Professor James Watson
Professor

James Watson

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 334 61645

Background

James is an applied conservation scientist and bioegeographer working at the interface between ecology, policy and management to improve outcomes for biodiversity. He has a particular interest in understanding how humanity influences landscape and the climate, and what this means for biodiversity and ecosystem service outcomes, and the implications of this for environmental policy setting and management.

As a Professor of Conservation Science at The University of Queensland, he leads two research groups. The Green Fire Science research group (www.greenfirescience.com) mission is to do applied research that is linked directly to the practice of large-scale conservation and the Research and Recovery of Endangered Species (https://raresgroup.com.au) mission is to focus on Australia's rarest, least studied species to try and work out their needs and work with those on-ground practioners to try and save them.

James has been passionate conservation for decades. As a Rhodes Scholar, James undertook his PhD research studying in Madagascar, trying to come up with conservation plans to save endemic bird species inhabiting the country’s remaining littoral forest. Since then he has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and reports on conservation related matters, ranging from assessing the impacts of climate change on species to mapping the effectiveness of protected areas on biodiversity conservation outcomes globally. He has served on the International Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Data and Knowledge Task Force, and is a Research Fellow for the United Nation’s Environment Program, a Senior Technical expert for the United Nations Development Program’s Global Programme on Nature for Development, and was the founding chair of the International Union for Nature Conservation Climate Change Specialist Group. James sits on the scientific committees of BirdLife Australia and SUBAC. James was global president of the Society for Conservation Biology in 2015-17.

I am also an affiliated researcher at the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science.

Availability

Professor James Watson is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Ecology Environmental Sciences

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Oxford

Research interests

  • Conservation policy and practice

Search Professor James Watson’s works on UQ eSpace

471 works between 2001 and 2024
All (471) Journal Article (406) Book Chapter (19) Conference Publication (6) Book (2) Other Outputs (38)

121 - 140 of 471 works

2020

Journal Article

Unveiling the environmental benefits of reducing sugar

de Andrade Junior, Milton A. U., Watson, James E. M. and Maxwell, Sean L. (2020). Unveiling the environmental benefits of reducing sugar. Lancet Planetary Health, 4 (11), E497-E498. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30226-6

Unveiling the environmental benefits of reducing sugar

2020

Journal Article

Set ambitious goals for biodiversity and sustainability

Díaz, Sandra, Zafra-Calvo, Noelia, Purvis, Andy, Verburg, Peter H., Obura, David, Leadley, Paul, Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca, De Meester, Luc, Dulloo, Ehsan, Martín-López, Berta, Shaw, M. Rebecca, Visconti, Piero, Broadgate, Wendy, Bruford, Michael W., Burgess, Neil D., Cavender- Bares, Jeannine, DeClerck, Fabrice, Fernández-Palacios, José María, Garibaldi, Lucas A., Hill, Samantha L.L., Isbell, Forest, Khoury, Colin K., Krug, Cornelia B., Liu, Jianguo, Maron, Martine, McGowan, Philip J.K., Pereira, Henrique M., Reyes-García, Victoria, Rocha, Juan ... Zanne, Amy E. (2020). Set ambitious goals for biodiversity and sustainability. Science, 370 (6515), 411-413. doi: 10.1126/science.abe1530

Set ambitious goals for biodiversity and sustainability

2020

Journal Article

Importance of species translocations under rapid climate change

Butt, Nathalie, Chauvenet, Alienor L.M., Adams, Vanessa M., Beger, Maria, Gallagher, Rachael V., Shanahan, Danielle F., Ward, Michelle, Watson, James E.M. and Possingham, Hugh P. (2020). Importance of species translocations under rapid climate change. Conservation Biology, 35 (3) cobi.13643, 775-783. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13643

Importance of species translocations under rapid climate change

2020

Journal Article

Area-based conservation in the twenty-first century

Maxwell, Sean L., Cazalis, Victor, Dudley, Nigel, Hoffmann, Michael, Rodrigues, Ana S. L., Stolton, Sue, Visconti, Piero, Woodley, Stephen, Kingston, Naomi, Lewis, Edward, Maron, Martine, Strassburg, Bernardo B. N., Wenger, Amelia, Jonas, Harry D., Venter, Oscar and Watson, James E. M. (2020). Area-based conservation in the twenty-first century. Nature, 586 (7828), 217-227. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2773-z

Area-based conservation in the twenty-first century

2020

Journal Article

Best‐practice forestry management delivers diminishing returns for coral reefs with increased land‐clearing

