Overview
Background
Research interest: Monitoring 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. Developed approaches have been adopted as standard practice globally, making a difference in conservation of these valuable habitats. The long term monitoring studies at Heron and Moreton Bay formed the basis for the development of mapping and monitoring over time and space at local to global scale. See here major research impact
Major projects:
- Long term monitoring of benthic composition at Heron Reef (2002-ongoing).
- Long term monitoring of seagrass composition and abundance in Moreton bay Marine Park (2000-ongoing).
- Smart Sat CRC Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Seagrass and Coral Reefs 2023-2027.
- Developement of Underwater Field Spectrometry and Benthic Photo Collection and Analysis
- 3D GBR Habitat Mapping Project 2015 - ongoing:
- Global habitat mapping project 2019-2023 Allen Coral Atlas .
Current position: Associate Professior in Marine Remote Sensing leading the Marine Ecosystem Monitoring Lab. . Academic Director Heron Island Research Station and affiliated researchers with Centre for Marine Science and Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science
Capacity Building and Citizen Science: Capacity: under/post graduate courses; Msc/PhD supervision, workshops/courses; Remote Sensing Educational Toolkit, and online courses (e.g. TNC).Strong supporter of citizen science based projects, as trainer, organiser and advisor for Reef Check Australia, CoralWatch, Great Reef Census and UniDive.
Availability
- Associate Professor Chris Roelfsema is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science, Institution to be confirmed
- Masters (Coursework) of Engineering, Delft University of Technology
- Postgraduate Diploma of Marine Science, The University of Queensland
- Postgraduate Diploma in Science, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
- Volunteer, Australian Coral Reef Society, Australian Coral Reef Society
- Member, Australian Marine Science Association, Australian Marine Science Association
- Volunteer, Coral Watch, Coral Watch
- Volunteer, Great Reef Census, Great Reef Census
- Member, International Coral Reef Society, International Coral Reef Society
- Member, Professional Assosciation of Diving Instructors, Professional Assosciation of Diving Instructors
- Volunteer, Reef Check Australia, Reef Check Australia
Research interests
-
Monitoring Marine Ecosystems - Integrating Field and Earth Observation
Research interest: Monitoring 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. Developed approaches have been adopted as standard practice globally, making a difference in conservation of these valuable habitats. The long term monitoring studies at Heron and Moreton Bay formed the basis for the development of mapping and monitoring over time and space at local to global scale. See here major research impact Major projects: Long term monitoring of benthic composition at Heron Reef (2002-ongoing). Long term monitoring of seagrass composition and abundance in Moreton bay Marine Park (2000-ongoing). Smart Sat CRC Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Seagrass and Coral Reefs 2023-2027. Developement of Underwater Field Spectrometry and Benthic Photo Collection and Analysis 3D GBR Habitat Mapping Project 2015 - ongoing: Global habitat mapping project 2019-2023 Allen Coral Atlas . Current position: Associate Professior in Marine Remote Sensing leading the Marine Ecosystem Monitoring Lab. . Academic Director Heron Island Research Station and affiliated researchers with Centre for Marine Science and Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science Capacity Building and Citizen Science: Capacity: under/post graduate courses; Msc/PhD supervision, workshops/courses; Remote Sensing Educational Toolkit, and online courses (e.g. TNC).Strong supporter of citizen science based projects, as trainer, organiser and advisor for Reef Check Australia, CoralWatch, Great Reef Census and UniDive.
Research impacts
See Research Impact on Mapping a better future for coral reefs
Works
Search Professor Chris Roelfsema’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2025
Journal Article
RapidBenthos: automated segmentation and multi-view classification of coral reef communities from photogrammetric reconstruction
Remmers, Tiny, Boutros, Nader, Wyatt, Mathew, Gordon, Sophie, Toor, Maren, Roelfsema, Chris, Fabricius, Katharina, Grech, Alana, Lechene, Marine and Ferrari, Renata (2025). RapidBenthos: automated segmentation and multi-view classification of coral reef communities from photogrammetric reconstruction. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 16 (2), 427-441. doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.14477
Featured
2024
Journal Article
Fine-scale interplay between decline and growth determines the spatial recovery of coral communities within a reef
Vercelloni, Julie, Roelfsema, Chris, Kovacs, Eva M., González-Rivero, Manuel, Moores, Matthew T., Logan, Murray and Mengersen, Kerrie (2024). Fine-scale interplay between decline and growth determines the spatial recovery of coral communities within a reef. Ecography, 2024 (1) e06818, 1-13. doi: 10.1111/ecog.06818
Featured
2023
Conference Publication
The AquaSat-1 mission concept: actionable information on water quality and aquatic ecosystems for Australia and Western USA
Bright, C., Ardila, D., Hestir, E., Malthus, T. J., Matthews, M., Thompson, D. R., Carter, N., Dekker, A. G., Frasson, R. P.M., Green, R. O., Held, A., Joehnk, K., Kravitz, J., Pease, J., Roelfsema, C., Seubert, C. and Wojtasiewicz, B. (2023). The AquaSat-1 mission concept: actionable information on water quality and aquatic ecosystems for Australia and Western USA. IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Pasadena, CA USA, 16-21 July 2023. New York, NY USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/IGARSS52108.2023.10282912
Featured
2021
Journal Article
How Much Shallow Coral Habitat Is There on the Great Barrier Reef?
