. JCU will work with Woppaburra TUMRA Aboriginal Corporation and rangers to:
• synthesize and collate all existing seagrass mapping data. These data will identify seagrass mapping gaps and will inform further seagrass monitoring and restoration activities.
• build capacity of Rangers to conduct seagrass assessments.
• map Sea Country using drones and dropcameras, for areas identified as needing mapping.
Aeromedical Retrieval of people with Acute Behavioural Disturbance in Queensland – ELEVATE Study (Phase 2)
Kris McBain-Rigg
27 Jun 2023 - 31 Dec 2026
PhD Candidate Dr Clinton Gibbs and Dr Kris McBain-Rigg will undertake interviews with staff of Aeromedical Retrieval Services throughout Queensland to explore their experiences of retrieval of patients diagnosed with Acute Behavioural Disturbances (ABD).
Aeromedical Retrieval of people with Acute Behavioural Disturbance in Queensland – ELEVATE Study
Kris McBain-Rigg
01 Jan 2023 - 31 Dec 2025
The aeromedical retrieval of people with Acute Behavioural Disturbance is a challenging process for a vulnerable group of patients. Due to the nature of the persons illness, the balance between providing timely access to care and risks during transfer is complex. This project aims to use a mixed methods approach to explore this patient group and the perceived challenges of their aeromedical retrieval, test current practice, identify areas for improvement and assess methods of optimising care provided before, during, and after transfer.
NESP 5.1 Environmental Economic Accounting - Developing & trialling approaches for accounting to ensure respectful inclusion of First Nations knowledges
Diane Jarvis
01 Jan 2025 - 30 Jun 2027
This project aims to address two overarching research questions: how can First Nations Peoples knowledges be reflected within (or alongside) Ecosystem Accounts prepared following the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting—Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA)? and what are suitable methods for appropriately gathering and presenting First Nations Peoples’ knowledges in relation to SEEA EA?
To achieve the project aim, researchers will partner with two First Nations groups from contrasting contexts and environments (northern QLD savannah and southern WA coast). Together we will trial methods and prepare full sets of SEEA EA compliant accounts for each group. By co-designing methods and accounts presentation, the aim is for the accounts to provide information that is useful for the groups themselves in addition to providing useful information for other research users.
Beyond accounts preparation, and incorporating existing Australian literature, the project will develop and test overarching learnings and recommendations that can inform future EA policy development within DCCEEW. Working closely with our First Nations partners, and testing outputs with a small number of First Nations people from other organisations, the project will seek to identify common themes across different First Nations groups, and assess the relevance of, and links between, national accounting information (such as NEAP) and accounts built upon First Nations knowledge and perspectives.
Improving land condition across north-west Queensland to boost productivity, build climate resilience and increase biodiversity
Jack Koci
15 Jul 2024 - 30 Jun 2028
Across the Southern and Northern Gulf region of north-west Queensland, there are many thousands of hectares of land in poor condition. Land that is in poor condition is less productive and therefore profitable, more susceptible to severe impacts from extreme climate events (e.g., floods and droughts), has a lower capacity to sequester and store carbon, and negatively impacts other ecosystem services (e.g., biodiversity and water quality). The overarching aim of the project is to build resilience in Southern and Northern Gulf rangeland production systems through improving land condition. To achieve improved land condition across the region, the project will work directly with land managers to implement on-ground land management practice changes and/or remediation treatments. The effectiveness of these interventions will be rigorously monitored and evaluated. Key learnings and outcomes will be passed on to the other landholders, NRM groups, Government extension staff and researchers through demonstration sites, field days, communications materials, scientific publications, and capacity building events. Overall, the project will provide much needed new knowledge, information, data, tools, and capacity to boost productivity, build climate resilience, and facilitate access to emerging environmental markets across north-west Queensland, and other parts of northern Australia.
Listening for Chital Deer
Lin Schwarzkopf
11 Feb 2025 - 30 Sep 2025
Chital Deer Audio Recording devices
Quinkan Grass Guide (Old ID 23227)
Darren Crayn
09 Mar 2017 - 30 Jun 2017
This project will produce a series of fact sheets to help land managers and the public identify grasses of Quinkan country, Cape York Peninsula The outcomes will be useful to everyone who manages land in the Quinkan area and needs to determine what grasses are present on their land and whether they are palatable, productive or weeds. This is a pilot project for a future complete guide to grasses of Cape York Peninsula.
EarthBank: An Australian geochemistry network activity enabling the analysis, preservation and discoverability of nationally significant Earth & environmental collections
Ioan Sanislav
01 Jun 2025 - 30 Jun 2028
This project will fund an Earthbank scientist to contribute to the expansion of the Earthbank database and build capacity in earth and environmental sciences.
McKenna Maternity Funding for Research Assistant (Old ID 23436)
Skye McKenna
12 Jun 2017 - 30 Apr 2018
Maternity funding to employ a research assistant to assist Senior Researcher whilst on maternity leave to maintain research progress.
Discovery of Novel Biomarkers for Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) Infection Related Cancers - HL Study (Old ID 23629)
Denise Doolan
26 Jul 2017 - 25 Jul 2018
There is a large body of evidence indicating that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) actively contributes to the pathogenesis of multiple tumours. We hypothesize that the antibody response to EBV in individuals with and without cancer (cases and controls) using our proprietary EBV proteome array, to identify an antibody signature which predicts cancer risk. The ultimate goal is an immunodiagnostic test to identify individuals in the general population who are at high risk of developing infection-related cancers. Extending previous studies, we will probe defined samples from the HL study provided by colleagues at NIH/NCI.