Wenger, Amelia S., Harris, Daniel, Weber, Samuel, Vaghi, Ferguson, Nand, Yashika, Naisilisili, Waisea, Hughes, Alec, Delevaux, Jade, Klein, Carissa J., Watson, James, Mumby, Peter J. and Jupiter, Stacy D. (2020). Best‐practice forestry management delivers diminishing returns for coral reefs with increased land‐clearing. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57 (12) 1365-2664.13743, 2381-2392. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.13743

Best‐practice forestry management delivers diminishing returns for coral reefs with increased land‐clearing

2020

Journal Article

Agricultural intensification is causing rapid habitat change in the Tonle Sap Floodplain, Cambodia

Mahood, Simon P., Poole, Colin M., Watson, James E. M., MacKenzie, Richard A., Sharma, Sahadev and Garnett, Stephen T. (2020). Agricultural intensification is causing rapid habitat change in the Tonle Sap Floodplain, Cambodia. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 28 (5), 713-726. doi: 10.1007/s11273-020-09740-1

Agricultural intensification is causing rapid habitat change in the Tonle Sap Floodplain, Cambodia

2020

Journal Article

Just ten percent of the global terrestrial protected area network is structurally connected via intact land

Ward, Michelle, Saura, Santiago, Williams, Brooke, Ramírez-Delgado, Juan Pablo, Arafeh-Dalmau, Nur, Allan, James R., Venter, Oscar, Dubois, Grégoire and Watson, James E. M. (2020). Just ten percent of the global terrestrial protected area network is structurally connected via intact land. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 4563, 4563. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18457-x

Just ten percent of the global terrestrial protected area network is structurally connected via intact land

2020

Journal Article

Bending the curve of terrestrial biodiversity needs an integrated strategy

Leclère, David, Obersteiner, Michael, Barrett, Mike, Butchart, Stuart H. M., Chaudhary, Abhishek, De Palma, Adriana, DeClerck, Fabrice A. J., Di Marco, Moreno, Doelman, Jonathan C., Dürauer, Martina, Freeman, Robin, Harfoot, Michael, Hasegawa, Tomoko, Hellweg, Stefanie, Hilbers, Jelle P., Hill, Samantha L. L., Humpenöder, Florian, Jennings, Nancy, Krisztin, Tamás, Mace, Georgina M., Ohashi, Haruka, Popp, Alexander, Purvis, Andy, Schipper, Aafke M., Tabeau, Andrzej, Valin, Hugo, van Meijl, Hans, van Zeist, Willem-Jan, Visconti, Piero ... Young, Lucy (2020). Bending the curve of terrestrial biodiversity needs an integrated strategy. Nature, 585 (7826), 551-556. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2705-y

Bending the curve of terrestrial biodiversity needs an integrated strategy

2020

Other Outputs

Renewable energy can save the natural world – but if we’re not careful, it will also hurt it

Sonter, Laura, Watson, James and Valenta, Richard (2020, 09 02). Renewable energy can save the natural world – but if we’re not careful, it will also hurt it The Conversation

Renewable energy can save the natural world – but if we’re not careful, it will also hurt it

2020

Journal Article

Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa

Grantham, H. S., Shapiro, A., Bonfils, D., Gond, V., Goldman, E., Maisels, F., Plumptre, A. J., Rayden, T., Robinson, J. G., Strindberg, S., Stokes, E., Tulloch, A. I.T.T., Watson, J. E.M., Williams, L. and Rickenbach, O. (2020). Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa. Environmental Research Letters, 15 (9) 0940B5. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab9fae

Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa

2020

Journal Article

Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity

Sonter, Laura J., Dade, Marie C., Watson, James E. M. and Valenta, Rick K. (2020). Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 4174, 4174. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17928-5

Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity

2020

Journal Article

The importance of indigenous peoples’ lands for the conservation of terrestrial mammals

O'Bryan, Christopher J., Garnett, Stephen T., Fa, John E., Leiper, Ian, Rehbein, Jose, Fernández‐Llamazares, Álvaro, Jackson, Micha V., Jonas, Harry D., Brondizio, Eduardo S., Burgess, Neil D., Robinson, Catherine J., Zander, Kerstin K., Venter, Oscar and Watson, James E.M. (2020). The importance of indigenous peoples’ lands for the conservation of terrestrial mammals. Conservation Biology, 35 (3) cobi.13620, 1002-1008. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13620

The importance of indigenous peoples’ lands for the conservation of terrestrial mammals

2020

Journal Article

Protected areas are now the last strongholds for many imperiled mammal species

Pacifici, Michela, Di Marco, Moreno and Watson, James E. M. (2020). Protected areas are now the last strongholds for many imperiled mammal species. Conservation Letters, 13 (6) e12748. doi: 10.1111/conl.12748