Roelfsema, Chris M., Lyons, Mitchell B., Castro-Sanguino, Carolina, Kovacs, Eva M., Callaghan, David, Wettle, Magnus, Markey, Kathryn, Borrego-Acevedo, Rodney, Tudman, Paul, Roe, Meredith, Kennedy, Emma V., Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel, Murray, Nicholas and Phinn, Stuart R. (2021). How Much Shallow Coral Habitat Is There on the Great Barrier Reef?. Remote Sensing, 13 (21) 4343, 4343. doi: 10.3390/rs13214343
Featured
2021
Journal Article
Reef Cover, a coral reef classification for global habitat mapping from remote sensing
Kennedy, Emma V., Roelfsema, Chris M., Lyons, Mitchell B., Kovacs, Eva M., Borrego-Acevedo, Rodney, Roe, Meredith, Phinn, Stuart R., Larsen, Kirk, Murray, Nicholas J., Yuwono, Doddy, Wolff, Jeremy and Tudman, Paul (2021). Reef Cover, a coral reef classification for global habitat mapping from remote sensing. Scientific Data, 8 (1) 196, 196. doi: 10.1038/s41597-021-00958-z
Featured
2021
Journal Article
Fine-scale time series surveys reveal new insights into spatio-temporal trends in coral cover (2002–2018), of a coral reef on the Southern Great Barrier Reef
Roelfsema, Chris, Kovacs, Eva M., Vercelloni, Julie, Markey, Kathryn, Rodriguez-Ramirez, Alberto, Lopez-Marcano, Sebastian, Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel, Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove and Phinn, Stuart R. (2021). Fine-scale time series surveys reveal new insights into spatio-temporal trends in coral cover (2002–2018), of a coral reef on the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs, 40 (4), 1-13. doi: 10.1007/s00338-021-02104-y
Featured
2020
Journal Article
The global distribution of seagrass meadows
McKenzie, Leonard, Nordlund, Lina Mtwana, Jones, Benjamin Lawrence, Cullen-Unsworth, Leanne C., Roelfsema, Chris M. and Unsworth, Richard (2020). The global distribution of seagrass meadows. Environmental Research Letters, 15 (7) 074041, 074041. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab7d06
Featured
2018
Journal Article
Coral reef applications of Sentinel-2: coverage, characteristics, bathymetry and benthic mapping with comparison to Landsat 8
Hedley, John D., Roelfsema, Chris, Brando, Vittorio, Giardino, Claudia, Kutser, Tiit, Phinn, Stuart, Mumby, Peter J., Barrilero, Omar, Laporte, Jean and Koetz, Benjamin (2018). Coral reef applications of Sentinel-2: coverage, characteristics, bathymetry and benthic mapping with comparison to Landsat 8. Remote Sensing of Environment, 216, 598-614. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2018.07.014
Featured
2016
Journal Article
Remote Sensing of Coral Reefs for Monitoring and Management: A Review
Hedley, John, Roelfsema, Chris M., Chollett, Iliana, Harborne, Alastair, Heron, Scott, Weeks, Scarla J., Skirving, William, Strong, Alan E., Eakin, C. Mark, Christensen, Tyler R. L., Ticzon, Victor, Bejarano, Sonia and Mumby, Peter J. (2016). Remote Sensing of Coral Reefs for Monitoring and Management: A Review. Remote Sensing, 8 (2) 118, 1-40. doi: 10.3390/rs8020118
Featured
2014
Journal Article
Multi-temporal mapping of seagrass cover, species and biomass: A semi-automated object based image analysis approach
Roelfsema, Chris M., Lyons, Mitchell, Kovacs, Eva M., Maxwell, Paul, Saunders, Megan I., Samper-Villarreal, Jimena and Phinn, S.R. (2014). Multi-temporal mapping of seagrass cover, species and biomass: A semi-automated object based image analysis approach. Remote Sensing of Environment, 150, 172-187. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2014.05.001
Featured
2013
Journal Article
Challenges of remote sensing for quantifying changes in large complex seagrass environments
Roelfsema, Chris, Kovacs, Eva M., Saunders, Megan I., Phinn, Stuart, Lyons, Mitchell and Maxwell, Paul (2013). Challenges of remote sensing for quantifying changes in large complex seagrass environments. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 133, 161-171. doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2013.08.026
Featured
2013
Journal Article
Mapping coral reefs at reef to reef-system scales, 10s-1000s km(2), using object-based image analysis
