Earth & Environmental Sciences
Romain Vaucher
- Senior Lecturer, Sedimentology
- romain.vaucher@jcu.edu.au
Rafael Cabral Carvalho
- Lecturer, Marine Geoscience
- rafael.cabralcarvalho@jcu.edu.au
Youseph Ibrahim
- Lecturer, Geoscience
- youseph.ibrahim@jcu.edu.au
Natalie Robson
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Land and Sea Management
- natalie.robson@jcu.edu.au
Alexandre Wadoux
- Lecturer, Soil Science
- alexandre.wadoux@jcu.edu.au
Alica Hoess
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neutron Tomography Scanner
- alica.hoess@jcu.edu.au
Phoebe Stewart-Sinclair
- Lecturer, Environmental Science
- phoebe.stewartsinclair@jcu.edu.au
Bethany Smith
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- bethany.smith1@jcu.edu.au
Brandon Mahan
- Adjunct Senior Lecturer
- brandon.mahan@jcu.edu.au
Hannah Green
- Research Officer
- hannah.green@jcu.edu.au
‘Planim Fiuja fo Yumi’ - Co-planning climate-smart and equitable livelihood futures with small-scale fishing communities through a participatory and integrated approach to community engagement. (Old ID 30038)
Amy Diedrich
22 Jan 2025 - 03 Feb 2030
The project will implement a Participatory and Integrated Planning Approach (PIPA) trialled in a previous ACIAR project. The PIPA aims to equip small-scale fishing communities with the information, resources and capacity to pro-actively and autonomously strengthen their livelihoods towards more equitable, sustainable and climate-smart outcomes. The PIPA is underpinned by a risk-based spatial analysis that is used through participatory engagement activities to support a joint understanding of risk and strengths within local land and seascapes. The approach draws on local knowledge, decision making and governance arrangements to enhance customary community-based livelihoods planning, assessment, prioritising and action processes. This project will seek to adapt and extend the PIPA across Solomon Island contexts, and leverage opportunities to scale to other countries in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
‘Planim Fiuja fo Yumi’ - Co-planning climate-smart and equitable livelihood futures with small-scale fishing communities through a participatory and integrated approach to community engagement. (Old ID 30038)
Stephanie Duce
22 Jan 2025 - 03 Feb 2030
The project will implement a Participatory and Integrated Planning Approach (PIPA) trialled in a previous ACIAR project. The PIPA aims to equip small-scale fishing communities with the information, resources and capacity to pro-actively and autonomously strengthen their livelihoods towards more equitable, sustainable and climate-smart outcomes. The PIPA is underpinned by a risk-based spatial analysis that is used through participatory engagement activities to support a joint understanding of risk and strengths within local land and seascapes. The approach draws on local knowledge, decision making and governance arrangements to enhance customary community-based livelihoods planning, assessment, prioritising and action processes. This project will seek to adapt and extend the PIPA across Solomon Island contexts, and leverage opportunities to scale to other countries in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
Rare earths unearthed: Resolving the mystery of how rare earth elements are mobilised and concentrated in continental crust (Old ID 19918)
Carl Spandler
31 Dec 2012 - 31 Dec 2017
Shifts towards green energy and technology in modern society are dependant on continuing supplies of rare earth elements. Nevertheless, we know little about how these elements concentrate to form economically viable ore bodies, and there remain fundamental holes in our knowledge of how these elements interact with fluids in the Earth's crust. This project combines experiments and novel geochemical studies of natural ores to address these knowledge deficiencies. The results will aid exploration for new rare earth element resources and will contribute to an improved understanding of how continents grow and evolve through time.
LabNorth: Stories of Culture, Arts and Wellbeing in Northern Australia
Lisa Law
01 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2025
Northern Australia is stereotyped as devoid of arts and culture in the national imaginary: a place of mine sites, military bases, cattle stations, bogans. Yet the small cities of Darwin, Cairns, Townsville and Broome are vibrant cultural landscapes with important forms of storytelling that struggle for visibility in the policy sphere. A recent focus on developing the North— e.g. the Developing Northern Australia Conference, the White Paper on Developing Northern Australia—recognises the importance of the region to Australia’s future, but narrowly in terms of extensions of water, power and transport infrastructure and accompanied workforce expansion. To date this agenda is silent on the role of arts and culture infrastructure in underpinning the region’s cultural wellbeing, and its economic benefits. This silence underscores the need to uncover, promote, and foster the untold stories and hidden value of the arts in Australia's Northern cities, to ensure that arts and culture take a prominent place in the policies that shape the region’s future.
Using a combination of policy analysis and townhall focus groups, LabNorth’s research will build networks to collaborate across cities, sectors and artforms. We will explore the value of arts and culture, with a focus on articulating this to the public and policy makers. LabNorth’s focus on small cities shines a light on the vital but under-recognised role of the arts in supporting Northern Australian communities and advocate for their inclusion in broader policy discussions. LabNorth will listen, learn, collaborate and co-create stories with the potential to shift narratives about Northern Australia.
Empowering urban heat literacy through field-based learning and community research
Lisa Law
01 Jun 2025 - 31 Dec 2025
In Northern Australia, in tropical cities like Cairns and Townsville, local studies of urban heat islands are under-represented, and opportunities to raise awareness through hands-on learning and community engagement are limited by access to (easy to use) equipment. This grant will enable the purchase of hand held air temperature/humidity sensors and thermal imaging cameras to promote urban heat literacy in tropical Queensland. The research will generate awareness of urban heat island effects, using sensors and cameras to engage the community in real-world data collection and analysis exercises.
EarthBank: An Australian geochemistry network activity enabling the analysis, preservation and discoverability of nationally significant Earth & environmental collections
Helen McCoy-West
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.
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.
IkanAdapt - Securing Timor-Leste’s Fisheries for Sustainability and Ecological Resilience
Stephanie Duce
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.
Optimising vanadium extraction and processing from the Toolebuc Formation through advanced characterization
Ioan Sanislav
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.
Enhancing Awareness and Use of Personal Protective Equipment in Community Disaster Recovery
- 2023
- Public Health Association of Australia
- Researchers:Yetta GurtnerJemma KingSue Devine
Urban-industrial seascapes can be abundant and dynamic fish habitat
- 2023
- Frontiers Research Foundation
- Researchers:Michael BradleyNathan Waltham
Building blocks of polycentric governance
- 2023
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing
- Researchers:Tiffany Morrison
A 33,000-year paleohydrological record from Sanamere Lagoon, north-eastern tropical savannas of Australia
- 2023
- Cambridge University Press
- Researchers:Cassandra RoweSean UlmMichael Bird
Title:
PhD, James Cook University
End Date:
01 Jan 2010
End Date:
01 Jan 2003
Start Date:
01 Jan 2020
End Date:
01 Jan 2025
Start Date:
01 Jan 2023
End Date:
01 Jan 2025
Title:
JCU Distinguished Professor
Start Date:
01 Jan 2010
Start Date:
01 Jan 2012
End Date:
01 Jan 2012
Start Date:
01 Jan 2019
Title:
Malayalam
Title:
English
Title:
Tamil