Researchers
Students
Alumni
ManagementJessica Stella
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
Jessica grew up near Boston in the USA and became passionate about marine science after she began diving in the chilly waters of the Eastern US. She spent a year living in Bermuda undertaking a double internship as an aquarist for the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo and conducting seagrass and coral baseline surveys as part of the BREAM Programme with the Bermuda Zoological Society. She also volunteered with the Bermuda Turtle Project tagging and collecting DNA from juvenile green turtles. She then moved to Townsville to complete a BSc (Honours) at JCU in 2008 and began her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Geoffrey Jones, Dr. Morgan Pratchett and Dr. Philip Munday from JCU, and collaborations with Dr. Pat Hutchings of the Australian Museum and Dr. Elvira Poloczanska of CSIRO. Her research aims to expand our taxonomic knowledge of reef invertebrate species, examine the level of habitat specialisation exhibited by many coral associated invertebrates and also to determine ! the effects that climate change may have on invertebrate biodiversity.
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
A new study suggests ‘dead’ coral rubble can still sustain life, with a large number of tiny animals hidden and living amongst the ruins. While the study does not suggest dead coral has the sam
A new study on coral evolution has found climates similar to what we’re seeing today have previously devastated hard-bodied corals—the architects of coral reefs—while making way for their softer
Researchers have discovered a new way to measure the complexity of the world’s habitats—a crucial factor as environments across the globe face extraordinary change. The study was led by Damaris T
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
Abstract: Coral reefs are among the most diverse and productive ecosystem's worldwide, but their future is threatened by a host of anthropogenic disturbances. To protect reefs and their services to hu
Abstract: Differentiating the relative contribution of host genetic background and surrounding environment on microbiome structure is critical to assess how microbial associations are determined and t
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