Bette Willis is a Professor in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology and Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Her research focusses on questions relating to the biology and ecology of scleractinian corals, particularly on questions relating to the health of reef corals in an era of climate change and increasing anthropogenic impacts. She has published more than 125 peer-reviewed publications, including 5 in Nature, Science and Nature Climate Change, 7 book chapters, and 5 major reviews (e.g. Annual Reviews of Marine Biology, Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics).  She has supervised 100 postgraduate students, including PhD (39), MSc (35) and Honours (16) students.

Her current research strives to understand inter-kingdom symbiotic partnerships that underpin coral health and factors driving outbreaks of coral disease, both on the Great Barrier Reef and globally.  She is involved in various international working groups and networks aimed at furthering understanding of the ecology of infectious diseases in corals and in raising the profile of coral health issues throughout the Indo-Pacific. By exploring the dynamics of coral-microbial associations and how flexibility in symbiotic partnerships affects tolerance to environmental stressors, Willis and her research group are exploring the potential of corals to acclimatise and adapt to a changing world.

 

Teaching

• MB3210: Life History and Evolution of Reef Corals (Level 3; TSV)
• MB5400: Life History and Evolution of Reef Corals (Level 5; TSV)

Interests

Research

• Ecology of infectious diseases in reef corals
• Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of coral disease outbreaks
• Microbial symbioses underpinning coral health
• Acclimatisation and adaption of coral symbioses to environmental change
• Reproductive biology and evolutionary ecology of corals

Experience

• 2007 to present - Professor, Personal Chair in Marine Biology, James Cook University
• 2002 to 2006 - Associate Professor, James Cook University
• 1993 to 2001 - Senior Lecturer, James Cook University

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

• Nicolet K, Chong-Seng K, Pratchett M, Willis B and Hoogenboom M (2018) Predation scars may influence host susceptibility to pathogens: evaluating the role of corallivores as vectors of coral disease. Scientific Reports, 8.
• Nicolet K, Hoogenboom M, Pratchett M and Willis B (2018) Selective feeding by corallivorous fishes neither promotes nor reduces progression rates of black band disease. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 594. pp. 95-106
• van de Water J, Chaib de Mares M, Dixon G, Raina J, Willis B, Bourne D and van Oppen M (2018) Antimicrobial and stress responses to increased temperature and bacterial pathogen challenge in the holobiont of a reef-building coral. Molecular Ecology, 27 (4). pp. 1065-1080
• Barton J, Willis B and Hutson K (2017) Coral propagation: a review of techniques for ornamental trade and reef restoration. Reviews in Aquaculture, 9 (3). pp. 238-256
• Chen C, Bourne D, Drovandi C, Mengersen K, Willis B, Caley M and Sato Y (2017) Modelling environmental drivers of black band disease outbreaks in populations of foliose corals in the genus Montipora. PeerJ, 5.
• Graham E, Baird A, Connolly S, Sewell M and Willis B (2017) Uncoupling temperature-dependent mortality from lipid depletion for scleractinian coral larvae. Coral Reefs, 36 (1). pp. 97-104
• Hein M, Willis B, Beeden R and Birtles A (2017) The need for broader ecological and socioeconomic tools to evaluate the effectiveness of coral restoration programs. Restoration Ecology, 25 (6). pp. 873-883
• Hughes T, Kerry J, Álvarez-Noriega M, Alvarez-Romero J, Anderson K, Baird A, Babcock R, Beger M, Bellwood D, Berkelmans R, Bridge T, Butler I, Byrne M, Cantin N, Comeau S, Connolly S, Cumming G, Dalton S, Diaz-Pulido G, Eakin C, Figueira W, Gilmour J, Harrison H, Heron S, Hoey A, Hobbs J, Hoogenboom M, Kennedy E, Kuo C, Lough J, Lowe R, Liu G, McCulloch M, Malcolm H, McWilliam M, Pandolfi J, Pears R, Pratchett M, Schoepf V, Simpson T, Skirving W, Sommer B, Torda G, Wachenfeld D, Willis B and Wilson S (2017) Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals. Nature, 543 (7645). pp. 373-377
• Humanes A, Ricardo G, Willis B, Fabricius K and Negri A (2017) Cumulative effects of suspended sediments, organic nutrients and temperature stress on early life history stages of the coral Acropora tenuis. Scientific Reports, 7.
• Humanes Schumann A, Fink A, Willis B, Fabricius K, de Beer D and Negri A (2017) Effects of suspended sediments and nutrient enrichment on juvenile corals. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 125 (1-2). pp. 166-175
• Pollock F, Katz S, Van De Water J, Davies S, Hein M, Torda G, Matz M, Beltran V, Buerger P, Puill-Stephan E, Abrego D, Bourne D and Willis B (2017) Coral larvae for restoration and research: a large-scale method for rearing Acropora millepora larvae, inducing settlement, and establishing symbiosis. PeerJ, 5.
• Pollock F, Wada N, Torda G, Willis B and Bourne D (2017) White syndrome-affected corals have a distinct microbiome at disease lesion fronts. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 83 (2). pp. 1-15

