Seminar Series
The School of Marine and Tropical Biology holds a seminar series given by staff, students, and visitors to the school, at James Cook University. These seminars provide a key forum both for intellectual interaction as well as connecting with colleagues.
There are two main seminar series:
The Marine and Tropical Biology seminar in Townsville (Tuesdays at midday), and
The ‘TESS’ seminar in Cairns (Wednesdays at 4 PM).
The seminars are always videolinked to the other campus.
The MTB Seminar series in Townsville is a collaboration between several major Research Centres in Townsville: The Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change (CTBCC);The Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA); The Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER); and CSIRO/JCU's Tropical Landscape Joint Venture. |
TESS is our nascent Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science at JCU-Cairns and is designed for EVERYONE interested in the terrestrial environment. Our weekly talks are great opportunity to meet and interact with your colleagues, and they are also video-linked to Townsville. |
Contacts
For more information contact the seminar organisers:
Bill Laurance (Cairns) | Ben Phillips (Townsville) |
Email: bill.laurance@jcu.edu.au | Email: ben.phillips1@jcu.edu.au |
Latest Seminars 2013
TESS Seminar - Cairns 4pm Wednesday, 22nd May 2013 Dr Oscar Venter, ARC Postdoctoral Fellow TESS Seminar - Cairns 15th May 2013 Professor William F. Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor & Australian Laureate Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 12noon Tuesday, 14th May 2013 TESS Seminar - Cairns 8th May 2013 Dr Justin Welbergen, Senior Research Fellow, JCU Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change Research Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 7th May 2013 TESS Seminar - Cairns 1st May 2013 Dr David Gaveau, The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Java, Indonesia Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 30th April 2013 TESS Seminar - Cairns 24th April 2013 Dr Carly Cook, Research Fellow University of Melbourne Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 23rd April 2013 TESS Seminar - Cairns 17th April 2013 Shawn Wilder, DECRA Fellow & Lecturer, University of Sydney Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 16th April 2013 TESS Seminar - Cairns 10th April 2013 Damian Morrant, TESS & JCU School of Marine and Tropical Biology Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 9th April 2013 TESS Seminar - Cairns 27th March 2013 Professor Rick Shine, Australian Laureate University of Sydney Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 26th March 2013 TESS Seminar - Cairns 20th March 2013 Professor Pieter Zuidema, Wageningen University, Netherlands TESS Seminar - Cairns 13th March 2013 Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 12th March 2013 Dr. Luis O. Tedeschi, Texas A&M University TESS Seminar - Cairns 6th March 2013 Sizzle Seminar - Townsville 5th March 2013 Ben Phillips, Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, JCU Townsville
Mapping conservation and habitat degradation at the planetary scale
Presented from: JCU Cairns A21.002, Videolink to Townsville Audiovisual Services Room 002
The perils of roads in tropical frontiers
Watch the Video of this SeminarProfessor Lucy Wyatt, Director of the Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (ACORN)
Applications of HF radar to Marine Biology
Presented from: JCU Townsville - DB23-038, Videolink to Cairns - E2.111.
The impacts of extreme events on biodiversity – lessons from die-offs in flying foxes
Watch the Video of this SeminarProfessor Rob Magrath, ANU
Ecological information webs: alarm calls and interspecific eavesdropping
Can logging and forest conservation be reconciled? The case of Borneo
Watch the Video of this SeminarAtte Moilanen, Conservation Biology Informatics Group (C-BIG), University of Helsinki.
Target-based systematic conservation planning and alternative strategies for conservation
Does evidence contribute to environmental decisions?
Watch the Video of this SeminarDr Bob O'Hara, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BIK-F), Frankfurt, Germany
Ecological Statistics: how to make the most of a typical mess.
Nutrition, mutualisms, and the invasion of imported red fire ants in the USAProfessor Craig Moritz, ARC Laureate Fellow
Prevalence and relevance of deep phylogeographic structure in the tropics.
