The Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) is based at James Cook University (JCU), Australia's leading tropical research university.
Our mission is to promote cutting-edge ecological and environmental research in the tropics, and the wise management, conservation and sustainable use of tropical terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, in Australia and internationally.
Latest news
TESS's Damien Paris and team have discovered that tropical heat is no good for the love life of pigs
Summer infertility continues to undermine pig productivity, costing the pig industry millions in annual losses.
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Drought experiment led by TESS’s Susan Laurance celebrated along with Daintree Rainforest Crane
This week marks the twentieth birthday for the towering crane that stands at the heart of James Cook University’s Daintree Rainforest Observatory (DRO) at Cape Tribulation
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Tessian's Fabio Roque and Yoko Ishida proposes the importance of monitoring Networks to evaluate biodiversity conservation in Brazil
A brief review of ongoing Brazilian national initiatives that would allow the construction of a general biomonitoring network scheme in protected areas; with additional focus on linking independent monitoring schemes.
Read the articleEcological and environmental research for the Tropics
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Researchers
TESS researchers currently number over 60, drawn from four JCU Colleges and affiliated members from other institutions.
1,100
Publications
Our collaborations are global. Our publications reach high-impact journals, such as Science and Nature.
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Facilities
JCU has well equipped field stations and analytical facilities close to two World Heritage reef and rainforest areas and a range of drier tropical savannas.
Outstanding Research
TESS research addresses the pressing, complex, trans-disciplinary and interconnected issues of S3D – Sustainability Science and Sustainable Development – across the tropical world
JCU is the only Australian university to receive the highest ranking of 5 (well above World Standard) in Environmental Science and Management in the Australian Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) assessment for every round.
JCU's unique location enables researchers and students from Australia and overseas to work in a diverse physical environment unparalleled by any university in the world. Nowhere else is it possible to visit reef, rainforest and savanna in a single day, returning to world-class laboratory facilities in a vibrant and attractive tropical city.
