Researchers
Students
Alumni
ManagementJennifer Wilmes
PhD candidate
James Cook University
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
Jennifer completed her degree in Biological Sciences at the Free University of Brussels (Belgium). She attended the BIOMAR marine biology laboratory for six months, where she wrote her final year thesis on the biodiversity of Antarctic starfish. She continued to display her passion for the marine environment through various roles: as marine research officer in Madagascar, marine environmental consultant in the United Kingdom and crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) diver in Australia. From 2014 to 2016, she spent more than 450 days at sea working with the CoTS control program on the Great Barrier Reef. This position provided her with ample opportunities to observe and study crown-of-thorns starfish in their natural environment and set in motion her PhD on juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish. Jennifer hopes that her research will contribute to our understanding of crown-of-thorns starfish population dynamics and inform management control actions. She is conducting her PhD under the supervision of Morgan Pratchett, Andrew Hoey and Vanessa Messmer.
A new study of the Great Barrier Reef shows populations of its small, medium and large corals have all declined in the past three decades. Lead author Dr Andy Dietzel, from the ARC Centre of Excell
Scientists have found that as the world undergoes profound environmental change, identifying and protecting ‘novel’ communities of species can help prevent extinctions within vulnerable ecosystems
Scientists say a ‘portfolio’ of protected areas within marine parks such as the Great Barrier Reef can help secure sustainable fish populations. Dr Hugo Harrison from the ARC Centre of Excellen
Scientists have developed a new genetic tool that can help them better understand and ultimately work to save coral reefs. “Surprisingly, we still don’t know how many coral species live on the
Abstract: How can we care about something we never see or experience? Virtual reality has the potential to connect people with far-away places, and is an effective medium to generate empathy and sel
Abstract: When abundant, seabirds feeding in the open ocean transport large quantities of nutrients onto islands, enhancing the productivity of island fauna and flora. These nutrients can leach int
Abstract: Current-day populations of coral reef fish suffer when exposed acutely to elevated temperatures, but future warming will occur over greater timescales. Recent studies show that developmenta
Abstract: There is often a mismatch between the scales at which ecosystems are threatened by human impacts and those at which management and policy are implemented. Better understanding the scales ov
Abstract: Ocean warming and acidification are challenging the tolerance limits of scleractinian corals. However, beneficial acclimation and stress-hardening via phenotypic plasticity may be pathw
Abstract: Globally, coral reefs are under threat. Unfortunately, the rate of ecosystem degradation often surpasses the rate of generation of knowledge required to support management. Despite the consi
Abstract: Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing threatens resource sustainability and equity. A major challenge with such activity is that most fishing vessels do not broadcast their positions
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