My research is motivated by the need for robust information to support conservation planning of estuarine and marine resources – recognising that management and conservation strategies must be adaptive and accommodate the changing climate. My speciality is the use of experimental techniques to address targeted questions about seagrass health and resilience. This has focused on both the risk and impacts to seagrass habitat from local scale stressors such as water quality and on the prospective changes to seagrass ecosystems from rising temperature and ocean acidification. Above all I enjoy collaborating with diverse teams of scientists and managers and believe that such collaboration is imperative to enhance the value of experimental science for achieving practical management goals. I also contribute to long-term monitoring of seagrass habitat in the Great Barrier Reef through the Paddock to Reef Marine Monitoring Programme, which is used to track progress towards meeting the targets and objectives of the Reef 2050 Plan. My other funding sources include the National Environmental Sciences Programme (NESP), the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF), National Environmental Research Program (NERP) and Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSRF).

 

Experience

• 2007 to present - Principal Research Officer, James Cook University (Townsville and Cairns)
• 2006 to 2007 - Project Officer, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Townsville)
• 2002 to 2006 - Doctoral candidate, Edith Cowan University (Perth)
• 1999 to 2002 - Project Officer, Healthy Waterways (Brisbane)

Research Disciplines

• Environmental management (4104)
• Ecology (3103)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Coastal and estuarine systems and management (1802)
• Marine systems and management (1805)

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, Collier C, Lawrence E, Rasheed M, Robson B and Coles R (2021) A spatial analysis of seagrass habitat and community diversity in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Scientific Reports, 11.
• Carter A, McKenna S, Rasheed M, Collier C, McKenzie L, Pitcher R and Coles R (2021) Synthesizing 35?years of seagrass spatial data from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Queensland, Australia. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 6 (4). pp. 216-226
• 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.
• 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.
• Pearson R, Collier C, Brown C, Rasheed M, Bourner J, Turschwell M, Sievers M and Connolly R (2021) Remote estimation of aquatic light environments using machine learning: a new management tool for submerged aquatic vegetation. Science of the Total Environment, 782.
• Turschwell M, Connolly R, Dunic J, Sievers M, Buelow C, Pearson R, Tulloch V, Cote I, Unsworth R, Collier C and Brown C (2021) Anthropogenic pressures and life history predict trajectories of seagrass meadow extent at a global scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118 (45).
• Adams M, Koh E, Vilas M, Collier C, Lambert V, Sisson S, Quiroz M, McDonald-Madden E, McKenzie L and O'Brien K (2020) Predicting seagrass decline due to cumulative stressors. Environmental Modelling & Software, 130.
• 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.
• Unsworth R, McKenzie L, Collier C, Cullen-Unsworth L, Duarte C, Eklöf J, Jarvis J, Jones B and Nordlund L (2019) Global challenges for seagrass conservation. Ambio, 48. pp. 801-815
• Bainbridge Z, Lewis S, Bartley R, Fabricius K, Collier C, Waterhouse J, Garzon-Garcia A, Robson B, Burton J, Wenger A and Brodie J (2018) Fine sediment and particulate organic matter: a review and case study on ridge-to-reef transport, transformations, fates, and impacts on marine ecosystems. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 135. pp. 1205-1220
• Collier C, Langlois L, Ow Y, Johansson C, Giammusso M, Adams M, O'brien K and Uthicke S (2018) Losing a winner: thermal stress and local pressures outweigh the positive effects of ocean acidification for tropical seagrasses. New Phytologist, 219 (3). pp. 1005-1017

Conference Papers

• Lambert V, Adams M, Collier C, Carter A, Saunders M, Brodie J, Bainbridge Z, Rasheed M, Turner R and O'Brien K (2019) Towards ecologically relevant targets: impact of flow and sediment discharge on seagrass communities in the Great Barrier Reef. Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. In: 23rd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, 1-6 December 2019, Canberra, ACT, Australia

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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 64+ research outputs authored by Dr Catherine Collier from 2007 onwards.

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

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
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