Latest News and Events

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(28 April 2008) Many of Australia’s leading environmental and social scientists will be joining industry leaders in Cairns for a four day conference on the environmental risks facing our Reef, Rainforest and the Torres Strait.

The 2008 'Marine and Tropical Science Research Facility (MTSRF) Conference is being held from Monday 28th April until Thursday 1st May 2008. The Conference will provide an opportunity to share information and explore solutions to the threats facing the unique natural systems of North Queensland.

Managing Director, Sheriden Morris, said “Over 300 of Australia’s best scientists are involved in the MTSRF program and are working on answering questions such as what can we do about climate change impacts on tropical rainforests and the reef? How do we fix up poor water quality? How do we deal with a rapidly increasing population in this region and what will the impact be on our surroundings? Will the Cassowary survive? How will recreational fishers respond to more people and less fish? What do we do about sea level rise for the low lying islands in the Torres Strait?”

For the full media release click here.

(March 2008) The Reef & Rainforest Research Centre Ltd (RRRC) has been successful in securing a Forum at Science in Parliament in Canberra on the future of the Great Barrier Reef which is conducted through the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS).

The title of the Forum will be ‘The Great Barrier Reef in 2050’, to be held this Wednesday 19th March 2008 at 4:00pm (for approximately one hour) in the Main Committee Room of the House of Representatives.

Ms Sheriden Morris, Managing Director of RRRC, said “The Forum titled ‘The Great Barrier Reef in 2050’ is a significant event for RRRC and Far North Queensland. The ‘Science in Parliament’ is an annual event and usually four forums are conducted, but this year only one forum was selected and the RRRC were the successful applicants.

For the full media release click here.

Audio files and transcripts from the symposium are available here. 

(28 February 2008) Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, today announced nine scholarships for research projects into environmental challenges facing North Queensland. The students will receive funding of $720,000 over three years under the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility Graduate Scholarship Scheme – part of the $100 million Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) program.

“These research projects will give us a better understanding of the environmental pressures on the Wet Tropics rainforest, the Torres Strait and the Great Barrier Reef,” Mr Garrett said.

For the full media release please click here.

For the full list of scholarships please click here.

The Marine Monitoring Program is a long-term water quality, and ecosystem heath monitoring program carrier out in the inshore Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. The program in an integral component of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, that will help to assess the longterm effectiveness of the Reef Plan in reversing the decline in water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is responsible for the design, implementation and reporting of the monitoring program.

The Marine Monitoring Program was established in late 2004. In September 2007, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) in partnership with the Integration and Application Network (IAN) and the Reef Water Quality Partnership (RWQP) held a workshop to facilitate the integration of indicators and available data collected as part of the monitoring program. Key participants of the workshop included, current water quality and ecosystem health monitoring providers, leading marine research experts, State and Federal government representatives and members from the RWQP Scientific Advisory Panel.

To view the full Reef Plan Monitoring: Marine Water Quality Impacts newsletter click here.

(January 2008) The RRRC congratulates Professor Terry Hughes on being the 2008 recipient of the Darwin Medal. The Darwin Medal, presented every four years, is the most prestigious award given by the International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS) and recognises Hughes' worldwide contributions to coral reef science throughout his prestigious career. Professor Hughes brings his experience to the MTSRF as Project Leader for research developing an understanding of the connectivity and resilience of GBR reefs in the face of issues such as climate change (Project 4.8.1). To learn more about this work click here.