Roelfsema, Chris, Phinn, Stuart, Jupiter, Stacy, Comley, James and Albert, Simon (2013). Mapping coral reefs at reef to reef-system scales, 10s-1000s km(2), using object-based image analysis. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 34 (18), 6367-6388. doi: 10.1080/01431161.2013.800660
Featured
2010
Journal Article
Integrating field data with high spatial resolution multispectral satellite imagery for calibration and validation of coral reef benthic community maps
Roelfsema, Chris and Phinn, Stuart (2010). Integrating field data with high spatial resolution multispectral satellite imagery for calibration and validation of coral reef benthic community maps. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 4 (1) 043527, 043527.1-043527.28. doi: 10.1117/1.3430107
2025
Journal Article
BenthicNet: A global compilation of seafloor images for deep learning applications
Lowe, Scott C., Misiuk, Benjamin, Xu, Isaac, Abdulazizov, Shakhboz, Baroi, Amit R., Bastos, Alex C., Best, Merlin, Ferrini, Vicki, Friedman, Ariell, Hart, Deborah, Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove, Ierodiaconou, Daniel, Mackin-McLaughlin, Julia, Markey, Kathryn, Menandro, Pedro S., Monk, Jacquomo, Nemani, Shreya, O’Brien, John, Oh, Elizabeth, Reshitnyk, Luba Y., Robert, Katleen, Roelfsema, Chris M., Sameoto, Jessica A., Schimel, Alexandre C. G., Thomson, Jordan A., Wilson, Brittany R., Wong, Melisa C., Brown, Craig J. and Trappenberg, Thomas (2025). BenthicNet: A global compilation of seafloor images for deep learning applications. Scientific Data, 12 (1) 230, 1. doi: 10.1038/s41597-025-04491-1
2024
Journal Article
Spatial variation in upper limits of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef
Álvarez‐Noriega, Mariana, Ortiz, Juan C., Ceccarelli, Daniela M., Emslie, Michael J., Fabricius, Katharina E., Jonker, Michelle J., Puotinen, Marji, Robson, Barbara J., Roelfsema, Chris M., Sinclair‐Taylor, Tane H. and Ferrari, Renata (2024). Spatial variation in upper limits of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 33 (12) e13928. doi: 10.1111/geb.13928
2024
Journal Article
Capturing fine-scale coral dynamics with a metacommunity modelling framework
Cresswell, Anna K., Haller-Bull, Vanessa, Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel, Gilmour, James P., Bozec, Yves-Marie, Barneche, Diego R., Robson, Barbara, Anthony, Kenneth R. N., Doropoulos, Christopher, Roelfsema, Chris, Lyons, Mitchell, Mumby, Peter J., Condie, Scott, Lago, Veronique and Ortiz, Juan-Carlos (2024). Capturing fine-scale coral dynamics with a metacommunity modelling framework. Scientific Reports, 14 (1) 24733, 1-18. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-73464-y
2024
Journal Article
New global area estimates for coral reefs from high-resolution mapping
Lyons, Mitchell B., Murray, Nicholas J., Kennedy, Emma V., Kovacs, Eva M., Castro-Sanguino, Carolina, Phinn, Stuart R., Borrego Acevedo, Rodney, Ordoñez Alvarez, Alexandra, Say, Chantel, Tudman, Paul, Markey, Kathryn, Roe, Meredith, Canto, Robert F., Fox, Helen E., Bambic, Brianna, Lieb, Zoë, Asner, Gregory P., Martin, Paulina M., Knapp, David E., Li, Jiwei, Skone, Matthew, Goldenberg, Eldan, Larsen, Kirk and Roelfsema, Chris M. (2024). New global area estimates for coral reefs from high-resolution mapping. Cell Reports Sustainability, 1 (2) 100015. doi: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100015
2023
Journal Article
Close-range underwater photogrammetry for coral reef ecology: a systematic literature review
Remmers, Tiny, Grech, Alana, Roelfsema, Chris, Gordon, Sophie, Lechene, Marine and Ferrari, Renata (2023). Close-range underwater photogrammetry for coral reef ecology: a systematic literature review. Coral Reefs, 43 (1), 35-52. doi: 10.1007/s00338-023-02445-w
2023
Journal Article
Network analysis reveals overlapping roles of stakeholders related to seagrass-data provisioning in Indonesia
