Researchers
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ManagementAmber Datta
PhD candidate
James Cook University
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)
Amber was born in Hawaii, where she grew up with a passion for the ocean and the communities that depend on it. This drives her research interest in the management and governance of coral reefs, which she is pursuing through her PhD research on the networks of actors that govern coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef region and Hawai’i. Amber completed a B.A. in Environmental Analysis (Biology focus) from Pomona College in 2013. She spent 2.5 years working for The Nature Conservancy on a project to improve collaboration around key conservation issues in the Great Lakes Region (U.S.). She then completed an M.S. in Resource Conservation (option in International Conservation and Development) at the University of Montana (UM) in 2018. She also completed a certificate in Natural Resource Conflict Resolution at UM, which focuses on professional skills for collaborative conservation. Amber is enrolled as a cotutelle PhD student at JCU and the University of Montana. She is advised by Michele Barnes (primary) and Tiffany Morrison at JCU, and by Brian Chaffin (primary), Jill Belsky, and Carina Wyborn at UM. She hopes her work will contribute to our understanding of the governance arrangements that facilitate adaptive responses to coral bleaching and other rapid environmental and social changes in coral reef systems.
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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