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School of Marine and Tropical Biology - Townsville
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Welcome to James Cook University,
School of Marine and Tropical Biology

The University

JCU is a tri-campus University that has a total enrolment of 18,000 students on all campuses, mainly in Townsville (11,500 students), Cairns (3,600 students), Singapore (2,800 students) and 1,470 staff.It provides courses that cater for local regions and for a strong international clientele.It is recognised internationally for its undergraduate, postgraduate and research programs in Biological Sciences.

The School

The School takes the lead in maintaining and enhancing the University’s international profile.The School’s strategic intent is to be the leading research and education centre for the study of biology in the tropics.To this end it aims to expand knowledge and understanding of biology through excellence in research and teaching, with a focus on tropical systems.With its immense biodiversity, in marine and terrestrial environments, we consider north Queensland to be one of the best places in the world to study whole organism biology and ecology.

School of Marine and Tropical Biology

School Profile

  • Head of School – Professor Mike Kingsford

  • Three disciplines representing our major research and teaching foci:

    • Aquaculture (Head: Assoc. Professor Dean Jerry)

    • Marine Biology (Head: Professor Mike Kingsford; alternate Professor Garry Russ)

    • Tropical Biology (Head: Assoc. Professor Simon Robson);

  • 40 academic staff, 82 research staff, plus 87 Adjunct and Associate staff (including one ARC Professorial Laureate) and 14 Professional and technical staff;

  • All three disciplines are represented at the Townsville campus and Tropical Biology is represented at the Cairns Campus.In Cairns we have eight academic staff and multiple researchers with a primary focus of Rain Forest biology and ecology;

  • Deputy Head of School in Townsville Professor Lin Schwarzkopf;

  • Deputy Head of School in Cairns Dr Will Edwards;

  • July 2012 statistics were as follows:there is a total of 1,824 students in the School (1,328 in Townsville,515 at our Cairns campus and 30 in Singapore);

  • We have about 229 study abroad students who spend one semester at JCU;

  • 353 postgraduate students including 188 research MSc or PhD students; 60% of research students are international students from the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Pacific;

  • Outstanding publication rate (~350 items in the last year) and the highest at JCU; many articles were published in A* journals;

  • JCU leads other Australian Universities in the areas of Ecology and Environment;

  • In 2011, JCU got the highest ranking in Australia for a recent research audit over the last five years (ERA) in the areas of Environmental Science and Fisheries; the School was the major contributor to this success;

  • Recent citation indices show that we have 4 of the top 10 authors in the world who focus on coral reef ecosystems;

  • Major contributor to two JCU Areas of Research Strength - Marine Science and Tropical Biology & Conservation;

  • A major contributor to the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies;

  • Professor Terry Hughes (currently Director of the Centre of Excellence) is one of a few Federation Fellows in Queensland;

  • We rank number two in the world for citations on Climate Change;

  • The School is contributing to four new Research Centres at JCU:

  • Represented in the Australian Academy of Science (by Professors Terry Hughes and Bob Pressey);

  • Greatest number of tropical courses and subjects of any institution in the world;

  • World recognised programs in aquaculture, marine biology, marine science, ecology and conservation;

  • We host visiting scientists from all over the world, especially: USA, UK, France, New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia;

  • Strong research collaborations with the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Australian Centre for Tropical freshwater Research (ACTFR) at JCU, Savanna and Desert Knowledge CRCs, etc.;

  • Excellent infrastructure for teaching and research including: the Advanced Analytical Centre, ACTFR Water Quality laboratory, Orpheus Island Research Station, the Marine biology and Aquaculture Research Facility (MARFU) aquarium/aquaculture complex on campus, the research vessel James Kirby (~14m long), the Daintree Rainforest Observatory and the Paluma forest research station.

  • The School undertakes commissioned research and collaborative projects for State and Federal government departments as well as local and international non-governmental agencies. Consultancies and enabling technologies are also done in collaboration with industry. For example, our aquaculture group presently pioneering research on using phytoplankton and macroalgae for biodiesel.

Thank you for your interest in this School.

Yours sincerely

Professor Michael Kingsford