CMERC Team
Associate Professor Emma Jackson – CMERC Director
Associate Professor Emma Jackson is the Director of the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre and a Research Fellow in Marine Ecology. She has 19 years of research expertise in the areas of fisheries ecology, seagrass landscape and restoration ecology, impacts on marine species, coastal marine habitats and ecosystem health indicators. Her research is driven by the idea that coastal development is an ever-increasing human activity, but that there are ways in which this development can work with nature rather than against it to maintain ecosystem health, in turn supporting our health and wellbeing as humans.
Currently, Emma leads a research program on the construction of a science-based framework for seagrass restoration in Queensland, but her past and present research areas include marine conservation management, ecosystem services, marine ecology and marine angiosperm.
Dr Nicole Flint – Research Fellow
Dr Nicole Flint is a Research Fellow in the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre at CQUniversity. Her current research is primarily in monitoring, assessing and managing aquatic environments, environmental report cards and fisheries management.
Nicole's PhD in freshwater fish biology was conferred in 2007. She worked in the Australian Public Service in fisheries and marine environmental management roles for five years before commencing at CQUniversity in 2011. Nicole’s research aims to improve our understanding and management of human impacts on aquatic species and ecosystems. She is particularly interested in the diverse waterways and land uses of Central Queensland's catchments, rivers, estuaries and coastal zones and in the interactions between various industries and aquatic resources.
Nicole has been awarded $2M in external research funding as Chief Investigator, and more than $4.5M in total, since 2011. Some current and recently completed projects include knowledge to improve the assessment and management of Queensland mud crabs, developing a mud crab indicator and a fish health indicator for the Gladstone Harbour Report Card, developing the Ecosystem Health Index for the Fitzroy Basin Report Card, developing effective monitoring programs for rivers and river infrastructure, and conducting a port water quality synthesis for the Fitzroy Water Quality Improvement Plan.
Nicole is a member of the Independent Science Panel for the Fitzroy Partnership for River Health and has been involved with the Partnership since 2012, providing scientific advice to support the annual Fitzroy Basin Report Card.
Dr Angela Capper – Research Fellow
Dr Angela Capper has 20 years of experience in marine ecotoxicology, with strong interests in pollutants and contaminants and their fate in the environment, biological matrices and risks to human health. Her research focuses on: the impacts of anthropogenic contaminants (microplastics, PFAS, heavy metals); co-existence of aquaculture and fisheries (impacts of chemical therapeutics to non-target organisms); seafood security (ciguatera fish poisoning - CFP); and marine chemical ecology (Harmful Algal Blooms - HABs). She has worked in multidisciplinary teams around the globe, liaising with government agencies, scientific institutions, health-based institutes, non-profit organisations, stakeholders, fishermen and community groups.
Dr Christopher Aiken – Physical Oceanographer
Since obtaining his PhD in Physical Oceanography from the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 2001, Dr Chris Aiken has worked in Australia, USA and Chile as a researcher and university lecturer in oceanography, ecology and climate. His research interests include state estimation and forecasting, numerical ocean modelling, stability theory, ocean observing systems, climate variability, fjord/estuarine circulation, metapopulation dynamics, marine reserve design, and issues related to seawater desalination. He has acted as principal investigator on numerous competitive research grants and has led collaborative research with the shipping and fishing industries.
Dr Amie Anastasi – Lecturer in Environmental Science
Dr Amie Anastasi’s research is focused on understanding the risk to the environment from the natural and anthropogenic sources of pollutants. She specialises in the management, design and implementation of water quality monitoring and environmental risk assessment studies. Her research in this area has encompassed physical and chemical impacts of pollutants from urban, industrial, agricultural and geological sources. Amie has more than 12 years of research experience in ecotoxicology, chemistry and water quality. Amie has been involved with the Port Curtis Integrated Monitoring Program (PCIMP) since its inception in 2007 and is a member of the PCIMP Technical Sub-Committee. Amie has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications and industry reports while also maintaining a heavy university teaching schedule that allows her to expose students to current best-practice methodologies for the monitoring and management of aquatic environments. She is passionate about Central Queensland Ecosystems and enjoys using science to inform sustainable use of local environments. Amie has a BSc (Chem), BBioMedSc (Hons) and a PhD.
