Head of Discipline Chemistry

I trained as a Chemist at the University of Otago, Monash University and the University of Adelaide, obtaining a PhD in synthetic organometallic chemistry  in 1989. Following postdoctoral fellowships in France at the Institut  Francais du Petrole, Paris and the Laboratoire de Chimie Quantique/CNRS, Strasbourg I returned to New Zealand to run the NMR Facility at Auckland University. From there I headed back to Australia, working for a short while with a synthetic organic chemistry group at Central Queensland University.

I  commenced as an academic in the Discipline of Chemistry at James Cook University (Cairns campus) in July 1996 and was the first member of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Molecular Science on Campus.

My research interests are broadly in environmental science.  I have worked in the Rainforest CRC, the MTSRF program and was the Australian SuperSites Network lead in TERN from 2008 - 2018.  My specific focus in the rainforest is on atmospheric fluxes and the use of sensors for monitoring biodiversity.  In addition I work on peptide toxins with scientists in the AITHM.

Teaching

• CH1001: Chemistry: A Central Science (Level 1; CNS & TSV)
• CH1020: Preparatory Chemistry (Level 1; CNS, ONL & TSV)
• CH2043: Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Analysis (Level 2; TSV)
• CH3041: Environmental Chemistry (Level 3; CNS & TSV)
• CH5041: Environmental Chemistry (Level 5; CNS & TSV)
• PC1103: Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Level 1; CNS & TSV)
• PC2203: Pharmaceutical Chemistry 2 (Level 2; CNS & TSV)

Interests

Research

• atmospheric fluxes
• carbon cycling in tropical rainforests
• peptide toxins

Experience

• 1996 to 2022 - Associate Professor, James Cook University (Cairns)
• 1995 to 1996 - Research Associate, Central Queensland University (Rockhampton)
• 1991 to 1995 - Director NMR Facility, Auckland University (Auckland, New Zealand)
• 1990 to 1991 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratoire de Chimie Quantique (Strasbourg, France)
• 1989 to 1990 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Institut Francais du Petrole (Paris, France)

Research Disciplines

• Plant biology (3108)
• Ecological applications (4102)
• Climate change impacts and adaptation (4101)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Terrestrial systems and management (1806)
• Expanding knowledge (2801)

