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

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

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, Taylor H, van de Wetering C, Chartrand K, Reason C, Collier C, Shepherd L, Mellors J, McKenzie L, Duke N, Roelofs A, Smit N, Groom R, Barrett D, Evans S, Pitcher R, Murphy N, Carlisle M, David M, Lui S, Torres Strait Indigenous Rangers and Coles R (in press) Seagrass spatial data synthesis from north-east Australia, Torres Strait and Gulf of Carpentaria, 1983 to 2022. Limnology and Oceanography Letters,
• Langlois L, Collier C and McKenzie L (2023) Subtidal seagrass detector: development of a deep learning seagrass detection and classification model for seagrass presence and density in diverse habitats from underwater photoquadrats. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10.
• Carter A, Collier C, Coles R, Lawrence E and Rasheed M (2022) Community-specific "desired" states for seagrasses through cycles of loss and recovery. Journal of Environmental Management, 314.
• 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.

Book Chapters

• Marsh H, Albouy C, Arraut E, Castelblanco-Martinez D, Collier C, Edwards H, James C and Keith-Diagne L (2022) How Might Climate Change Affect the Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Dugongs and Manatees? In: Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Sirenia. Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals. Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 351-406

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 69+ research outputs authored by Dr Catherine Collier 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 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

• Drones, Satellites and Artifical Intellignece: Improving Seagrass Distribution Mapping in Northern Australia (PhD , 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.