Skip to Content (Press Enter)

Professor Michael Kingsford

Head of School

Professor Michael Kingsford

Professor and Head of School of Marine and Tropical Biology (2007-Current)

Professor and Head of School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University (2001-2006)

Associate Professor 1999-2001

Senior Lecturer, 1993-1999

Lecturer 1987-1992, University of Sydney

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sydney 1987.

BSc Canterbury University, MSc (Hons), PhD University of Auckland.

Member of the: American Society for Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Australian Coral Reef Society, Australian Society of Fish Biology, Australian Marine Science Society, Ecological Society of America, International Advisory Committee for the Great Barrier Reef Foundation; International Coral Reef Society.

Research Interests

  • Biological Oceanography

  • Fish ecology and conservation

  • Elemental records in marine organisms

The focus of my research is on fishes of all stages of life history; their population dynamics, where they live and the organisms they interact with in pelagic and reef environments.

My major areas of research over the last 5 years can be divided into the following programs: biological oceanography (with special reference to presettlement fishes); pelagic ecology and fisheries with a focus on fish attraction devices (FADs) and large jellyfishes; population dynamics of reef fishes; interactions between reef fish and organisms associated with reefs; the use of microchemistry to elucidate the environmental conditions experienced by fishes (especially those related to pollution) and the connectivity of populations of fishes.

Recent and Current Projects Include

  • Accumulation of presettlement coral reef fishes near reefs.

  • The influence of ENSO on the population dynamics of temperate and tropical reef fishes.

  • Population ecology of cubozoan jellyfish.

  • Elemental chemistry for biomonitoring and the movements of fish.

  • Upwelling on coral reefs.

Recent and Currently Supervised Projects

  • Population structure of cobozoan jellyfish.

  • Isotopes, early life history and potential self-recruitment of coral reef fishes.

  • Reseeding for the enhancement of abalone stocks in NSW

  • Retention areas and influence they have on coral reef assemblages.

  • The utility of jellyfish as biomonitors.

Future PhD Directions

  • Elemental fingerprints for stock identification and for determining levels of connectivity among populations.

  • Ecology and sensory biology of presettlement reef fish.

  • The influence of oceanography on the survival of presettlement reef fishes.

  • Upwelling and how this influences coral reef assemblages.

Teaching

MB1110

Introductory Marine Science

MB2090

Tropical Marine Ecosystems

MB3050/MB5055

Biological Oceanography

MB3059

Biological Oceanography (Advanced)

Selected Publications

Kingsford, M.J., Battershill, C.N. (1998) Studying temperate marine environments: a handbook for ecologists. University of Canterbury Press, Christchurch, 344pp

Kingsford, M.J., Pitt, K.A, Gillanders, B.M. (2000) Management of jellyfish fisheries, with special reference to the O. Rhizostomeae. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev.38: 85-156

Kingsford, M.J. Hughes, J.M. (2005) Patterns of growth, mortality and demographics of a tropical damselfish Acanthochromis polyacanthus across the central Great Barrier Reef continental shelf. Fish. Bull. 103: 561-573

Patterson HM, Kingsford MJ, McCulloch MT (2005) Resolution of the early life history of a reef fish using otolith chemistry. Coral Reefs 24: 222-229

Gerlach, G., J. Atema, Kingsford, M.J. Black, K. P., Miller-Sims, V. (2007). Smelling home can prevent dispersal of reef fish larvae. Proceeding of the National Academy of Science, US 104: 858-863.

Pitt, Kylie A. Michael J. Kingsford, David Rissik, Klaus Koop (2007) The influence of pulses of nutrients on planktonic assemblages in the presence and absence of large predatory jellyfish. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 35: 1-13 (selected as Special Feature Article for December 2007)

Contact Details

Professor Michael Kingsford

Campus: Townsville

Phone: +61 7 4781 4345

Fax: +61 7 4725 1570

Email: Michael.Kingsford@jcu.edu.au

Note: Please direct all enquiries through Ms Rose-Marie Vasiljuk (P. A.)
rosemarie.vasiljuk@jcu.edu.au or phone: +61 7 4781 4345