Sjafrie, Nurul Dhewani Mirah, Wicaksono, Pramaditya, Hernawan, Udhi E., Triyono,, Yuwono, Doddy M., Hafizt, Muhammad, Adi, Novi Susetyo, Ambo-Rappe, Rohani, Prayudha, Bayu, Selamat, Muhammad Banda, Sani, Sofia Yunia, Harahap, Setiawan Djody, Salsabila, Huwaida Nur, Wijaya, Jennifer and Roelfsema, Chris (2023). Network analysis reveals overlapping roles of stakeholders related to seagrass-data provisioning in Indonesia. Marine Policy, 157 105837, 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105837
2023
Journal Article
Control efforts of crown‐of‐thorns starfish outbreaks to limit future coral decline across the Great Barrier Reef
Castro‐Sanguino, Carolina, Bozec, Yves‐Marie, Condie, Scott A., Fletcher, Cameron S., Hock, Karlo, Roelfsema, Chris, Westcott, David A. and Mumby, Peter J. (2023). Control efforts of crown‐of‐thorns starfish outbreaks to limit future coral decline across the Great Barrier Reef. Ecosphere, 14 (6) e4580, 1-16. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.4580
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Chris Roelfsema is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
-
PhD, Masters or Honours Topics: Coral Reef Dynamics Integrating Geospatial/Earth Observation/Ecology
General
If you are interested in working as part of a collaborative, supportive, multi-disciplinary team that links different disciplines across academia, governments, industry and NGOs, on the topics below please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to it further.
Collaboration/Supervision possible with: Chris Roelfsema, Dylan Cowley, Nikki Brown, Stuart Phinn UQ, Julie Vercelloni QUT/AIMS, Emma Kennedy, Juan Carlos Ortiz AIMS and relevant others
Coral Reef research can focus on work on the Heron Reef but are not limited to that.
Funding
These project do not have funding or scholarships currently, but are supported by extensive pre-existing data archives of fully corrected satellite image archives and field data sets, a collective group of researchers working on the site, and ability to be supported in scholarship and funding applications.
Background
Since 2002 UQ Team have used Heron Reef as basis to develop integrated earth observation and field data monitoring, modelling and mapping approaches. Part of that work was establishing a detailed field-based baseline of the reef, which is completed annually and has produced a 20+ year annual data set. Since 2011, the Reef Check Australia Coral Watch Field teams have joined the surveys and collected their associated data sets. Iin 2023 we collected orthomosaics of 20-50 m for 10 sites around Heron Reef, this provide the possiblity to get more detail benthic information and higher spatial scale locally.
PhD Topics
The data sets themselves provide a wealth of information for interested students to work on, hence we aim to engage with those interested in building coral reef science and management related , knowledge, skills, network, experience and development opportunities to enhance existing, or develop new careers.
If you are interested, please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to discuss how to develop a research project for special topic, masters or PhD research that might suit you focussing on:
- Ecological assessment of the benthic field data reviewing not only coral cover but also coral morphologies, or algae cover or other
- Developing approaches in GEE for time series analysis to link field data to image date to get high resolution thematic maps of Heron reef.
- Ecological assessment over time of benthic components, but also impacts, fish, inverts and general coral healthy using coral health chart, reef check data and geolocated photos
- Any other topic that promotes the use of the existing field data and/or high resolution image data.
- Or any other related topic.
See related information in:
-
PhD, Masters or Honours Topics: Seagrass Dynamics Integrating Geospatial/Earth Observation/Ecology
General
If you are interested in working as part of a collaborative, supportive, multi-disciplinary team that links different disciplines across academia, governments, industry and NGOs, on the topics below please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to it further.
