Measuring conservation in a way that counts
A new study raises questions on whether current conservation science and policy for protected areas could be saving more biodiversity—with political and economic expediency often having taken prece
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au
Two James Cook University academics have been awarded high-level research grants by the Australian and Queensland Governments.
Professor Terry Hughes, the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, which is headquartered at JCU, was awarded his second five-year Federation Fellowship by the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Research, Julie Bishop yesterday.
Terry Hughes, Elim Papadakis (ARC) and Hugh Possingham (UQ) at Federation Fellowships award ceremony, Canberra, May 2006.
Dr Steve Williams, Director of the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change at JCU’s School of Tropical Biology, was one of two winners of a Queensland Smart State Senior Fellowship announced by the Deputy Premier, Anna Bligh, yesterday.
The Vice Chancellor of JCU, Professor Bernard Moulden, welcomed the awards and said they confirmed JCU’s position as Australia’s leading tropical research university and one of the leading research universities in Australia.
“There were only 25 Federation Fellowships awarded and, including Professor Hughes, only four received them for a second time. JCU and the University of Queensland were the only two Queensland universities to receive a Fellowship and only ten of Australia’s 38 universities were represented among this year’s awards,” Professor Moulden said.
“The award to Dr Williams again shows the pre-eminence of JCU as he is establishing a world-leading, multi-disciplinary research centre to examine the impacts of global climate change on our rainforests.”
Dr Williams’ fellowship is $100,000 a year over three years from the Queensland Government’s Innovation Skills Fund, one of the funds under the $200 million Smart State Innovation Funding Program launched late last year.
Professor Hughes, one of the world leading coral reef ecologists, was one of the first to be awarded an ARC Federation Fellowship in 2001. This new five-year fellowship is worth at least $1.6 million.
The ARC (Australian Research Council) Federation Fellowships were established in 2001 to ensure Australian researchers of international renown were able to either continue their work in Australia or return from overseas to do so.
Contact: Professor Hughes +61 7 4781 4000, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
Terry.Hughes@jcu.edu.au
or Jim O’Brien JCU Media Liaison +61 7 4781 4822 or +61 0418 892 449
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Partner Research Institutions
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au