Protected areas are now the last strongholds for many imperiled mammal species

2020

Journal Article

A policy-driven framework for conserving the best of Earth’s remaining moist tropical forests

Hansen, Andrew J., Burns, Patrick, Ervin, Jamison, Goetz, Scott J., Hansen, Matthew, Venter, Oscar, Watson, James E. M., Jantz, Patrick A., Virnig, Anne L. S., Barnett, Kevin, Pillay, Rajeev, Atkinson, Scott, Supples, Christina, Rodríguez-Buritica, Susana and Armenteras, Dolors (2020). A policy-driven framework for conserving the best of Earth’s remaining moist tropical forests. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 4 (10), 1377-1384. doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-1274-7

A policy-driven framework for conserving the best of Earth’s remaining moist tropical forests

2020

Journal Article

A global mapping template for natural and modified habitat across terrestrial Earth

Gosling, Joe, Jones, Matt I., Arnell, Andy, Watson, James E. M., Venter, Oscar, Baquero, Andrea C. and Burgess, Neil D. (2020). A global mapping template for natural and modified habitat across terrestrial Earth. Biological Conservation, 250 108674, 108674. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108674

A global mapping template for natural and modified habitat across terrestrial Earth

2020

Journal Article

Impact of 2019–2020 mega-fires on Australian fauna habitat

Ward, Michelle, Tulloch, Ayesha I. T., Radford, James Q., Williams, Brooke A., Reside, April E., Macdonald, Stewart L., Mayfield, Helen J., Maron, Martine, Possingham, Hugh P., Vine, Samantha J., O’Connor, James L., Massingham, Emily J., Greenville, Aaron C., Woinarski, John C. Z., Garnett, Stephen T., Lintermans, Mark, Scheele, Ben C., Carwardine, Josie, Nimmo, Dale G., Lindenmayer, David B., Kooyman, Robert M., Simmonds, Jeremy S., Sonter, Laura J. and Watson, James E. M. (2020). Impact of 2019–2020 mega-fires on Australian fauna habitat. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 4 (10), 1321-1326. doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-1251-1

Impact of 2019–2020 mega-fires on Australian fauna habitat

2020

Journal Article

Compounding impact of deforestation on Borneo’s climate during El Niño events

Chapman, Sarah, Syktus, Jozef I, Trancoso, Ralph, Salazar, Alvaro, Thatcher, Marcus J., Watson, James E. M., Meijaard, Erik, Sheil, Douglas, Dargusch, Paul and McAlpine, Clive Alexander (2020). Compounding impact of deforestation on Borneo’s climate during El Niño events. Environmental Research Letters, 15 (8) 084006, 084006. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab86f5

Compounding impact of deforestation on Borneo’s climate during El Niño events

2020

Journal Article

Environmental destruction not avoided with the Sustainable Development Goals

Zeng, Yiwen, Maxwell, Sean, Runting, Rebecca K., Venter, Oscar, Watson, James E. M. and Carrasco, L. Roman (2020). Environmental destruction not avoided with the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Sustainability, 3 (10), 795-798. doi: 10.1038/s41893-020-0555-0

Environmental destruction not avoided with the Sustainable Development Goals

2020

Journal Article

Global correlates of range contractions and expansions in terrestrial mammals

Pacifici, Michela, Rondinini, Carlo, Rhodes, Jonathan R., Burbidge, Andrew A., Cristiano, Andrea, Watson, James E. M., Woinarski, John C. Z. and Di Marco, Moreno (2020). Global correlates of range contractions and expansions in terrestrial mammals. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 2840, 1-9. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16684-w

Global correlates of range contractions and expansions in terrestrial mammals

2020

Journal Article

Extent and potential impact of hunting on migratory shorebirds in the Asia-Pacific

Gallo-Cajiao, Eduardo, Morrison, Tiffany H., Woodworth, Bradley K., Lees, Alexander C., Naves, Liliana C., Yong, Ding Li, Choi, Chi-Yeung, Mundkur, Taej, Bird, Jeremy, Jain, Anuj, Klokov, Konstantin, Syroechkovskiy, Evgeny, Chowdhury, Sayam U., Fu, Vivian Wing Kan, Watson, James E.M. and Fuller, Richard A. (2020). Extent and potential impact of hunting on migratory shorebirds in the Asia-Pacific. Biological Conservation, 246 108582, 108582. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108582

Extent and potential impact of hunting on migratory shorebirds in the Asia-Pacific

