Research Projects

The role of drought-stress and insect attack on rainforest plant health (Old ID 26337)

01 Jan 2020 - 31 May 2025

This project aims to examine the vulnerability of tropical plants to drought and insect attack in a large-scale field experiment. We will pioneer a new research approach that focuses on the causes and stages of decline in plant health prior to death, in order to identify the characteristics of plant species that make them more susceptible to drought and insect attack. Expected outcomes of this project include an improved capacity to predict the function and composition of future forests. This project will provide significant benefits to communities concerned with the direct and indirect effects of droughts in protected areas, forestry reserves and agriculture.

Dugong Sanctuary seagrass survey

Alexandra Carter

19 Jun 2025 - 31 May 2027

The Dugong Sanctuary in Western Torres Strait contains critical seagrass habitat and food for green turtle and dugong. Dramatic seagrass declines were recorded by Western Cluster Rangers in subtidal seagrass monitoring sites in this region in 2019-2020, which triggered an extensive survey of the northern Dugong Sanctuary in December 2020 and southern Dugong Sanctuary in 2021. Both surveys confirmed widespread loss of seagrass since the first comprehensive survey of the Dugong Sanctuary in 2009. The meadow contained large patches of bare sediment, and the loss of high biomass and relatively stable species, indicating a large-scale disturbance. Ranger-led monitoring since then has demonstrated some recovery of subtidal seagrass at Orman Reefs, but seagrass condition in the Dugong Sanctuary remains very poor. This project will survey the Dugong Sanctuary in 2025 to evaluate seagrass condition, and identify potential additional locations for establishing additional Ranger-led monitoring in the Sanctuary.

Dugong Sanctuary seagrass survey

Alexandra Carter

19 Jun 2025 - 31 May 2027

What's really damaging the Reef? Tracing the origin and fate of the environmentally detrimental sediment and associated bioavailable nutrients (Old ID 26391)

Stephen Lewis

01 Jan 2019 - 10 Dec 2020

Recent research has shown that only a portion of the fine sediment fraction delivered from rivers draining into the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon (GBRL) reaches coral reefs and seagrass meadows. The specific sources of this sediment, which affects the health of corals and seagrasses, are as yet unresolved. This project will, for the first time characterise and trace the origin(s), fate and nutrient bioavailability of this environmentally detrimental sediment using samples collected in flood plumes and during resuspension events. This will enable direct spatial targeting of the sources of this material to achieve maximum benefits to GBR health from catchment management actions.

SARS_CoV2 Immune Landscape in the Tropics

Daniel Browne

27 Jan 2025 - 26 Jan 2026

COVID-19 continues to pose a significant health risk in tropical regions of Australia, where high-risk populations are often concentrated. This project aims to establish an immunology research group within James Cook University's College of Medicine and Dentistry to explore the T-cell immune responses to COVID-19 in these tropical populations. Leveraging a cost-effective, high-throughput RT-qPCR technique developed at JCU, we will assess and track the immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 peptide epitopes in donors over several months. The study will optimize this method for fresh blood samples, gather preliminary data on immune variability, and inform the design and budgeting of a larger-scale future investigation.

IkanAdapt - Securing Timor-Leste’s Fisheries for Sustainability and Ecological Resilience

Naomi Gardiner

01 Mar 2025 - 15 Mar 2027

JCU's Centre for Sustainable Fisheries & Aquaculture is to be engaged by WorldFISH under the auspices of the Global Environment Fund (GEF) program 'IKANAdapt' for Timor-Leste. The overarching goal is to enable Timor-Leste stakeholders in evidence-based decisions towards the sustainable use and conservation of coastal and aquatic resources. JCU's work is two-fold. Part 1 will undertake coastal biodiversity assessment and conservation plans for 2-3 provinces, with a focus on coastal and aquatic habitats, inclusive of action plans for 3 endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species and at least 1 wetland. Part 2 will develop and deliver a co-management training program for provincial level government officers in the Ministry of Fisheries. It will include a capacity evaluation of stakeholders, contextualised co-management curriculum, delivery of pilot-workshops in priority district's and a proposal for scaling out.

