Earth and Environmental Science Staff
Associate Professor Alana Grech
Head, Earth and Environmental Science
Alana Grech applies conservation biogeography theory and spatial technologies, such as geographic information systems (GIS), network analysis, biophysical models and reserve design software, to inform the management of Australia's coasts.
MORE DETAILS
Dr. Alex McCoy-West
DECRA Researcher; Lecturer, Exploration Geochemistry
Dr. Alex McCoy-West research focuses on using a wide range of geochemical tools to understand the processes involved in the formation, differentiation and evolution of the terrestrial planets and their major geochemical reservoirs. He is a geologist and geochemist with expertise in a large range of radiogenic (Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb-Os) and novel stable (Fe, Zn, Mo, and Nd) isotope systems.
MORE DETAILS
Associate Professor Amy Diedrich
Senior Lecturer, Environmental Social Science
Amy's research and teaching relate to the human dimensions of conservation, livelihoods, and natural resource management, with an emphasis on coastal and marine environments.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Espen Knutsen
Senior Lecturer, Palaeontology
I am the Senior Curator of Palaeontology at JCU and the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville. I have a special interest in the diversity, evolution and ecology of Mesozoic reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and dinosaurs.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Han She Lim
Lecturer, Hydrology
Han She researches the hydrological processes of tropical catchments, include stormwater remediation using low impact development techniques and flood hydrology.
Dr Helen McCoy-West
Lecturer, Igneous Petrology
Helen is an igneous petrologist and economic geologist with a research interest in the relationship between magmatism and ore deposit formation. Her research focuses on petrology, geochemistry, and geochronology.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Ioan Sanislav
Lecturer, Economic Geology
Sanislav's research interest is in structural geology and tectonics with a focus on field geology, structural controls on mineralized systems and the tectonic evolution of Proterozoic and Archean terranes.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Jane Addison
Senior Lecturer, Environmental Social Science
Dr Addison is a social-ecological systems scientist, and lecturer. Her current research interests include environmental/social and economic trade-offs in development and development futures.
MORE DETAILS
Associate Professor Karen Joyce
Associate Professor, Remote Sensing
Research interest is in creating, applying and automating remote sensing tools for environmental monitoring and management problems. Her approach is to optimise models for rapid quantitative information extraction and communication purposes.
MORE DETAILS
Associate Professor Lisa Law
Geographer
Lisa Law is interested in the politics of urban spaces in Southeast Asia and tropical Australia. Her research includes the meanings of public space, and the politics/governance of the tropical built environment.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Melanie Finch
Senior Lecturer, Structural Geology
Melanie is a structural geologist and metamorphic petrologist focusing on metasomatism in ductile shear zones. Her current research focus is on the migration of ore-forming fluids in crustal shear zones and metasomatism and deformation in subduction channels.
MORE DETAILS
Professor Michael Bird
Isotope Geochemist
Michael worked in Canada, Singapore and Scotland prior to joining JCU in 2009 as an ARC Federation Fellow. His research interests include the terrestrial carbon cycle, biochar, geoarchaeology and environmental change in the tropics.
MORE DETAILS
Associate Professor Paul Nelson
Soil Scientist
Paul's research focus is on understanding the processes determining soil condition, runoff water quality and greenhouse gas balance in tropical agricultural systems, and assessing ways of improving them.
MORE DETAILS
Associate Professor Scott Smithers
Geomorphologist
Scott's current research focuses on the geomorphology of coral reefs and reef islands, where I enjoy working on multi-disciplinary research projects with both theoretical and applied outcomes.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Stephanie Duce
Spatial Scientist
Dr Duce uses geospatial technologies, such as remote sensing, to examine and understand patterns in the environment, particularly coral reefs, and the physical and social processes that drive them.
MORE DETAILS
Research and Adjunct staff
Adjunct Emeritus Bob Henderson
Adjunct
Bob Henderson has over 40 years of experience working on Australian geology, with a focus on the regional geology of Queensland. His research interests span from tectonics, sedimentology and basin studies to invertebrate palaeontology.
Professor Bob Wasson
Adjunct, Geomorphologist
Bob Wasson has research interests in desert dunefield evolution, Quaternary paleoclimate, alluvial landscape dynamics, mass movements, land use impacts on river catchments, and is currently focused on extreme floods and their mitigation in Australia, India and Thailand.
Dr Brandon Mahan
Lecturer, Geochemistry
Brandon's research includes macro-structural geology, experimental petrology and planetary-cosmo chemistry. Currently he is applying these skills and experiences towards building and cultivating these research initiatives within JCU.