Current funding

  • 2023 - 2025
    Queensland regional planning assessments
    Queensland Conservation Council
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2025
    A critical pathway for Australia's Conservation Future (Ian Potter Foundation grant administered by the University of Melbourne)
    University of Melbourne
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2024
    Linking assessment of global goals for ecosystems and species by coupling WCS and CSIRO capabilities in landscape integrity mapping and biodiversity modelling
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2024
    A conservation metric for business to measure biodiversity
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2024
    Assessing the biotic response to intact forest metrics
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2024
    Land clearing assessment on species
    Australian Conservation Foundation
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023
    Wilderness Inventory Data Review
    Minister for Climate, Environment and Water (South Australia)
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2023
    Mapping threatened species recovery across Federal electorates
    World Wide Fund for Nature Australia
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2022
    Climate Change Adaptation Planning for Threatened Species: pilot project
    Australian Capital Territory - Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate - Conservation Research Branch
    Open grant
  • 2021
    Apply Key Biodiversity Criteria to Bush Heritage Priority Landscapes to determine intactness and land condition
    Bush Heritage Australia
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2023
    Vibrant Oceans: Applied Coral Reef Conservation
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2021
    KBA mapping for Australia
    Birdlife Australia
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2020
    The ecology and conservation biogeography of the buff-breasted button-quail
    Birds Queensland
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2021
    ACF Key Biodiversity Areas Mapping Project
    Australian Conservation Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2023
    Ecosystem risk assessment (ARC Linkage Project administered by The University of New South Wales)
    University of New South Wales
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    Global priorities for terrestrial biodiversity
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    Identifying Nature's Strongholds
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    Conservation Priority Setting
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    Africa Climate Change and Biodiversity - ABCG II
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2018
    Identifying the most important terrestrial wilderness areas on the planet
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Australia wide analysis for threatened species
    Australian Conservation Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2019
    Intact Forests - Framework Metric
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    SNAPP Compensatory Conservation Working Group
    The Nature Conservancy
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2021
    Macarthur Intact Forests
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Rapid response to significant unanticipated threat - testing novel feral cat control strategies to support conservation of the endangered alwal/golden-shouldered parrot [...]
    Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2020
    Night Parrot Research, Pullen Pullen Reserve, Qld
    Bush Heritage Australia
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2019
    Africa Spatial Planning - ABCG II
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2020
    Optimising community-based climate change adaptation in the Pacific Islands
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2021
    GIS support to WCS Indonesia Program's Sulawesi project
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2019
    Intact forests values assessment
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2017
    Provide MARXAN analysis of WCS Papua New Guinea program
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2022
    The capacity of forests to protect regional climate under global warming
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2018
    Assessing biodiversity priorities and carbon values across the Great Eastern Ranges
    Australian Conservation Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2017
    Africa Biodiversity Consultative Group II
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2021
    Support for Research Assistants
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2018
    The Luc Hoffman Institute Fellow - Pathways for Drivers of Positive Change
    WWF International
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2019
    Planning for the impacts of land-uses on coral reef fisheries
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2017
    Analysis of the public protected area framework in NSW and future opportunities
    UniQuest Pty Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2020
    Assimilating development objectives in conservation planning
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2017
    ECO-SMarT
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2017
    Integrating human response to climate change into conservation planning: developing an integrated decision framework
    Research Donation Generic
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2018
    MacArthur Foundation - Lower Mekong
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    `MacArthur Foundation - Portfolio Approach
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2018
    MacArthur Foundation - Tanzania - Green Economies
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2021
    NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub
    National Environmental Science Program
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    Africa Biodiversity Consultative Group
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    Conservation strategy fund - Uganda
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    MacArthur Foundation - Birdlife subgrant - Support WCS's East Africa climate assessment work for Rwanda and Tanzania
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2018
    MacArthur Foundation - West Indian Ocean spatial planning assessment
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Eastern DRC spatial planning
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2016
    Climate adaptation on coral reefs
    Wildlife Conservation Society (USA)
    Open grant

Availability

Professor James Watson is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Ecology and conservation of the Buff-breasted Button-quail (Turnix olivii)

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Martine Maron

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Conservation Biogeography of the Red Goshawk

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Managing grazing in the grasslands of Queenslands Channel Country: a critical refuge for the Critically Endangered Plains Wanderer

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Autecology of an endangered Australian passerine: CarpentarianGrasswren (Amytornis dorotheae)

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Martine Maron

  • Master Philosophy

    Engaging elected representatives and constituencies for biodiversity conservation success

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Biogeography and conservation assessment of the endangered Northern Masked Owl

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Megafauna losses and predatory interactions in tropical forests

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Matthew Luskin

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Professor James Watson directly for media enquiries about:

  • biodiversity
  • climate change
  • extinction
  • landclearing
  • landuse planning
  • logging
  • saving species
  • species loss

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