James Cook University has two main campuses, the original site at Townsville and a new campus in Cairns. Contrary to some opinions neither Townsville nor Cairns are northern suburbs of Brisbane. Townsville is 1300 km north of Brisbane as the crow flies (about 1500 km by road). By air we are equidistant from Brisbane and Port Moresby. Situated at 19S, Townsville is firmly in the tropics, being further north of the Tropic of Capricorn than Brisbane is south. Cairns is about 1600 km north of Brisbane as the crow flies (about 1900 km by road). Cairns is significantly closer to New Guinea than to Brisbane.
Both Cairns and Townsville are youth-oriented cities. Despite being a long way from the major metropolitan centres there is an active and cosmopolitan entertainment scene. Both cities are on the major back-packer trail, which augments the demand for youth activity provided by the resident populations of tertiary students.
James Cook University's campuses at Townsville and Cairns are on Australia's internal air route backbone and are serviced by multiple flights each day. Both cities are also well serviced by long distance bus services.
Our Townsville campus is sited in typically Australian open woodland. Our Cairns campus is tucked under the rainforest of the MacAllister Range. Both campuses are host to an enormous variety of Australian fauna which often disconcerts non-biologists. Birds and butterflies are most obvious through the day, and evening workers often meet wallabies, bandicoots, dingos and echidnas.
We take full advantage of our locality, by the middle of the Great Barrier Reef, adjacent to tropical rainforests and savanna-lands, to work with the exciting animals and plants of these unique habitats.
Relative to other Australian universities most of our biology trained students, in whatever discipline, end up in interesting jobs in biology.
| Departments | Location | Teaching performance | employment opportunities | Research activities |