MORE DETAILS
Associate Professor Carl Spandler
Economic Geology Research Centre (EGRU)
Spandler uses petrology and geochemistry to research aspects of the evolution of the Earth’s crust and mantle, and the formation of metalliferous ore deposits. His areas of expertise include hydrothermal fluid geochemistry.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Cassandra Rowe
Research fellow
Rowe researches long-term environmental dynamics and human-environmental relationships within monsoonal regions, understanding vegetation composition, distribution and change with emphasis on tropical-savanna landscapes and island flora.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Colin MacGregor
Adjunct Research Fellow
Colin's research uses a variety of social science methodologies to deliver sustainable outcomes, particularly at local and regional levels and in natural resource dependent communities.
MORE DETAILS
Associate Professor David King
Director, Centre for Disaster Studies
David King is an Associate Professor of Geography at JCU. He is Director of both the Centre for Disaster Studies, and the Centre for Tropical Urban and Regional Planning.
MORE DETAILS
Professor Eric Roberts
Adjunct
Eric Roberts is a clastic sedimentologist with research expertise in facies mapping and identification, sedimentary provenance, core logging, stratigraphy, U-Pb zircon geochronology, petroleum geology palaeontology and regional correlation.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Jasmine Jaffrés
Adjunct, Hydroclimatologist
Jasmine is a hydroclimatologist and applications programmer. She has a keen interest in research related to extreme weather events (e.g. floods, tropical cyclones, bushfires), streamflow properties and data quality.
MORE DETAILS
Professor Jeff Sayer
Adjunct
Jeff leads a team researching development patterns in tropical countries. Recent work has focused on landscape transitions provoked by infrastructure investments, particularly in Indonesia.
Professor Jonathan Nott
Adjunct, Geomorphologist
Jon Nott is interested in reconstructing long-term natural records of tropical cyclone, tsunami and river flood impacts using sedimentological and geochemical techniques. He also undertakes research into long-term landscape and drainage evolution across Australia over the past 180 million years.
Dr Katie Sievers
Research Fellow, Marine Ecology
Katie is a marine spatial ecologist and Research Fellow with the Livelihoods Lab at the Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA). Currently, her role focuses on marine spatial planning practices in the Philippines and building the capacity of civil society organisations to use spatially explicit data to help better manage their marine and maritime resources.
Professor Kevin Parnell
Adjunct, Geomorphologist
Kevin Parnell is a Research Professor at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. He is a coastal geomorphologist with a particular interest in coastal management and community (particularly indigenous) engagement. He is a member of the Baltic Earth Science Steering Group, and his current research focuses on the Baltic Sea and other marginal seas. He maintains an interest in open coastal beaches and coral reefs in Australia and New Zealand.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Mike Rubenach
Adjunct
Mike Rubenach is an igneous and metamorphic petrologist with expertise in field mapping, petrography, metamorphism of the Mount Isa Inlier, and the petrology of skarns.
Dr Neils Munksgaard
Senior research fellow
Mungsgaard develops portable instruments for field-based analysis of stable isotopes (H, C, O) in water, soil and other environmental samples. He has built world-first gadgets that help provide insights into global water and carbon cycling.
Professor Paul Dirks
Adjunct
Dirks has an interest in geodynamics and the tectonic history of cratonic terrains and adjacent mobile belts, investigating their tectonic evolution and associated mineralization patterns. His research focuses on detailed geological mapping.
MORE DETAILS
Peter Whitehead
Lecturer
Peter Whitehead studies Cenozoic volcanology of Eastern Australia, in particular in relation to volcanic landforms and landscape evolution.
Dr Robin Beaman
Research Fellow
Beaman uses ocean mapping science required to unlock the secrets of Australia's underwater landscape. Ocean mapping science can help reveal the geological origin of the seafloor and explain the distribution of seabed habitats.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Ryan Orr
Adjunct
Ryan Orr is a chemist and soil scientist. His research focuses on minimizing the impacts of Panama disease in North Queensland by managing soil abiotic characteristics, and the use of fertilisers for micronutrient control.
MORE DETAILS
Dr Yetta Gurtner
Adjunct Human Geographer
Yetta is a social scientist interested in proactive planning, capacity assessments and an integrated approach to enhance resilience for more sustainable livelihoods (post-disaster and climate change scenarios).
MORE DETAILS
Prof Zhaoshan Chang
Adjunct Professor
Zhaoshan is an economic geologist and has studied a wide spectrum of mineral systems, including skarn-, porphyry-, epithermal-, IOCG- deposits, W-Sn, and sediment-hosted gold deposits in 19 countries. He works closely with the mineral industry on exploration-oriented research projects, looking for far field signals, discriminators and zoning patterns in mineralogy, textures, spectral features, whole rock and mineral geochemistry, and isotopic compositions that can be directly used in exploration.