Researchers
Students
Alumni
ManagementKatie Sievers
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
Katie grew up in California, and began her marine biology career as an undergraduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and learned to dive in the cold water of the Channel Islands. After a few years of diligently volunteering, Katie received an opportunity to go to Moorea, French Polynesia as a field assistant. That experience solidified her desire to continue on the marine biology path. After finishing her undergraduate career, she began her Masters research at San Diego State University in the fish ecology lab. Her research combined field work, remote sensing, and spatial analysis to explore how the spatial configuration of kelp forest rocky reef habitat alters fish population dynamics. Upon completing her masters, Katie returned to the tropics and received a US Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in the Philippines. There, she was introduced to JCU researchers, and was inspired to use the Fulbright as a jumping off point to begin her PhD. Working with Prof Garry Russ and Dr. Rene Abesamis, Katie is exploring the effects of multiple habitats types on tropical reef fish population and community dynamics, and is particularly interested in how multiple habitat types may alter coral reef No-Take Marine Reserve performance in the Philippines.
An international team of scientists has found leaving more big fish in the sea reduces the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the Earth’s atmosphere. When a fish dies in the ocean it si
Australian scientists have discovered a massive detached coral reef just off Cape York on the Great Barrier Reef that’s taller than the Empire State Building or the Sydney Tower. The scientists f
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
Abstract: Increasing human populations around the world’s coastline have caused extensive loss, degradation and fragmentation of coastal ecosystems. Swift losses of coastal ecosystems have been rec
Abstract: CHE is not a particular theory or a single approach but a collection of lines of research that address human-environmental interactions in coastal and marine systems at the local scale
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
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