Hugh Possingham
Professor; Queensland Chief Scientist
Department of Environment and Science
Hugh.Possingham@chiefscientist.qld.gov.au
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
Professor; Queensland Chief Scientist
Department of Environment and Science
Hugh.Possingham@chiefscientist.qld.gov.au
Professor Hugh Possingham is a conservation scientist and mathematician who has held positions in the university, public and not-for profit sectors. He is a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
Hugh completed his PhD at Oxford University in 1987 as a Rhodes Scholar and was most recently the Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organisation operating in 79 countries.
A winner of two Eureka Prizes, his most significant contribution to conservation was the co-development of Marxan, software first used to rezone the Great Barrier Reef, and now used in almost every country in the world to inform the expansion of their marine and terrestrial protected area systems.
Hugh has worked with all levels of government and many not-for-profit organisations, pro bono, to improve the state of Australia’s threatened species and habitats. He is currently on the board of directors of BirdLife Australia.
He has supervised over 200 honours students, doctoral candidates and postdoctoral fellows.
He has published >650 peer-reviewed publications, >30 in Nature and Science.
The most extensive reef survey of the Coral Sea Marine Park ever undertaken will continue this week as scientists from ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (Coral C
Scientists have used modern genetic techniques to prove age-old assumptions about what sizes of fish to leave in the sea to preserve the future of local fisheries. “We’ve known for decades that
Scientists say outdated assumptions around gender continue to hinder effective and fair policymaking and action for climate mitigation and adaptation. Lead author of a new study, Dr Jacqueline Lau
For the first time, scientists have assessed how many corals there are in the Pacific Ocean—and evaluated their risk of extinction. While the answer to “how many coral species are there?” is
Abstract: Neonate sharks experience high predation during early ontogeny. For this reason, predator avoidance is the major driver of shallow-water habitat use in neonate sharks. When a predator encoun
Abstract: Humans have been harvesting predators and other creatures from the global oceans for millennia. More recently, conservation measures, such as marine reserves, have been established to restor
Abstract: We frequently hear about demise and decline in fisheries systems. This narrative can inadvertently shift thefocus of research and funding away from the opportunities and benefits avail
Abstract: Multiple habitats in a tropical seascape are increasingly recognized as interconnected to one another. Mangroves, seagrass beds, and macroaglal beds are important components of a tropical se
Abstract: Current conservation goals for reef-building corals under climate change involve boosting desirable traits like heat tolerance and fast growth in natural and restored coral populations. This
Abstract: Coral reefs are threatened by local and global stressors, and critical to managing corals for persistence is understanding the components of how coral populations resist and recover from st
Abstract: The vast majority of reef fishes have a life history consisting of a pelagic larval phase of typically 20 to 60 days, followed by larval settlement where they remain through their juvenile a
Abstract: Social networks have been and remain important across the Pacific Islands, and beyond, for building and maintaining social-ecological resilience. However, there is little quantitative infor
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