Land use by wild dogs in coastal lowlands of the Wet Tropics
Watch the Video of this SeminarDr. Andrew Brooks, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University
Sediment budget modelling in the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia; the critical importance of empirical data
Invasive cane toads in Australia: the ecological and evolutionary impacts of a big frog in a strange landDr Anastasia Dalziell, The Australian National University
Why lyrebirds mimic
Global change and tropical forests: new approaches for new insights
Watch the Video of this SeminarWilliam F. Laurance, TESS & Marine and Tropical Biology JCU
The hottest of the biodiversity hotspots
Watch the Video of this Seminar
The Role of Models to Support Research in Animal Science: A Sustainable Perspective
Watch the Video of this SeminarSean Ulm, Future Fellow, Deputy Director of TESS, JCU School of Arts and Social Sciences
Culture, Climate, Change: The Wellesley Archipelago, Southern Gulf of Carpentaria
Watch the Video of this Seminar
The evolutionary ecology of range shift
TESS Seminar - Cairns | 27th February 2013 |
| Ben Phillips, Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, JCU Townsville Fire and toads: models for management in northern Australia Watch the Video of this Seminar | |
Sizzle Seminar - Townsville | 26th February 2013 |
Dr Moran Segoli, CSIRO | |
Sizzle Seminar - Townsville | 13th February 2013 |
| Dr Corrie Moreau, Chicago Field Museum of natural History Ants, Plants, and Bacteria: A Tale of Evolutionary Diversification Presented From: Townsville ATSIP Conference Room 026 and Video linked to: Cairns A21.001 | |
Seminar Recordings 2012
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 24th October 2012 |
Professor Richard J. Hobbs, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 17th October 2012 |
Dr David P. Edwards, TESS & School of Marine and Tropical Biology, JCU Cairns Biodiversity conservation, carbon restoration and carbon-friendly farming in the Tropical Andes | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 10th October 2012 |
Dr Sean Sloan, James Cook University, Australia Indonesia's moratorium on new forest licences: Farce or work-in-progress? | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 3rd October 2012 |
Umesh Srinivasan, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India Demographic responses of understorey birds to logging-induced habitat degradation | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 26th September 2012 |
Dr Frederieke Kroon, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences Reducing land-based sources of pollution to the Great Barrier Reef | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 19th September 2012 |
Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, Distinguished Professor and Tropical Leader, Australian Laureate Fellow, Director of Language and Culture Research Centre, JCU-Cairns Language, diversity and change: a view from north-west Amazonia | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 12th September 2012 |
Dr Richard Fuller, University of Queensland & CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences Climate Adaptation Flagship Dynamic conservation for a dynamic world | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 5th September 2012 |
Dr Philip Shearman, Director, Centre for Remote Sensing, University of Papua New Guinea Conservation Challenges in Papua New Guinea | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 29th August 2012 |
Dr Paul Nelson, Earth & Environmental Science, Cairns JCU Oil palm in Papua New Guinea: actual, ‘possible’ and ‘virtual’ expansion of the industry | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 22nd August 2012 |
Dr Ainhoa Magrach, Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) & School of Marine and Tropical Biology, JCU Cairns The impacts of habitat fragmentation on plant-animal interactions | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 15th August 2012 |
Professor David Greenwood, Brandon University, Canada Leaf size tracks seasonal precipitation, not annual totals in Australian seasonal tropical forests | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 23rd May 2012 |
Professor Marc Hockings, Director of Environmental Management, University of Queensland. The State of the World’s Parks? Assessing the Effectiveness of Protected Areas | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 16th May 2012 |
Prof. Jaboury Ghazoul, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland The resilience and rescue of critically endangered plants | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 9th May 2012 |
Professor Bob Pressey, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville The mismeasure of conservation | |
Townsville - MTB Seminar | 8th May 2012 |
AJAY NARENDRA, ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science Research School of Biology, The Australian National University Moving between day and night | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 2nd May 2012 |
Dr Rosemary Hill, CSIRO Indigenous peoples' biocultural diversity and World Heritage cultural landscapes: A study from the Wet Tropics | |
Townsville - MTB Seminar | 1st May 2012 |
Dr Cynthia Riginos, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland Reproductive strategies of reef fishes predict both within-species genetic differentiation and within-family species richness | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 11th April 2012 |
