Tropical Water & Ecosystems

Scott Morrissey

Scott Morrissey

Tim Smith

Tim Smith

Alejandro Navarro Otero

Alejandro Navarro Otero

Jack Koci

Jack Koci

Sarah McDonald

Sarah McDonald

Emily Webster

Emily Webster

Abbi Scott

Abbi Scott

Catherine Collier

Catherine Collier

Rob Coles

Rob Coles

Aaron Davis

Aaron Davis

Torres Straits Wetlands, Mangroves and Invasive Species (Old ID 23518)
Norm Duke
01 Apr 2017 - 30 Jun 2018
Coastal wetlands and mangrove habitat are important for aquatic communities in the Torres Straits. These water environments also provide important food and cultural values for locals. Torres Straits Regional Authority wishes to continue building Land and Sea Ranger capacity to monitor and evaluate condition of wetlands across the Straits. TropWATER will assist with water quality monitoring, invasive animal management, mangrove condition and health assessment, along with preparation of materials for rangers to continue these monitoring programs.
Ecological monitoring of the Townsville Field Training Area 2022-24 (Old ID 27715)
Shelley Templeman
01 Jun 2022 - 31 Jan 2026
This project continues the long standing monitoring that TropWATER has undertaken for Defence that incorporates monitoring of water quality and aquatic ecology on the Townsville Field Training Area. Remnant Waterholes are the most important aquatic ecosystem in the TFTA providing a critical dry season refugia for aquatic biota. Aquatic ecological monitoring allows an assessment to be made of the trends in water quality through time. If these trends in areas of high Defence activities are similar to trends in areas with minimal Defence impact, this demonstrates the lack of impact of Defence operations on the local aquatic environment.
Assessment of key dugong and turtle seagrass resources in the northern Torres Strait (Old ID 22239)
Alexandra Carter
01 Jul 2015 - 31 Mar 2016
This project fills a critical information gap for dugong and turtle habitat management in the Torres Strait. It describes seagrasses in a recently identified data deficient region in northern Torres Strait that contains large dugong and turtle populations and is the subject of a proposed extension of the existing Dugong Sanctuary. The baseline assessments will form the foundation for ongoing monitoring, and provide essential information to the TSRA, Australian and Queensland governments for dugong and turtle management plans, complimenting dugong and turtle research studies in the region and building skills and capacity of Traditional Owners and Rangers.
Assessment of key dugong and turtle seagrass resources in the northern Torres Strait (Old ID 22239)
Skye McKenna
01 Jul 2015 - 31 Mar 2016
This project fills a critical information gap for dugong and turtle habitat management in the Torres Strait. It describes seagrasses in a recently identified data deficient region in northern Torres Strait that contains large dugong and turtle populations and is the subject of a proposed extension of the existing Dugong Sanctuary. The baseline assessments will form the foundation for ongoing monitoring, and provide essential information to the TSRA, Australian and Queensland governments for dugong and turtle management plans, complimenting dugong and turtle research studies in the region and building skills and capacity of Traditional Owners and Rangers.
Assessing the Benefits of Using Existing Drainage infrastructure to Meet Reef Water Quality Targets. (Old ID 27132)
Aaron Davis
01 Feb 2021 - 31 Mar 2021
Landholders and local drainage authorities in the Russell-Mulgrave catchment have indicated their support for using controlled drainage to improve water quality outcomes. However, successful implementation requires underpinning modelling to understand where drainage control structures would best be located and what impact or benefit they might have. The drainage network in the Russell-Mulgrave catchment has only just been recently, and only partly, mapped, and no ground-truthing or modelling has yet been applied. This project will complete the high resolution drainage network mapping, ground-truth that mapping and apply hydrological modelling to determine the best locations and approaches for drainage control structures.
Coral Sea Conservation – Mapping Fish Nurseries and Biodiversity Hotspots (Old ID 31184)
Tim Smith
21 May 2024 - 30 Sep 2026
This project will locate fish nursery grounds and identify fish biodiversity, density, and life cycle habitat use in the reef lagoons in the Coral Sea Marine Park. This project will provide information that aligns with the national Australian Marine Park science priorities to assist with marine management plans and protection of marine park values and will help inform the 10-yearly statutory plan review. This project will provide information which will be useful for the development of management solutions to help enhance the health, ecological resilience, and sustainable economic use of the Coral Sea Marine Park.
Burdekin wetlands restoration research. (Old ID 27072)
Adam Canning
30 Nov 2020 - 30 Nov 2022
Wetlands provide some many services and values, yet are under pressure from continuing and expanding land use change. North Queensland Dry Tropics (NQDT) are implementing a range of restoration projects to improve the Burdekin floodplain, and have engaged TropWATER to complete wetland restoration monitoring to measure and evaluate the success of these works. This monitoring will cover fish sampling, water and sediment chemistry, aquatic plant assessments and hydrology. The data will provide NQDT with information to assist with further works and funding on the horizon.
What's really damaging the reef? Tracing the origin and fate of the environmentally detrimental sediment (Old ID 22541)
Zoe Bainbridge
01 Jan 2016 - 10 Dec 2018
Recent research has shown that only a portion of the fine sediment fraction delivered from rivers draining into the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon 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) and fate 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.
CSIRO - JCU Partnership - Catchment Water Quality Science (2019030726) (Old ID 26465)
Stephen Lewis
01 Jul 2019 - 30 Jun 2023
The CSIRO Land and Water Business Unit is seeking to engage several JCU staff to support research undertaken within the Catchment Processes Research Group. These collaborative positions will synthesise and build on the Group's scientific output within the Great Barrier Reef land management and water quality research domain. It will also strengthen out collective ability to connect land management changes (CSIRO focus) with marine impact (JCU focus).
Mackay & Hay Point Marine Water Quality Monitoring (Old ID 21645)
Skye McKenna
30 May 2014 - 30 Nov 2017
This project delivers a 12 month water quality sampling and monitoring program within the region of Port of Mackay and Hay Point. In conjunction with the field sampling, sediment plume modelling, using MODIS, will be completed to further characterise water quality conditions within the study area. This characterisation of water quality conditions will assist in the management of the ports and dredging operations planned for this region under the direction of North Queensland Bulk Ports.

Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves

Mid-late Holocene sea-level variability in eastern Australia

Recruitment in time and space: the dynamics and distributions of reef fish populations on a low latitude coral reef

  • 2006
  • Researchers:Maya Srinivasan

Patterns in tropical seagrass photosynthesis in relation to light, depth and habitat

Niche shifts and local competition between two coral reef fishes at their geographic boundary

A multi-trace element coral record of land-use changes in the Burdekin River catchment, NE Australia

Assessment of the water quality and ecosystem health of the Great Barrier Reef (Australia): conceptual models

Chlorophyll fluorescence measures of seagrasses Halophila ovalis and Zostera capricorni reveal differences in response to experimental shading

Sediment and nutrient exports for the Burdekin River catchment, north Queensland: a comparison of monitoring and modelling data

A review of load tools available for calculating pollutant exports to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon: a case study of varying catchment areas

Title: Principal Research Fellow, University of Queensland
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1998
End Date: 01 Jan 2011
Title: Senior Research Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1993
End Date: 01 Jan 1998
Title: Scientist in Charge, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1989
End Date: 01 Jan 1992
Title: Experimental Officer, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1974
End Date: 01 Jan 1989
Title: Technical Officer, Queensland Government, DPI Fisheries
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1973
End Date: 01 Jan 1974
Title: Course Coordinator, University of Queensland
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2000
End Date: 01 Jan 2011
Title: Course Coordinator, Stanford University
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2003
End Date: 01 Jan 2010
Title: Australian Rangelands Society
Reseracher: Jack Koci (Principal Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2025
End Date: 01 Jan 2025
Title: World Seagrass Association
Reseracher: Carissa Reason (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2025
End Date: 01 Jan 2025
Title: Australian Marine Science Association
Reseracher: Tim Smith (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2004
End Date: 01 Jan 2032