DNA reveals the past and future of coral reefs
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
From 2005 to 2022, the main node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies was headquartered at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland (Australia)
Dr. Kostas Alexandridis is a research scientist with the CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems at Davies Laboratory, Townsville. He is studying the interactions and coupling between human and natural systems and their implications to decision-making across multiple scales and knowledge domains in Australia and internationally. His research emphasizes the use of advanced and cutting-edge dynamic modelling and simulation techniques and the study of cognition, information and knowledge flows. His most recent work involves understanding sustainability in marine-based livelihoods in collaboration with a number of remote and indigenous communities across Australia and the Pacific. Kostas received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in USA, where he acquired experience on modelling land use change, sprawl dynamics, and cognitive attitudes to change across a range of local, sub-regional and regional landscapes. He has worked with communities, planners and stakeholders to achieve a common and societal understanding of environmental change as a complex phenomenon from the individual to the global level, and has participated in multi-national and multi-institutional collaborations across the world.
What are some of the most important issues dealing with human dimensions in participatory research related to natural resource management and policy? This talk will look at some new research directions and methodological frameworks that shift the science and research agenda towards more cross-disciplinary settings. The presentation will emphasize the role of participatory modelling (e.g., visioning, role-playing games, scenarios, agent-based modelling) in working with communities and stakeholders. It will also explore a suite of network-based science approaches (social networks, Bayesian belief networks, semantic network and integrative social-ecological networks) allowing the study of complexity in coupled natural and human systems. Some key inferences and heuristics will be drawn upon existing examples and case studies, using graphical, interactive and mathematical simulation software. Finally, the talk aims to demonstrate how principles of sustainability, adaptability, emergence and resilience can be addressed at multiple scales of interaction.
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
A new study on the effects of climate change in five tropical countries has found fisheries are in more trouble than agriculture, and poor people are in the most danger. Distinguished Profess
James Cook University researchers have found brightly coloured fish are becoming increasingly rare as coral declines, with the phenomenon likely to get worse in the future. Christopher Hemingson, a
Researchers working with stakeholders in the Great Barrier Reef region have come up with ideas on how groups responsible for looking after the reef can operate more effectively when the next bleaching
Abstract: As marine species adapt to climate change, their heat tolerance will likely be under strong selection. Individual variation in heat tolerance and its heritability underpin the potential fo
Abstract: The Reef Ecology Lab in KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center explores many aspects of movement ecology of marine organisms, ranging from adult migrations to intergenerational larval dispersal
Abstract: Macroalgal meadows are a prominent, yet often maligned component of the tropical seascape. Our work at Ningaloo reef in WA demonstrate that canopy forming macroalgae provide habitat for ad
Abstract: Sharks are generally perceived as strong and fearsome animals. With fossils dating back at least 420 million years, sharks are not only majestic top predators but they also outlived dinosa
Abstract: Connectivity plays a vital role in many ecosystems through its effects on fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes. Its consequences for populations and metapopulations have been
Abstract: Evolution of many eukaryotic organisms is affected by interactions with microbes. Microbial symbioses can ultimately reflect host’s diet, habitat range, and even body shape. However, how
Abstract: The past few years have seen unprecedented coral bleaching and mortality on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) but the consequences of this on biodiversity are not yet known. This talk will expl
Partner Research Institutions
