Researchers
Students
Alumni
ManagementBrigitte Sommer
PhD graduate
University of Queensland
From 2005 to 2022, the main node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies was headquartered at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland (Australia)
Brigitte completed her PhD in Marine Ecology at The University of Queensland and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoE) in December 2015. Her PhD, supervised by John Pandolfi, Maria Beger, Peter Harrison and Russ Babcock, investigated the ecology of corals at their high-latitude range limits. She used a combination of field ecology, trait-based, phylogenetic community ecology and climate envelope modelling approaches to examine the processes that govern coral biodiversity patterns in the tropical-to-temperate transition zone south of the Great Barrier Reef. Her research shows that differential response to abiotic stress controls species distributions at biogeographic transition zones and that only coral species with certain traits are able to persist in these marginal environments. In 2013, she was awarded the CoE’s prestigious ‘Virginia Chadwick Award for outstanding publishing’ for her paper ‘trait-mediated environmental filtering drives community assembly at biogeographic transition zones’ published in Ecology.
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
A new study on the effects of climate change in five tropical countries has found fisheries are in more trouble than agriculture, and poor people are in the most danger. Distinguished Profess
James Cook University researchers have found brightly coloured fish are becoming increasingly rare as coral declines, with the phenomenon likely to get worse in the future. Christopher Hemingson, a
Researchers working with stakeholders in the Great Barrier Reef region have come up with ideas on how groups responsible for looking after the reef can operate more effectively when the next bleaching
Abstract: As marine species adapt to climate change, their heat tolerance will likely be under strong selection. Individual variation in heat tolerance and its heritability underpin the potential fo
Abstract: The Reef Ecology Lab in KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center explores many aspects of movement ecology of marine organisms, ranging from adult migrations to intergenerational larval dispersal
Abstract: Macroalgal meadows are a prominent, yet often maligned component of the tropical seascape. Our work at Ningaloo reef in WA demonstrate that canopy forming macroalgae provide habitat for ad
Abstract: Sharks are generally perceived as strong and fearsome animals. With fossils dating back at least 420 million years, sharks are not only majestic top predators but they also outlived dinosa
Abstract: Connectivity plays a vital role in many ecosystems through its effects on fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes. Its consequences for populations and metapopulations have been
Abstract: Evolution of many eukaryotic organisms is affected by interactions with microbes. Microbial symbioses can ultimately reflect host’s diet, habitat range, and even body shape. However, how
Abstract: The past few years have seen unprecedented coral bleaching and mortality on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) but the consequences of this on biodiversity are not yet known. This talk will expl
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