Researchers
Students
Alumni
ManagementWiebke Wessels
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
Wiebke was born and raised in Hannover, Germany. Very early she decided that she wants to work as a marine biologist. For her undergraduate studies, Wiebke therefore moved to Bremen to study Biology with a focus on Marine Biology. She conducted the research for her Bachelor Thesis on the oxygen consumption rates in gill tissue of the Ocean quahog Arctica islandica under hypoxia at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in Bremerhaven. While studying in France for a year duing high school, she learnt to enjoy living abroad. So after graduating from the University of Bremen, Wiebke took the chance to complete the first year of her Master Studies in Marine Biology at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao. Following her year in China, Wiebke continued her studies at the University of Bremen and started her Master Thesis on gene expression patterns in the Ocean quahog Arctica islandica under hypoxia/anoxia and reoxygenation at the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology in Kiel.
During her volunteer work for coral spawning, she became aware of and interested in the different developmental strategies of corals at the GBR. In 2012 Wiebke started her PhD under the supervision of Dr David Miller focussing on transcriptomic analysis of hard and soft coral developement.
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
Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen biodiversity pattern of coral reef fishes that suggests some fishes might be exceptionally vulnerable to environmental change. A new study shows plank
Scientists say stable seafood consumption amongst the world’s poorer coastal communities is linked to how local habitat characteristics influence fishing at different times of the year. In the co
An international group of scientists is predicting markedly different outcomes for different species of coral reef fishes under climate change – and have made substantial progress on picking the ‘
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
Abstract: The global conservation community is comprised of a range of organisations, processes, and professionals. Given the diversity of these actors, and the complexity of the systems that conser
Abstract: Seasons create a rhythm in nature and, by extension, in the lives of people who depend directly on natural resources. However, our understanding of how seasons affect the ways that people
Abstract: Oceanic shark populations have declined 77% over the past 60 years as a result of overexploitation in fisheries. However, sustainable shark management is limited to a few developed nations
Abstract: Vertigo3 is a new class of small, fast and agile ‘true-flight’ underwater glider, purposely designed for robotic, artificial intelligence-assisted broadscale marine surveys, and capable
Abstract: Recurrent marine heat waves are leading to widespread coral bleaching, transforming the structure and function of tropical coral reefs. Past bleaching events have highlighted large variatio
Abstract: Shallow-water tropical seascapes typically include a range of habitat types such as coral reefs, mangroves, macroalgal and seagrass beds. These habitats can occur in close proximity and are
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