Betsy Yaap, TESS & School of Marine and Tropical Biology, JCU-Cairns Mammals and Acacia Plantations: Making the most of a rapidly changing landscape in Sumatra | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 4th April 2012 |
Professor Steve Turton, James Cook University Likely Effects of Climate Change on Australian Native Forests and Plantations: Can We Adapt? | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 28th March 2012 |
Dr Chris Margules, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, JCU Sustainable development and biodiversity conservation | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 21st March 2012 |
Brett Scheffers, Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore A frog’s eye view of forest canopies | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 14th March 2012 |
Professor Barry Brook, One of Australia’s most eminent ecologists and a global expert on climate change and energy issues Systems modelling for synergistic ecological climate dynamics | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 7th March 2012 |
William F. Laurance, Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) & School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns Assaulting avarice: Combating World Growth International and its anti-environmental allies? | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 29th February 2012 |
Ian Craigie, ARC Centre for Coral Reef Excellence How effective are Africa's protected areas for conservation? | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 22nd February 2012 |
Gopalasamy Reuben Clements, Centre of Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns Center for Malaysian Indigenous Studies, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The road half-travelled | |
Seminar Recordings 2011
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 26th October 2011 |
Dr Michael Zimmerman, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, JCU Soil carbon decomposition along tropical forest gradients | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 19th October 2011 |
Wouter Dieleman and Michelle Venter, JCU School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Digging dirt and hugging trees: Carbon stocks in Papua New Guinea and implications for future C stock management | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 12th October 2011 |
Dr Tony Lynam, Wildlife Conservation Society Securing a future for tigers in Indochina | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 5th October 2011 |
Dennis P Garrity, Director General, World Agroforestry Centre Creating an Evergreen Double-Story Agriculture in Africa for Food Security with Environmental Resilience | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 28th September 2011 |
Dr Dave Westcott, CSIRO Tropical Landscapes Why are flying-foxes so successful, so difficult, so interesting... why oh why oh why oh why... | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 21st September 2011 |
Dr Susan Laurance, School of Marine and Tropical Biology JCU Climate impacts on tropical rainforests | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 14th September 2011 |
Professor Bob Stevenson, The Cairns Institute, JCU Relationships between educational experiences and environmental sensibilities: Insights from new research | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 7th September 2011 |
Professor Jon Lloyd, Professorial Research Fellow, James Cook University. Soils as important modulators of tropical vegetation structure and function | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 31st August 2011 |
Dr Daniel J Metcalfe, Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Atherton. Fragment futures – what is the future for lowland forest fragments, and can their past and the present help us understand it? | |
Cairns - TESS Seminar | 24th August 2011 |
Penny van Oosterzee Biodiversity and Climate Change: The Sad Saga of Carbon Offsets | |
18th May 2011 Noel Preece, Ecologist, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow JCU Earth & Environmental Sciences; 25+ years in environmental management, and biodiversity, conservation and carbon sequestration research in tropical and arid regions. Restoring rainforests cheaply for Carbon and Biodiversity – the Thiaki experiment | |
27th April 2011 Sarah Fann, Fullbright Statistics for fish abundance and diversity on several coral reef systems. | |
20th April 2011 Dr Keith Brander, Technical University of Denmark Reconciling biodiversity conservation and marine capture fisheries production. | |
13th April 2011 Associate Professor Andrew Krockenberger, James Cook University Conservation of tree kangaroos in New Guinea. | |
SPECIAL SEMINAR | 28th March 2011 |
Claudia Faustino, Scottish Oceans Institute Bio-logging science into management policy. | |
23rd March 2011 Professor Bob Pressey, James Cook University Towards effective protected areas: the imperative of linking regional-scale design and local-scale action. | |
16th March 2011 Professor Bill Laurance, James Cook University The Environmental Impacts of Roads, Hunting, and Logging on African Tropical Wildlife. | |
9th March 2011 Associate Professor Kirsten Heimann, James Cook University Microalgal Carbon Sequestration and Recycling Potential – a Carbon Emission Reduction Tool for Coal-Fired Power Stations. | |