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 169+ research outputs authored by Prof Bette Willis from 1984 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 Primary or 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

• The impact of nutrient availability on coral thermal tolerance (PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• Improving coral thermal resilience through experimental evolution in Symbiodinium (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Characterizing the Effectiveness of Coral Restoration to Build Reef Resilience- A Socio-Ecological Perspective (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Microbial Indicators for Water Quality and Environmental Stress Assessment of Coral Reef Ecosystems. (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)

Completed

• Transcriptomics of coral-algal interactions: novel insights into the establishment of symbiosis (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Effects of water quality on the health and condition of inshore corals (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Evolutionary and ecological connectivity at hierarchical scales from sperm to species in the reef-building coral genus Seriatopora (2013, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Effect of ocean acidification on reef-building corals: understanding variability and projecting population-level impact (2015, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Colour polymorphism and its role in stress tolerance in the coral Acropora millepora on the Great Barrier Reef (2015, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Understanding the drivers of white syndrome coral diseases on Indo-Pacific reefs (2015, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Corals under stress: a study of the coral innate immune system (2015, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• A Dynamic Understanding of Coral Reef Health Informs Resilience-based Management of the Great Barrier Reef (2015, PhD , Associate Advisor)
• Diversity, stability, and uptake of diazotrophic bacterial communities associated with corals of the Great Barrier Reef (2014, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Influence of marine-based industries on coral health and disease (2014, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Genetic assessment of population structure and the origin of recruits in brooding corals: understanding population connectivity on the Great Barrier Reef on various timescales (2013, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Production and fate of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) in reef-building corals and its integral role in coral health (2013, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Combined effects of water quality and temperature on the early life history stages of the broadcast spawning coral Acropora tenuis (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Viruses: contributors to and mitigators of black band disease in corals (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Genetic and environmental basis for Symbiodinium specificity in the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Vectors and environmental drivers of coral disease dynamics on the Great Barrier Reef (2017, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Nature or nurture? Testing the correlation between stress tolerance and genotype in the coral Acropora millepora on the Great Barrier Reef (2016, PhD , Primary Advisor)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit the JCU Research Data Catalogue.

• Quigley, K. (2017) Coral metagenome: multiple Symbiodinium types isolated from multiple coral species. James Cook University
• van de Water, J. (2017) Data from: The coral immune response facilitates protection against microbes during tissue regeneration. James Cook University
• Quigley, K. (2017) Data from: Maternal effects and Symbiodinium community composition drive differential patterns in juvenile survival in the coral Acropora tenuis. James Cook University
• Mohamed Esmail, A. (2017) The transcriptomic response of the coral Acropora digitifera to a competent Symbiodinium strain: the symbiosome as an arrested early phagosome. James Cook University

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.