Associate Professor Andrew Irving – Marine Ecologist
Andrew Irving joined CQUniversity in 2013 as a senior lecturer specialising in marine and environmental ecology, evolution, experimental design, and statistical analysis. His research interests primarily focus on the ecology of marine habitats, particularly marine plants such as seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and kelp forests. How much habitats are maintained, how humans disrupt them, how they might recover naturally, and what humans can do to facilitate their recovery (e.g. through habitat restoration) are all central themes to his research. He has published 37 international peer-reviewed manuscripts and four book chapters.
Dr Guy Carton – Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science
Dr Guy Carton’s research interests are highly varied and include aquaculture, conservation physiology, sensory physiology and ecology. A central question to his research program is how aquatic organisms respond to unprecedented environmental change. He employs various techniques to understand how aquatic animals respond to current and forecasted environmental changes. Of particular interest are increased temperature (climate warming) and shortages in oxygen availability (hypoxia). He is also interested in determining whether physiological attributes may differ between sub-populations of the same species. This research contributes to a knowledge base required to make informed future management decisions within a sustainability framework.
Professor John Rolfe – Professor of Resource Economics
Professor John Rolfe is a resource economist who is a Professor of Regional Economic Development in the School of Business and Law at the CQUniversity Rockhampton and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. John was one of the leaders of the 2013 and 2018 Great Barrier Reef Science Consensus Statements and currently Chairs the Independent Science Panel for the Gladstone Healthy Harbour Partnership. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics from 2013-17 and was President of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society in 2019.
Dr Jeremy De Valck – Environmental Economist
Jeremy De Valck is a transdisciplinary environmental economist (PhD, KU Leuven, Belgium), with strong research interests in natural resource management (MSc NRM, Cranfield Uni., UK) and geographic information systems (MSc Bioscience Eng., Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Belgium). Jeremy applies non-market valuation techniques to the study of environmental assets, ecosystem services and biodiversity. Since joining CQUniversity in 2016, he has led or been involved in research projects on assessing socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts in the Great Barrier Reef region. Jeremy's current research relates to applying revealed and stated preference techniques to value the environment.
Dr Nathan Brooks-English – Head of Course for Environmental Science
Through the career of Dr Nathan Brooks-English the consistent theme of research has been the study of how environmental variables affect Earth-surface processes (climate, transport, etc.) and natural materials (biota, earth and water) over multiple scales of time and distance. Currently, he is using dendrochronology, stable isotopes, and ancient kauri pines of North Queensland to reconstruct past rainfall, as well as model the response of drought and floods to El Niño Southern Oscillation and other multidecadal climate phenomena (Indian Ocean Dipole, Pacific Decadal Oscillation). In the past, he and his colleagues have investigated the link between ecophysiology, climate, and isotopic variation in the spines of columnar cactuses, including the tropical species Trichocereus pasacana in Bolivia. This research develops and explains a novel climate proxy that yields high-resolution information about plant ecology, water relations and past climate that will be useful in tropical and subtropical regions.
Dr Ziyad Abunada – Environmental Engineer
Dr Ziyad Abunada obtained his PhD from Cambridge University, UK, in Civil and Environmental Engineering in sustainable remediation and contaminated land management. His PhD was part of the largest collaborative project between academia and industry in the form of the Soil Mix Remediation Technology (SMiRT) project. He has more than 12 years of industrial experience working on civil engineering and construction projects in developing countries. His research addresses civil and environmental engineering applications, including project management, contaminated land and waste management, water and wastewater treatment materials and technologies, and engineering for sustainable development and decision support systems. In 2017, Dr Abunada’s research was ranked first and awarded the best research prize by ISESCO in environmental management. He was also the winner of the best paper award during AINAC conference in 2012 in UAE. He is currently a member of the Institute of Civil Engineering (ICE) and the Royal Society of Chemistry UK.
Catherine Jones – Lecturer in Chemistry
Catherine Jones is a Lecturer in Chemistry and an active researcher with externally funded projects in the fields of Water Chemistry and Aquatic-Ecosystem Management. Catherine has been employed by CQUniversity since 2011; her previous employment includes Menzies School of Health Research and environmental consulting and quality control laboratories. Catherine is skilled in the collection and analysis of water, particulate and sediment samples from water sources used for recreational, environmental, or industrial purposes. She is proficient in method development, validation and measurement of analytes using numerous analytical techniques. She has extensive experience in managing and interpreting large water chemistry datasets. During her employment, she has fostered relationships with the Fitzroy Basin Association, the Fitzroy Partnership for River Health and the Central Queensland Mining Rehabilitation Group.
