Faculty of Science & Engineering


 

Professor Cocklin was a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, published in 2007. He was a member of Working Group III (Mitigation) and contributed to Chapter 12 – Sustainable Development and Mitigation. Professor Cocklin also served as an Expert Reviewer for Working Group II (Adaptation), as a reader of the chapters on Small Island States and on Australia and New Zealand. In 2008 he was appointed to the Queensland Premier’s Council on Climate Change. He is a Member of the Management Committee of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF).  
 
Professor Crozier is a researcher in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology and the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change and is interested in the area of the rapid assessment of large portions of the biodiversity using molecular methods such as DNA barcoding.  Most of these assessments have been made once per region - repeating the surveys every few years would give a powerful indicator of changing trends.  The method is suitable not only for larger creatures but also for cryptozoa.
 
Dr Congdon is a researcher in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology and has interests in changing ecosystem dynamics of rainforests in response to climate change. He has students examining the impact of cyclone frequency and intensity on palm populations, effect of changing carbon dioxide concentrations on water relations of rainforest hemiepiphytes, and the influence of climate on rainforest litter decomposition and nutrient cycling.  Previous student examined the implications of climate change for fruit phenology and frugivory in rainforests.
 
Dr Holtum is a researcher in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology.   He is investigating how increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and changing vapour pressure difference may affect the structure and composition of forest, epiphyte, woodland and semi-arid assemblages in northern Australia. Joe is affiliated with the NCCARF Terrestrial Biodiversity Network.
 
Dr Krockenberger is a researcher in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology and Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change working on physiological mechanisms involved in the impact of climate change on rainforest vertebrates, particularly folivorous marsupials. He is also affiliated with the NCCARF Terrestrial Biodiversity Network.
 
Dr Luly is a Senior Lecturer in The School of Earth & Environmental Sciences. Climate change adaptation research interests include carbon dynamics of coarse woody debris in Acacia dominated woodlands and management of changing fire regimes in Astrebla grasslands.
 
Dr Ritchie is a post-doctoral researcher in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology. He is currently working on assessing the functional role that dingoes play in maintaining Australia’s terrestrial biodiversity. Dr Ritchie is affiliated with the NCCARF Terrestrial Biodiversity Network. and collaborates with the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change.
 
Dr. Robson is a member of the Behavioural Ecology Lab in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology. He is currently working on altitudinal gradients and community resilience in the face of climate change, in three animal communities (bats, ants and carabids). Associate Professor Robson is also affiliated with theNCCARF Terrestrial Biodiversity Network.
 
Associate Professor Schwarzkopf is a researcher in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology. She is currently studying the evolutionary capacity for responding to climate change of tropical reptiles. Dr Schwarzkopf is also affiliated with the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change and the NCCARF Terrestrial Biodiversity Network.
 
Assoc Prof Sheaves is a permanent staff member in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology at James Cook University and research leader of the Coastal and Estuary Ecosystem Ecology Group. He is currently working on assessing the risks to tropical estuarine and coastal wetland nursery grounds stemming from climate change alteration in rainfall patterns and sea level rise.
 
Dr. Smithers is a coral reef geomorphologist in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.  He is currently working on reef and reef island responses to climate change and the implications for people and endangered species. Dr Smithers is also affiliated with the NCCARF Terrestrial Biodiversity Network.
 
 
Research Collaborations & Other Activities
 
Professor Crozier is collaborating with Dr P-M Agapow from The Institute for Animal Health in the UK on methods of rapidly applying phylogenetic diversity to conservation and with Dr M Alex Smith of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario on the use of DNA barcoding for rapid assessment of total biodiversity.
 
Dr Holtum is working with Dr Lucas Cernusak from Charles Darwin University; Professor Marilyn Ball from the Australian National University and Dr Klaus Winter from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama.
 
Dr Luly is collaborating with Professor Richard Williams, Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems in Darwin. Professor Williams is currently engaged in research on carbon dynamics of savanna landscapes, the interaction between traditional burning and carbon dynamics and the intricacies of property rights and carbon trading on Aboriginal land.
 
Dr Robson is collaborating with Dr Chris Burwell and Rudy Kohout of the Queensland Museum of Natural History, to investigate the effects of climate change on two ecologically diverse insect groups (ants and dung beetles).
 
Dr Schwarzkopf is collaborating with Professor Don Miles of Ohio University, USA, to investigate the evolutionary capacity for physiological adaptation to climate change in reptiles.
 
Dr Sheaves collaborates with Professor Pat Dale of Griffith University on the impact of climate change on physical connectivity in mangroves and other coastal wetlands throughout northern Australia and with Dr Norm Duke of University of Queensland on the impact of climate change on mangrove ecosystems throughout the Pacific.
 
Dr Smithers is working with Professor Colin Woodroffe from the School of Environmental and Earth Sciences at the University of Wollongong. They aim to advance understanding of coastal processes in the tropics to improve adaptation strategies in both developed and developing nations