Optimising vanadium extraction and processing from the Toolebuc Formation through advanced characterization

Helen McCoy-West

01 Nov 2025 - 31 Oct 2027

This project is part of the Critical Minerals Trailblazer. This project has two main objectives: • To advance the projects related to vanadium extraction and processing from the Toolebuc Formation in North Queensland • Develop capacity in North Queensland to assist with the emerging vanadium economy The project will be conducted as a collaboration between James Cook University (JCU), Critical Minerals Queensland (CMQ) and industry partners consisting of Velox, QEM, Richmond Vanadium Technology and Critical Minerals Group. The extraction of vanadium has already been validated by the industry partners through R&D and pilot testing thus the commercial viability of the techniques have been confirmed. However, certain vanadium ores pose processing challenges and impede the extraction process and limit the economic viability of vanadium mining. Preliminary test work has indicated that the extraction and recovery of vanadium from the oxidised portion of the Toolebuc formation face a series of challenges. Based on the above information there are three main R&D items that need addressing to help advancing the vanadium projects in north Queensland. 1. Vanadium deportment in fresh and oxidised Toolebuc Formation 2. Characterization of tailing samples 3. Identification of instrumental methods and development of calibration for fast characterization techniques for routine analyses during mining.

An Outstanding Opportunity: Using Solar Farms for Biodiversity Preservation

Lin Schwarzkopf

01 Mar 2025 - 01 Mar 2026

Renewable energy projects are growing at a remarkable rate in Australia In north Queensland alone, existing commercial solar plants supply 585MW of generation, and other, proposed plants will provide more than twice as much (QLD Gov Generation Map). As each megawatt requires 2-3 ha (QLD Gov Solar Farm Guidelines) this represents a very significant land area, and up to 70% of Queensland is suitable for solar development (Islam et al. REEE 2022). While this trend constitutes outstanding potential for energy generation, development of solar farms also will impose a significant impact on much of the land area. There is strong awareness of the social contract that such broadscale expansion must navigate, and a particular community concern is the scale of land development and modification (QLD Gov Solar Farm Guidelines). The community and the QLD Biodiversity Conservation Strategy expresses concern about the major loss of biodiversity occurring at unprecedented rates and scales, and identifies a need to manage broad-scale impacts on land area, as well as climate change. Nowhere is this so critical as in the tropics, which are both highly biodiverse and well suited to solar farms. The confluence of broad-scale solar development and the need for biodiversity conservation on large scales provides an unprecedented opportunity to combine the two. Solar farms present an opening for enhanced delivery of ecosystem services (Norberg et al. 2021 Solar Energy; Nordberg, Schwarzkopf 2023 Austral Ecology). Solar farms have long operational lifespans, experience low levels of disturbance during operation and can be managed for ecosystem services beyond low-carbon electricity generation, including biodiversity conservation (Carvalho et al. 2024 J Anim Ecol). In the UK, Europe and North America, appropriate management of solar farms can lead to increased plant, invertebrate, pollinator and bird diversity and abundance (reviewed by Boscarino-Gaetano et al. 2024 Biological Reviews),

Off-Grid EV Charging Solution with Cyclone-Resistant Solar Carport for Remote Mining Operations

Yang Du

30 Jun 2025 - 30 Jun 2027

This project will develop an off-grid EV charging system tailored for remote mining operations, combining solar carports, battery storage, and AI-driven energy management. The system will be cyclone-resilient, with structural components tested at JCU’s Cyclone Testing Station. A full prototype will be demonstrated at JCU Cairns campus, showcasing reliable, grid-independent charging for electric mining vehicles. The project is a collaboration between JCU and Umax, aiming to reduce diesel reliance, lower emissions, and improve energy resilience in remote areas. Outcomes include a feasibility report, structural analysis, and a fully operational demo system supporting decarbonisation and innovation in the mining sector.

International Conference on Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism (ICSIMAT) conference - Greece

Zilmiyah Kamble

26 Sep 2025 - 30 Sep 2025

This is a popular yearly conference hosted by the ICSIMAT community ( a group of academics in tourism and marketing who network and meet annually for possible research collaboration and present our research). I am also a member of the ICSIMAT community and would be chairing a session at the conference, besides presenting a Paper titled 'Community Based Tourism and Social Sustainability: A Scoping Review of Planning Approaches for Equity, Inclusion, and Empowerment'. Τhe ICSIMAT community includes worldwide well known scholars, faculty members, doctorate students, researchers and business practitioners who network and exchange research work and inter-institutional co-operations. The conference provides opportunities to be selected to be published in journals such as Tourism Review (Q1) as well as proceedings book chapter published by Springer (open access). Open access springer proceedings book allows early citations. This conference is hosted by our MOU partner university in Greece i.e. the University of West Attica, Greece. Our MOU with the University of West Attica had resulted in ERASMUS grants benefiting three JCUS academics in the past. The conference is a great way keeping this relations active and may bring more such opportunities, provides a timely and interactive international platform for academics, government and industry practitioners in order to discuss and develop new perspectives in the field of communication, marketing, innovative technologies and tourism. Details of the conference , academic highlights such as 'meet the editors session', 'academics and industry networking' and social highlights can be found at their website https://icsimat.com/ . Please find attached the acceptance letter, abstract and budget details.