Dr David Vaughan – Marine Parasitologist
Dr David Vaughan's fields of research include marine parasitology, parasite taxonomy, cleaning symbioses, biocontrol and the investigation of novel methods of reducing problematic parasites in aquaculture. David worked extensively in public aquaria and aquaculture for many years in southern Africa supporting aquatic animal health in large public exhibition collections of fishes and farmed fishes and abalone before moving to Australia in 2015. He received his BSc (Hons) and MSc from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, and PhD from James Cook University, Australia. David is also a professionally registered scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions.
Rory Mulloy – Research Worker
Before embarking on a career in Marine Science, Rory had a background in Communications and Languages. He has spent time studying and working, overseas in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, China, and Egypt, before coming to Australia in 2014. Since coming to Australia Rory has developed extensive marine fieldwork experience, assisting and leading various research projects, as well as completing a Master of Science from James Cook University. He has led expeditions to tag, study, and document great white sharks in South Australia, coordinated reef monitoring programs throughout South East Queensland, and worked as a Marine Scientist onboard National Geographic Expeditions to various destinations worldwide including the South Pacific, the Arctic, and Antarctica. Rory has a passion for the marine environment and has been fortunate enough to have dived in all of the world’s oceans.
Matt Pfeiffer – Research Worker/Technician
Matt is a Dual Trade Electrical Fitter Mechanic and Electronics Technician. He has over 20 years of experience in water management and industrial electrical systems. Matt is a CQUni alumni having completed the Graduate Certificate in Asset and Maintenance Management. He has completed a Certificate II in Maritime Operations, giving him a Coxswain qualification. Matt has extensive local boating knowledge and experience and a passion for coastal marine ecosystems.
Michael Thomson – Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
Michael Thomson works specifically with CQUniversity’s agriculture, environment and science teams to promote research and engage industry participants. Prior to joining CQUniversity in 2016, Michael worked for 5½ years as a senior consultant for Australia’s largest agribusiness public relations agency, Cox Inall Communications, leading projects for clients including the Beef Australia expo, Meat & Livestock Australia, Woolworths, the Sheep CRC, Grains Research & Development Corporation, the Livestock Biosecurity Network, the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy, and RIRDC’s National Weeds Research Program. His career began as a journalist, starting out as a cadet reporter in Sydney for NSW’s The Land newspaper. He later worked for titles including the Northern Star in Lismore, and for the Queensland Country Life based in Rockhampton, and progressed to roles including Fairfax Agricultural Media’s national political reporter based at Parliament House, Canberra, and national online editor for Fairfax’s FarmOnline group of news sites.
Dr Amanda Rebar
Amanda Rebar is lead of the Social Insights Research Group, Director of the Motivation of Health Behaviours Lab, and Associate Professor of Psychology at Central Queensland University, Australia. Dr Rebar’s research focuses on the psychology of behaviour change and motivation, with particular emphasis on the irrational and non-conscious processes that influence behaviours like habits and biases. While her work draws on a range of methodologies, she is a strong advocate for longitudinal repeated assessment designs and multi-level analysis for testing predictive relationships in real-world contexts. Amanda is a self-proclaimed theory and stats nerd. Amanda regularly works with community not-for-profit organisations and partners to provide evidence-based guidance and evaluation of behaviour change, community, and social wellbeing programs.
Dr Lasi Piyathilaka
Dr Lasi Piyathilaka completed his PhD in robotics from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in 2016. With significant industry experience, he has actively contributed to various university-industry collaboration projects. Currently, he is a lecturer at the School of Engineering and Technology at CQUniversity. Previously, he worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), where his primary focus was developing sensing and robotic systems for inspecting underground infrastructure such as sewers and water pipes.
In recent years, Dr Lasi Piyathilaka has expanded his research interests to include underwater robotic applications and sensing. In 2023, he received an innovation connection grant from the Australian government to develop an underwater robotic system specifically designed for cleaning underwater infrastructure.
