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 Noel Preece raises concerns rangers don’t receive the funding they deserve
Australia heavily relies on the work of Indigenous rangers to meet our conservation targets, but they’re being short-changed by federal government funding.
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TESS’s Damien Paris and team develop a supplement to mitigate heat damage to boars sperm
Antioxidant supplementation during tropical summer appears to mitigate the negative impact of heat stress on DNA integrity but not concentration nor motility of boar spermatozoa; which may provide one solution to the problem of summer infertility in the pig.
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TESS's Steve Williams warns of the imminent extinction of many species by climate change
Professor Steve Williams, a co-author of the Report, has been monitoring rainforest biodiversity for over 20 years across the whole Wet Tropics region. The long-term monitoring of the rainforest vertebrates has observed a systematic decrease in the abundance and distribution of many Wet Tropics endemic species.
Read the reportEcological and environmental research for the Tropics
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Researchers
TESS researchers currently number over 100, drawn from four JCU Colleges and affiliated members from other institutions.
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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.
