[ Updated 12 December 2018 ] Marine scientists at the Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station do not study climate directly. However, they respect and accept the work of others who specialise in climate studies. Many Lizard Island research projects examine the impact of cyclones and the surges in sea temperature that cause coral bleaching, and […]

Sight is important in countless ways, including for science and for appreciating why life on the Great Barrier Reef is so worthy of our support and conservation. Zoltan Florian (Zoli) was Director of the light microscope unit at James Cook University from the 1970s to the end of the century.  A well-known and much-loved member […]

Corals are careful historians. Day in and day out, as they build their skeletons larger and larger, they diligently record the water temperature, their own growth rates, and whether they are healthy or stressed.  These coral history books are being accessed to explore possible acclimation and provide historical context for the severe bleaching events in 2016 […]

The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes reward excellence in the fields of research & innovation, leadership, science engagement and school science.  The winners are announced at an annual black tie dinner.  This year it was held in August at the Sydney Town Hall. The Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI) uses this occasion to present the AMRI […]

Construction work on a cyclone shelter at the Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station is nearing completion.  It has been largely funded by a grant from the The Ian Potter Foundation, and will be called the John Gough Cyclone Shelter. The late John Gough AO OBE was a Governor of The Ian Potter Foundation from […]

Top predators affect mid-level predators (mesopredators), which in turn affect prey fish lower down the chain. This is a trophic (food) cascade.  When the three levels are in ideal balance, the presence of top predators is highly beneficial to the survival and well-being of juvenile fish.   For their experiments on trophic cascades at the […]

Professor Mark McCormick runs the Coral Reef Ecology Laboratory at JCU.  He and his students often use the facilities of the Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station for their field research. One of Mark’s major areas of interest is fish/habitat interactions and the influence of habitat degradation on fish communities. Cyclones, the Crown of Thorns […]

This post lists some of the scientists and research projects utilizing the facilities of the Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station this year.  A complete list will be published as part of the Station’s full 2017 Report. The results from most of these projects will be published in scientific journals.  For prior years, see Publications […]

Death is the end of growth. But not all corals die when a reef is subject to bleaching conditions. This story is about survivors and a scientist – Kristin Anderson King PhD.   Kristen’s research focuses on three important species of branching coral – Acropora muricata, Pocillopora damicornis and Isopora palifera.  It explores the complex […]

When thinking about coral loss and recovery, it helps to have a sense of time and a sense of urgency. Time began about 13.5 billion years ago.  The first organisms were formed in the sea around 3.8 billions years ago. Corals have existed for over 500 million years, through periods of glaciation, global warming and […]