JCU > Research Portfolio > Dr Rebecca Weeks

About

Rebecca grew up in the UK, and completed a Master’s degree in Zoology from the University of Sheffield before moving to Australia to undertake her PhD at James Cook University. After completing her doctorate, Rebecca worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society Fiji Country program, before returning to JCU as a research fellow in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies' Conservation Planning group.

Rebecca's research explores how conservation planning concepts and tools can be applied to develop marine protected area networks in regions with community-based management. A central theme of her work is the importance of spatial scale in conservation planning; in particular the need to reconcile regional-sale planning with local-scale implementation in order to develop ecologically functional MPA networks that are supported by local resource users. Her current research is focussed on the Coral Triangle and Western Pacific region.

Teaching

MB5310: Marine Reserves as Fisheries Management Tools (Level 5; TSV)

Experience

2010 to 2012 - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Wildlife Conservation Society (Fiji)

Research Disciplines

Socio-Economic Objectives

Publications

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

Cheok J, Weeks R, Morrison T and Pressey R (2020) Scalar capital as ingredient of success in conservation governance: evidence from Melanesia. Global Environmental Change, 62, Article: 102057, DOI:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102057.
Thurstan R, Diggles B, Gillies C, Strong M, Kerkhove R, Buckley S, King R, Smythe V, Heller-Wagner G, Weeks R, Palin F and McLeod I (2020) Charting two centuries of transformation in a coastal social-ecological system: a mixed methods approach. Global Environmental Change, 61, Article: 102058, DOI:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102058.
Adams V, Mills M, Weeks R, Segan D, Pressey R, Gurney G, Groves C, Davis F and Alvarez-Romero J (2019) Implementation strategies for systematic conservation planning. Ambio, 47, pp. 139-152, DOI:10.1007/s13280-018-1067-2.
Bellwood D, Pratchett M, Morrison T, Gurney G, Hughes T, Álvarez-Romero J, Day J, Grantham R, Grech A, Hoey A, Jones G, Pandolfi J, Tebbett S, Techera E, Weeks R and Cumming G (2019) Coral reef conservation in the Anthropocene: confronting spatial mismatches and prioritizing functions. Biological Conservation, 236, pp. 604-615, DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.05.056.
Carvalho P, Jupiter S, Januchowski-Hartley F, Goetze J, Claudet J, Weeks R, Humphries A and White C (2019) Optimized fishing through periodically harvested closures. Journal of Applied Ecology, 56 (8), pp. 1927-1936, DOI:10.1111/1365-2664.13417.
Cheok J, Weeks R and Pressey R (2019) Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of conservation planning at different scales: the Coral Triangle as a case study. Ecology and Society, 24 (4), Article: 24, DOI:10.5751/ES-10919-240424.
Kininmonth S, Weeks R, Abesamis R, Bernardo L, Beger M, Treml E, Williamson D and Pressey R (2019) Strategies in scheduling marine protected area establishment in a network system. Ecological Applications, 29 (1), Article: e01820, DOI:10.1002/eap.1820.
Mills M, Bode M, Mascia M, Weeks R, Gelcich S, Dudley N, Govan H, Archibald C, Romero-de-Diego C, Holden M, Biggs D, Glew L, Naidoo R and Possingham H (2019) How conservation initiatives go to scale. Nature Sustainability, 2 (10), pp. 935-940, DOI:10.1038/s41893-019-0384-1.
Mizrahi M, Duce S, Pressey R, Simpfendorfer C, Weeks R and Diedrich A (2019) Global opportunities and challenges for shark large marine protected areas. Biological Conservation, 234, pp. 107-115, DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.03.026.
Mizrahi M, Diedrich A, Weeks R and Pressey R (2019) A systematic review of the socioeconomic factors that influence how marine protected areas impact on ecosystems and livelihoods. Society and Natural Resources, 32 (1), pp. 4-20, DOI:10.1080/08941920.2018.1489568.
Sacre E, Bode M, Weeks R and Pressey R (2019) The context dependence of frontier versus wilderness conservation priorities. Conservation Letters, 12 (3), Article: e12632, DOI:10.1111/conl.12632.
Alvarez-Romero J, Mills M, Adams V, Gurney G, Pressey R, Weeks R, Ban N, Cheok J, Davis T, Day J, Hamel M, Leslie H, Magris R and Storlie C (2018) Research advances and gaps in marine planning: towards a global database in systematic conservation planning. Biological Conservation, 227, pp. 369-382, DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2018.06.027.

More: ResearchOnline@JCU stores 39+ research outputs authored by Dr Rebecca Weeks from 2009 onwards.

Current Funding

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

The Nature Conservancy - US - Contract Research

Fisheries Management Planning for Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia

Indicative Funding: $8,290
Summary: This research project aims to understand how proactive (focused on protecting areas that will be threatened in future) and reactive (focused on ameliorating immediate threats) approaches to conservation can be operationalised within the context of coral reef fisheries management. This requires developing novel approaches to modelling the potential impact of protecting different locations, under different assumptions about the spatial distribution of present and future fishing effect. The project will provide recommendations to improve the design of Chuuk's Protected Area Network, which will be communicated to local stakeholders through collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and Chuuk Conservation Society.
Investigators: Rebecca Weeks and Edmond Sacre (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
Keywords: Marine Protected Areas; Fisheries Management; Conservation Planning; Conservation; Seascape; Micronesia

Wildlife Conservation Society - Contract Research

Improving the Effectiveness of Inshore Fisheries Management Systems in Fiji

Indicative Funding: $15,845
Summary: As stewards of their natural environment, communities need knowledge of the latest science and to be equipped with a range of management tools to help them make better decisions about their fisheries. This project will synthesise scientific information on the effectiveness of fisheries management strategies that are employed within locally managed marine areas, and develop approaches to facilitate learning of this by community-level decision-makers. Research will improve understanding of the factors that influence local preferences for different fisheries management strategies, which can be used to improve the design of management interventions and associated outreach activities.
Investigators: Rebecca Weeks and Stacy Jupiter (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and Wildlife Conservation Society-Fiji)
Keywords: Fisheries Management; Fiji; Marine Protected Areas; Community-based Management; Periodically Harvested Closures

The Nature Conservancy - US - Contract Research

Protected area network planning for Yap, Federated States of Micronesia

Indicative Funding: $8,520
Summary: The project will provide recommendations to improve the design of the Protected Area Network for Yap (Federated States of Micronesia) based on best-available science. Recommendations will focus on achieving local objectives to improve the status of natural resources that underpin Yapese food security and culture, but will also address targets for biodiversity conservation set by the Micronesia challenge Expected outcomes from the project include a novel contribution to the literature on the application of seascape analysis to conservation planning, and recommendations to inform protected area design and implementation by Yapese communities.
Investigators: Rebecca Weeks (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
Keywords: Marine Protected Areas; Fisheries Management; Conservation Planning; Conservation; Seascape; Micronesia

Supervision

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

Assessing the potential for recreational fishing to contribute to conservation of coastal marine species and habitats (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Maximising potential impact of Marine Protected Area placement: an integrated socioeconomic perspective. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

Systematic conservation planning in marine environments: sensitivities of the planning framework to aspects of scale (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Advancing conservation planning for persistence: design of a conservation strategy for Brazilian coral reefs (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Developing spatial prioritisation strategies to maximise conservation impact (2019, PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Data

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.

Cheok, J. (2017) Influence of updating frequency in the iterative adjustment of regional priorities in the transition to local actions. James Cook University

Collaboration

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.