An Update on GBRMPA’s
Research and Monitoring Coordination Unit
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Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Research and Monitoring
Coordination Unit is responsible for coordinating a scientific basis
for the management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World
Heritage Area. This involves:
- identifying information needs for management (refer to
article, page 4) and communicating them to research providers;
- coordinating research projects as required;
- providing technical advice to managers,
- providing scientific support for environmental impact
monitoring programs; and
- developing relevant policies.
In doing so, the Unit works closely with research providers
including the Cooperative Research Centre for the Great Barrier Reef
World Heritage Area (Reef CRC), the Australian Institute of Marine
Science (AIMS), James Cook University and other universities and
research institutions. The Unit is responsible for coordinating many
projects covering a variety of issues and disciplines.
The Research and Monitoring Coordination Unit has undergone quite
a few changes in the last few years, and we thought it timely to
provide an update to readers of Reef Research. For example,
there has been a change in the composition of the unit. Previously,
the Research and Monitoring Section comprised six program areas:
water quality, crown-of-thorns starfish, fisheries, monitoring,
socio-economic and section operations. Following a restructure of
the Authority in 1998, in which a stronger focus was placed on
critical issues, two program areas became separate Critical Issues
Groups: Water Quality and Coastal Development (Jon Brodie, Director)
and Fisheries Issues Group (Phil Cadwallader, Director). The
remaining four program areas remain with two other changes: the
internal crown-of-thorns starfish program has been greatly reduced
with most of the work now being conducted by consultants via the
Reef CRC, and the Unit’s name has been changed to Research and
Monitoring Coordination.
Intensive Marine Pollution
Course—Orpheus Island
Research Station
An intensive course in marine pollution
will be run at Orpheus Island Research
Station from 17–23 July 2000. The course is suitable for
staff from marine resorts in the Great Barrier Reef who have
a strong interest in marine pollution issues, and who wish
to be able to communicate this to tourists who visit the
area. The course consists of lectures, tutorial sessions and
field and laboratory work at Orpheus Island. Assessment is
by a literature review, seminar presentation and examination
in August. The maximum number of participants is 20.
For further details of the course, including costs, contact
the course coordinator:
Dr Graham Jones
Department of Chemistry
James Cook University
Townsville Qld 4810
E-mail: graham.jones@jcu.edu.au
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The Unit has also undergone quite a few staff changes. It is now
made up of six full-time staff. Dr Alison Green (Manager) is
responsible for managing the team and ensuring that the Unit fulfils
its obligations. In particular, Alison is responsible for
identifying research priorities, ensuring that information needs are
met, providing scientific support for environmental impact
monitoring programs and developing relevant policies.
Dr David Wachenfeld (Project Manager, State of the Reef
Report) is responsible for the development and production of The
State of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area report and
associated information products. The first report entitled State
of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area 1998 was produced
in 1998. David is currently developing a set of environmental
indicators to be used in future State of the Reef Reports. The next
report will be released in 2003. In the meantime you can access the
current report on line at the Authority’s web site or purchase a hard copy for $5 from Reef In Store (telephone +61 7
4750 0875; facsimile
+61 7 4772 5281).
People, their activities, attitudes and the values they hold for
the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area are important factors to
consider as part of the management of the area. The social sciences
provide information to understand this human aspect. James Innes
(Project Manager—Socioeconomics) is responsible for this
program, which includes identifying and coordinating the acquisition
and dissemination of social, cultural and economic information for
the Authority.
Several staff members are responsible for coordinating management
needs in the natural sciences. Ray Berkelmans (Project Manager)
has been seconded to AIMS to participate in a collaborative research
program to investigate the links between global climate change and
coral bleaching with AIMS and the United State’s National Ocean
and Atmospheric Administration. In Ray’s absence, Paul Marshall
(Acting Project Manager) is responsible for providing scientific
support for environmental impact monitoring programs, as well as
coordinating research projects and developing relevant policies. Andrew
Chin (Project Officer) is responsible for the majority of the
project management for natural sciences, data management and client
liaison. Some of the projects Andrew is currently involved with
include crown-of-thorns starfish surveys and extension, and
long-term temperature and video monitoring of coral reefs. Andrew is
also involved with running the Eye on the Reef Program, which is a
joint monitoring program between the tourist operators, the Marine
Park Authority and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. The
program is currently being trialed in the Cairns Section of the
Marine Park. Andrew also coordinates the Authority’s seminar
series and provides technical advice to Reef HQ.
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The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Authority (GBRMPA) is the principal adviser to the
Commonwealth Government on the care and development of the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and is the lead agency for
Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area issues. Having the
best available information for decision making is essential
to high quality scientifically-based management of this
important area.
Recently, GBRMPA completed a series of
workshops aimed at identifying the information needs for
managing the Marine Park and World Heritage Area. In
particular, the workshops focussed on identifying
information needs for the Authority’s four critical issue
groups (Conservation, Biodiversity and World Heritage;
Fisheries; Tourism and Recreation; and Water Quality and
Coastal Development), Day to Day Management, Program
Delivery, Research and Monitoring Coordination and Reef HQ.
The Authority was greatly assisted in this process by a
CRC-funded consultant (Ecoconnect—science and environment
communication) who facilitated the workshops, and
representatives of the scientific community who were invited
to participate.
The results, which will be released as a
GBRMPA publication in the near future, have already played
an important role in informing the Cooperative Research
Centre for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area of the
Authority’s information needs prior to the finalisation of
the Centre’s research program for the next year. For
further information contact Dr Alison Green, Manager,
Research and Monitoring Coordination, GBRMPA, on +61 7 4750
0700. |
In addition to acting as Editor for this newsletter, Kim Lally
(Assistant Project Officer) is responsible for preparing
consultancy reports and workshop proceedings for publication in the
Authority’s Research Publication or Workshop Series. Kim also
maintains a number of databases for the Unit and administers the
Authority’s Augmentative Research Grant Scheme.
Dr Zena Dinesen has been seconded to the Reef CRC to develop
performance indicators for management of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park and World Heritage Area. This research task will also
contribute information for the State of the Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage Area report on how key ecological, social, economic,
cultural and management objectives are being met. Three areas of
research are currently involved: (1) reviewing and developing
frameworks for performance reporting relevant to environmental
management and conservation; (2) defining information needed to
assess the success of the Representative Areas biodiversity
conservation strategy; and (3) developing specific procedures and
indicators to evaluate management in the Whitsundays area.
What happened to Dr Jamie Oliver?
Dr Jamie Oliver has been promoted from Manager of the Research
and Monitoring Section to Director of the Authority’s Information
Support Group. This group is currently comprised of the following
units:
- Research and Monitoring Coordination;
- Training and Advisory Services;
- Information Coordination and Analysis;
- Information Technology;
- Library; and
- Public Information and Production.
To contact any of the Research and Monitoring Coordination staff
please call the Authority on +61 7 4750 0700.
