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
Coral reef research remains disproportionately guided by men from the US and Australia, often excluding scientists from countries with the greatest extent of coral reefs. A new paper published in F
A new study suggests corals may be able to cope with climate change in the coming decades better than previously thought—but will still struggle with ever-faster rates of climate change. Lead aut
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
A new study reveals the strategies that stop bandits from illegally fishing in Australian waters—but warns there is a cost to the region’s poorer countries. Co-author Dr Brock Bergseth, from th
Abstract: The coral reefs of Western Australia (WA) are morphologically diverse, with high levels of biodiversity and endemism. Carbonate forming reefs occur along 20o of latitude, and more than
Abstract: Rainforests are much more than exotic and wondrous fauna and flora, they are the ancestral domain of Indigenous Peoples who have safeguarded them since time immemorial. Learn about this thr
Abstract: Ecological conditions on coral reefs are shifting. Fishes are an integral part of these restructuring ecosystems and can support ecological stability. However, the extent to which fishes wi
Abstract: This presentation reports on a journal paper being drafted that has been around 10 years in the making. I set out a long time ago to settle the arguments around protected areas being residu
Abstract: Contemporary global changes have put the capacity of future reefs to continue providing fish and fisheries production in jeopardy. Understanding future trends will require innovative and ac
Abstract: No-take marine reserves are a cornerstone of marine ecosystem management in Australia, though they are rarely considered as an effective fisheries management strategy. Yet, by accumulating
Abstract: There are increasing calls to deliver effective, equitable marine conservation – particularly in places where coastal communities are dependent on their natural resources for a range of be
Abstract: Harvesting models are based upon the ideology that removing large, old individuals provides space for young, fast-growing counterparts that can maximize (fisheries) yields while maintaining
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
