Alex is employed as a senior research officer with TropWATER. Her research interests are the ecology and conservation of coastal environments, in particular tropical seagrass meadows and coral reefs, and fisheries management.

Alex's current research focuses on understanding and assessing habitat variation at large scales in space and time. Recent projects include:

1. Developing and implementing seagrass condition report cards for the Gladstone Healthy Harbour Partnership, Torres Strait, regional NRM groups, and Queensland ports. 

2. Working with Torres Strait Rangers to expand seagrass monitoring throughout Torres Strait.

3. Large-scale GIS mapping projects for the GBR World Heritage Area and Torres Strait.

4. Defining seagrass desired state for the GBR.

5. Boosting coral abundance on the GBR through coral restoration using innovative Symbiodinium co-culture and mass larval supply on reefs

Alex completed her PhD on spatial variation in reproductive biology for common coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus), and the role of marine reserves as a potential fisheries management tool for this species on the Great Barrier Reef. 

Interests

Research

• Statistical approaches to deal with messy biological data
• Spatial analysis and mapping
• Fisheries management and no-take marine reserves
• Fish reproductive biology
• Habitat condition assessments
• Coral reef restoration

Research Disciplines

• Environmental management (4104)

Awards

• 2009 - GBRMPA Science for Management Award
• 2009 - PADI Project Aware Grant
• 2008 - GBRMPA Science for Management Award

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Carter A, McKenna S, Rasheed M, Collier C, McKenzie L, Pitcher R and Coles R (in press) Synthesizing 35?years of seagrass spatial data from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Queensland, Australia. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, , DOI:10.1002/lol2.10193.
• Collier C, Langlois L, McMahon K, Udy J, Rasheed M, Lawrence E, Carter A, Fraser M and McKenzie L (2021) What lies beneath: predicting seagrass below-ground biomass from above-ground biomass, environmental conditions and seagrass community composition. Ecological Indicators, 121, Article: 107156, DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107156.
• Lambert V, Bainbridge Z, Collier C, Lewis S, Adams M, Carter A, Saunders M, Brodie J, Turner R, Rasheed M and O'Brien K (2021) Connecting targets for catchment sediment loads to ecological outcomes for seagrass using multiple lines of evidence. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 169, Article: 112494, DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112494.
• Collier C, Carter A, Rasheed M, McKenzie L, Udy J, Coles R, Brodie J, Waycott M, O’Brien K, Saunders M, Adams M, Martin K, Honchin C, Petus C and Lawrence E (2020) An evidence-based approach for setting desired state in a complex Great Barrier Reef seagrass ecosystem: a case study from Cleveland Bay. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 7, Article: 100042, DOI:10.1016/j.indic.2020.100042.
• Carter A, Davies C, Emslie M, Mapstone B, Russ G, Tobin A and Williams A (2017) Reproductive benefits of no-take marine reserves vary with region for an exploited coral reef fish. Scientific Reports, 7, Article: 9693, pp. 1-12, DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-10180-w.
• Whitehead S, Ewers C, Lavery P, Roelfsema C, Sinclair E, Strydom S, Tanner J, van Dijk K, Waycott M, McMahon K, Carter A, Warry F, McKenna S, Brodersen K, Coles R, Connolly R, Irving A, Jackson E, Sherman C, Runcie J, York P, Sullivan B, Trevathan-Tackett S and Smith T (2017) Identifying knowledge gaps in seagrass research and management: an Australian perspective . Marine Environmental Research, 127, pp. 163-172, DOI:10.1016/j.marenvres.2016.06.006.
• Baird M, Adams M, Babcock R, Oubelkheir K, Mongin M, Wild-Allen K, Skerratt J, Robson B, Petrou K, Ralph P, O’Brien K, Carter A, Jarvis J and Rasheed M (2016) A biophysical representation of seagrass growth for application in a complex shallow-water biogeochemical model. Ecological Modelling, 325, pp. 13-27, DOI:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.12.011.
• Chartrand K, Bryant C, Carter A, Ralph P and Rasheed M (2016) Light thresholds to prevent dredging impacts on the Great Barrier Reef seagrass, Zostera muelleri ssp. capricorni. Frontiers in Marine Science, 3, Article: 106, DOI:10.3389/fmars.2016.00106.
• Carter A, Carton A, McCormick M, Tobin A and Williams A (2015) Maternal size, not age, influences egg quality of a wild, protogynous coral reef fish Plectropomus leopardus. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 529, pp. 249-263, DOI:10.3354/meps11277.

Conference Papers

• Carter A, Davies J, Jarvis J, McCormack C and Rasheed M (2017) Development of a condition report card for variable and diverse seagrass meadows in ports. Proceedings of the Australasian Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference. In: Australasian Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference: working with nature, 21-23 June 2017, Cairns, QLD, Australia
• Carter A, Coles R, McKenna S and Rasheed M (2017) Spatial management tools for coastal seagrasses in Queensland, Australia. Proceedings of the Australasian Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference. 21-23 June 2017, Cairns, QLD, Australia
• Rasheed M, McKenna S, Coles R and Carter A (2017) Protection of Great Barrier Reef seagrasses through innovative port industry and science research partnerships. Proceedings of the Australasian Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference. In: Australasian Coasts & Ports 2017 Conference: working with nature, 21-23 June 2017, Cairns, QLD, Australia

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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 63+ research outputs authored by Dr Alexandra Carter from 2007 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Factors driving Chelonia mydas (green sea turtle) interactions with seagrass meadows within coastal foraging habitats (Masters , Secondary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.