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

• Crous K, Cheesman A, Middleby K, Rogers E, Wujeska-Klause A, Bouet A, Ellsworth D, Liddell M, Cernusak L and Barton C (2023) Similar patterns of leaf temperatures and thermal acclimation to warming in temperate and tropical tree canopies. Tree Physiology, 43. pp. 1383-1399
• Zhang W, Jung M, Migliavacca M, Poyatos R, Miralles D, El-Madany T, Galvagno M, Carrara A, Arriga N, Ibrom A, Mammarella I, Papale D, Cleverly J, Liddell M, Wohlfahrt G, Markwitz C, Mauder M, Paul-Limoges E, Schmidt M, Wolf S, Brümmer C, Arain M, Fares S, Kato T, Ardö J, Oechel W, Hanson C, Korkiakoski M, Biraud S, Steinbrecher R, Billesbach D, Montagnani L, Woodgate W, Shao C, Carvalhais N, Reichstein M and Nelson J (2023) The effect of relative humidity on eddy covariance latent heat flux measurements and its implication for partitioning into transpiration and evaporation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 330.
• Beringer J, Moore C, Cleverly J, Campbell D, Cleugh H, De Kauwe M, Kirschbaum M, Griebel A, Grover S, Huete A, Hutley L, Laubach J, Van Niel T, Arndt S, Bennett A, Cernusak L, Eamus D, Ewenz C, Goodrich J, Jiang M, Hinko-Najera N, Isaac P, Hobeichi S, Knauer J, Koerber G, Liddell M, Ma X, Macfarlane C, McHugh I, Medlyn B, Meyer W, Norton A, Owens J, Pitman A, Pendall E, Prober S, Ray R, Restrepo-Coupe N, Rifai S, Rowlings D, Schipper L, Silberstein R, Teckentrup L, Thompson S, Ukkola A, Wall A, Wang Y, Wardlaw T and Woodgate W (2022) Bridge to the future: important lessons from 20 years of ecosystem observations made by the OzFlux network. Global Change Biology, 28 (11). pp. 3489-3514
• Binks O, Cernusak L, Liddell M, Bradford M, Coughlin I, Carle H, Bryant C, Dunn E, Oliveira R, Mencuccini M and Meir P (2022) Forest system hydraulic conductance: partitioning tree and soil components. New Phytologist, 233 (4). pp. 1667-1681
• Tng D, Apgaua D, Paz C, Dempsey R, Cernusak L, Liddell M and Laurance S (2022) Drought reduces the growth and health of tropical rainforest understory plants. Forest Ecology and Management, 511.
• Vogado N, Engert J, Linde T, Campbell M, Laurance W and Liddell M (2022) Climate Change Affects Reproductive Phenology in Lianas of Australia’s Wet Tropics. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 5.
• Yeshi K, Ruscher R, Miles K, Crayn D, Liddell M and Wangchuk P (2022) Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Endemic Plants of the Australian Wet Tropics. Plants, 11 (19).
• Zanne A, Flores-Moreno H, Powell J, Cornwell W, Dalling J, Austin A, Classen A, Eggleton P, Okada K, Parr C, Adair E, Adu-Bredu S, Alam M, Alvarez-Garzón C, Apgaua D, Aragón R, Ardon M, Arndt S, Ashton L, Barber N, Beauchêne J, Berg M, Beringer J, Boer M, Bonet J, Bunney K, Burkhardt T, Carvalho D, Castillo-Figueroa D, Cernusak L, Cheesman A, Cirne-Silva T, Cleverly J, Cornelissen J, Curran T, D'Angioli A, Dallstream C, Eisenhauer N, Evouna Ondo F, Fajardo A, Fernandez R, Ferrer A, Fontes M, Galatowitsch M, González G, Gottschall F, Grace P, Granda E, Griffiths H, Guerra Lara M, Hasegawa M, Hefting M, Hinko-Najera N, Hutley L, Jones J, Kahl A, Karan M, Keuskamp J, Lardner T, Liddell M, Macfarlane C, Macinnis-Ng C, Mariano R, Méndez M, Meyer W, Mori A, Moura A, Northwood M, Ogaya R, Oliveira R, Orgiazzi A, Pardo J, Peguero G, Penuelas J, Perez L, Posada J, Prada C, P?ív?tivý T, Prober S, Prunier J, Quansah G, Resco de Dios V, Richter R, Robertson M, Rocha L, Rúa M, Sarmiento C, Silberstein R, Silva M, Siqueira F, Stillwagon M, Stol J, Taylor M, Teste F, Tng D, Tucker D, Türke M, Ulyshen M, Valverde-Barrantes O, van den Berg E, van Logtestijn R, Veen G, Vogel J, Wardlaw T, Wiehl G, Wirth C, Woods M and Zalamea P (2022) Termite sensitivity to temperature affects global wood decay rates. Science, 377 (6613). pp. 1440-1444
• Bennett A, Arndt S, Bennett L, Knauer J, Beringer J, Griebel A, Hinko-Najera N, Liddell M, Metzen D, Pendall E, Silberstein R, Wardlaw T, Woodgate W and Haverd V (2021) Thermal optima of gross primary productivity are closely aligned with mean air temperatures across Australian wooded ecosystems. Global Change Biology, 27 (19). pp. 4727-4744
• Migliavacca M, Musavi T, Mahecha M, Nelson J, Knauer J, Baldocchi D, Perez-Priego O, Christiansen R, Peters J, Anderson K, Bahn M, Black T, Blanken P, Bonal D, Buchmann N, Caldararu S, Carrara A, Carvalhais N, Cescatti A, Chen J, Cleverly J, Cremonese E, Desai A, El-Madany T, Farella M, Fernández-Martínez M, Filippa G, Forkel M, Galvagno M, Gomarasca U, Gough C, Göckede M, Ibrom A, Ikawa H, Janssens I, Jung M, Kattge J, Keenan T, Knohl A, Kobayashi H, Kraemer G, Law B, Liddell M, Ma X, Mammarella I, Martini D, Macfarlane C, Matteucci G, Montagnani L, Pabon-Moreno D, Panigada C, Papale D, Pendall E, Penuelas J, Phillips R, Reich P, Rossini M, Rotenberg E, Scott R, Stahl C, Weber U, Wohlfahrt G, Wolf S, Wright I, Yakir D, Zaehle S and Reichstein M (2021) The three major axes of terrestrial ecosystem function. Nature, 598. pp. 468-472
• Pivovaroff A, McDowell N, Rodrigues T, Brodribb T, Cernusak L, Choat B, Grossiord C, Ishida Y, Jardine K, Laurance S, Leff R, Li W, Liddell M, Mackay D, Pacheco H, Peters J, de J. Sampaio Filho I, Souza D, Wang W, Zhang P and Chambers J (2021) Stability of tropical forest tree carbon-water relations in a rainfall exclusion treatment through shifts in effective water uptake depth. Global Change Biology, 27. pp. 6454-6466
• Zhu L, Bloomfield K, Asao S, Tjoelker M, Egerton J, Hayes L, Weerasinghe L, Creek D, Griffin K, Hurry V, Liddell M, Meir P, Turnbull M and Atkin O (2021) Acclimation of leaf respiration temperature responses across thermally contrasting biomes. New Phytologist, 229 (3). pp. 1312-1325

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 51+ research outputs authored by A/Prof Michael Liddell from 2004 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

• Structure and Function of Novel Peptides from Cone Snail Venom (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

• Climate change in the tropics: drought effects on the phenology and eco-physiology of rainforest tree species (2022, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• The effect of soil physico-chemical characteristics on the severity of Fusarium wilt of bananas (2022, 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.