Moreton Bay Research Station is located on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), providing direct access to the waters of Moreton Bay and the Pacific Ocean as well as the unique terrestrial environments of the 27,700 hectare sand island. Lying on the convergence of the eastern Australian sub-tropical and temperate zones, Minjerribah and the surrounding waters support an incredibly diverse range of terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems on which to base research and education activities.

The Station offers a range of accommodation options (sleeping up to 100 people), modern research laboratories, teaching space and lecture theatres, boating and diving facilities and an exceptional location attracting scientists and academics from around the world each year.

Website

https://www.uq.edu.au/moreton-bay-research-station/research

Organisation type

• University research centre

Number of research staff

Up to 20 research staff

Address

37 Flinders Avenue, Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island QLD 4183

Strengths and capabilities

• Aquaculture and Aquatic Biology,
• Marine Ecology (including mangroves, coral, seagrass research),
• Fisheries Science,
• Water Quality,
• Assessing and Mapping biodiversity,
• Marine Mammals,
• Blue Carbon,
• Marine Pollution (including plastics),
• Cephalopod Biology,
• Conservation and human impacts,
• Climate Change impacts.

Facilities and major equipment

• Equipped research laboratories (including spectrophotometer, research and teaching microscopes, centrifuges, microplate reader etc),
• 17000L recirculating saltwater aquaria system,
• Five research vessels,
• On site equipment store,
• Ultrapure water,
• SCUBA diving equipment,
• Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV).

Lead researchers

• Dr. Ben Mos—Researches how humans are altering oceans through climate change, pollution, and overfishing, solving these problems considering Indigenous approaches.
• A/Prof Karen Cheney—A marine ecologist employing a multidisciplinary approach to explore predator-prey interactions, animal signalling, and the fundamental principles behind the evolution and function of animal colour patterns.
• Prof. Michael Noad—Researches the effects of anthropogenic underwater noise on whales, the evolution and function of humpback whale song, social learning and culture in animals, and marine mammal population ecology.
• A/Prof. Chris Roelfsema—Monitors ecosystem health of coral reefs and seagrass habitats, integrating field and remote sensing image datasets, and the developing applied cost-effective mapping and monitoring approaches.
• Professor Cath Lovelock—Cath's research focusses on the influence of environmental change, including climate change, on the ecology of coastal and marine plant communities and in providing knowledge to underpin conservation and restoration of these ecosystems now and in the future.

Achievements of the centre

• Contributed to a major study in Southeast Queensland on how quickly biodegradable plastics break down in waterways, helping researchers search for solutions to the world's growing plastics problem.
• Developing technologies in invertebrate aquaculture to supply seafood to a growing global human population.
• Investigating the impacts of climate change on coastal wetlands and on the role of coastal ecosystems in mitigating climate change, or blue carbon.
• Investigating ecosystem benefits and habitat provisioning of restored shellfish reefs.
• Understanding the effects of anthropogenic underwater noise on whales, the evolution and function of humpback whale song, social learning and culture in animals, and marine mammal population ecology.

Key science sectors

More information about the sectors this centre is involved in:

• Environment and nature