Tropical Water & Ecosystems
Scott Morrissey
- Research Officer
- scott.morrissey@jcu.edu.au
Tim Smith
- Senior Research Officer
- tim.smith2@jcu.edu.au
Alejandro Navarro Otero
- Casual Research Worker
- alejandro.navarrootero@jcu.edu.au
Jack Koci
- Principal Research Officer
- jack.koci1@jcu.edu.au
Sarah McDonald
- Senior Research Officer
- sarah.mcdonald@jcu.edu.au
Emily Webster
- Research Officer
- emily.webster1@jcu.edu.au
Abbi Scott
- Senior Research Officer
- abbi.scott1@jcu.edu.au
Catherine Collier
- Principal Research Officer
- catherine.collier@jcu.edu.au
Rob Coles
- Principal Research Scientist
- rob.coles@jcu.edu.au
Aaron Davis
- Principal Research Officer
- aaron.davis@jcu.edu.au
Provision of Specialist Environmental Support to Townsville City Council. (Old ID 27681)
Submission for inclusion on a panel of pre-qualified Environmental Specialists to support TCC's Environmental Services team in planning and delivery of sustainable outcomes for the Townsville Community.
Mangrove Watch in Easterna Normanby Basin with Kalpowar Land Trust (Old ID 21778)
Mangrove Watch boat and aerial surveys will be conducted in Princess Charlotte Bay with local indigenous rangers to assess existing values, threats, future issues with climate change and restoration and protection options for tidal wetland habitat in Princess Charlotte Bay. This project aims to enhance biodiversity values, increase ecosystem service provision, including carbon sequestration and improve habitat connectivity within princess Charlotte Bay and the Normanby River.
Torres Straits Wetlands, Mangroves and Invasive Species (Old ID 23518)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves
- 2004
- National Academy of Sciences
- Researchers:Maya Srinivasan
Mid-late Holocene sea-level variability in eastern Australia
- 2008
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Researchers:Stephen Lewis
Start Date:
01 Jan 2009
End Date:
01 Jan 2026
Start Date:
01 Jan 2009
End Date:
01 Jan 2030
Start Date:
01 Jan 2014
End Date:
01 Jan 2030
Start Date:
01 Jan 2021
End Date:
01 Jan 2025
Start Date:
01 Jan 1981
End Date:
01 Jan 1984
Start Date:
01 Jan 1986
End Date:
01 Jan 1988
Start Date:
01 Jan 1973
End Date:
01 Jan 1973
Start Date:
01 Jan 2024
Start Date:
01 Jan 2022
End Date:
01 Jan 2023
Title:
Conference co-chair
Start Date:
01 Jan 2023
End Date:
01 Jan 2023