Collaboration/Supervision possible with: Chris Roelfsema, Dylan Cowley, Nikkie Brown, Carissa Klein, Stuart Phinn UQ, Julie Vercelloni QUT/AIMS, and relevant others
Seagrass research can focus on work in the Moreton Bay but are not limited to that.
Funding
These project do not have funding or scholarships currently, but are supported by extensive pre-existing data archives of fully corrected satellite image archives and field data sets, a collective group of researchers working on the site, and ability to be supported in scholarship and funding applications.
Background
Since 2000 the UQ Team have used Moreton Bay as basis to develop integrated earth observation and field data monitoring, modelling and mapping approaches. Part of that work was establishing a detailed field-based baseline of the seagrass in the Moreton Bay and specificly Eastern Banks. In the last 20+ years seagrass has been mapped regulary in this region.
PhD Topics
The data sets themselves provide a wealth of information for interested students to work on, hence we aim to engage with those interested in building seagrass science and management related , knowledge, skills, network, experience and development opportunities to enhance existing, or develop new careers.
If you are interested, please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to discuss how to develop a research project for special topic, masters or PhD research that might suit you focussing on:
- Ecological assessment of the benthic field data reviewing not only coral cover but also seagrass species, composition and biomass or other
- Developing approaches in GEE or other for time series analysis to link field data to image date to get high resolution thematic maps of Eastern Banks Moreton Bay.
- Ecological assessment over time of seagrass composition, but also impacts, fish, inverts and geolocated photos or other field data for the Eastern Banks or the Moreton Bay Marine Parks
- Any other topic that promotes the use of the existing field data and/or high resolution image data.
- Or any other related topic.
See related information in:
Title: Multi-Temporal Mapping of Seagrass Cover, Species and Biomass: A Semi-Automated Object Based Image Analysis Approach. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2014.05.001
Title: A Multi-date seagrass species and percentage cover field data set, derived from georeferenced photo transects for the Eastern Banks, Moreton Bay https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2015.40
Title: Challenges of Remote Sensing for Quantifying Changes in Large Complex Seagrass Environments https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2013.01.015
-
PhD, Masters or Honours Topics: Coral community assamblage from 3D photogrammetry
General
If you are interested in working as part of a collaborative, supportive, multi-disciplinary team that links different disciplines across academia, governments, industry and NGOs, on the topics below please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to it further.
Collaboration/Supervision possible with: Chris Roelfsema(UQ), Dylan Cowley(UQ) Tiny Remmers (UQ/AIMS) Stuart Phinn(UQ), Nikkie Brown (UQ) Julie Vercelloni AIMS, Emma Kennedy AIMS, Juan Carlos Ortiz AIMS and relevant others
Coral Reef research can focus on work on the Heron Reef but are not limited to that.
Funding
These project do not have funding or scholarships currently, but are supported by extensive pre-existing data archives of fully corrected satellite image archives and field data sets, a collective group of researchers working on the site, and ability to be supported in scholarship and funding applications.
Background
In 2023 orthophotomosaics were collected around Heron Reef as basis to integrate with satellite imagery and to understand the site level changes in benthic composition. The work can be supported by detailed field-based baseline of the reef, which is completed annually and has produced a 20+ year annual data set. Since 2011, Iin 2023 we collected orthomosaics of 20-50 m for 10 sites around Heron Reef, this provide the possiblity to get more detail benthic information and higher spatial scale locally.
PhD Topics
The data sets themselves provide a wealth of information for interested students to work on, hence we aim to engage with those interested in building coral reef science and management related , knowledge, skills, network, experience and development opportunities to enhance existing, or develop new careers.
If you are interested, please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to discuss how to develop a research project for special topic, masters or PhD research that might suit you focussing on:
- Ecological assessment of the benthic field data reviewing not only coral cover but also coral morphologies, or algae cover or other at site level scale over time and space
- Developing approaches for time series analysis of the orthophoto mosacis.
- Any other topic that promotes the use of the existing field data and/or high resolution image data.
- Or any other related topic.
See related information in:
Title: Close-range underwater photogrammetry for coral reef ecology: a systematic literature review
-
PhD, Masters or Honours Topics: Coral community assamblage from 3D photogrammetry
General
If you are interested in working as part of a collaborative, supportive, multi-disciplinary team that links different disciplines across academia, governments, industry and NGOs, on the topics below please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to it further.
Collaboration/Supervision possible with: Chris Roelfsema(UQ), Dylan Cowley(UQ) Tiny Remmers (UQ/AIMS), Nikkie Brown (UQ) Julie Vercelloni AIMS, Emma Kennedy AIMS, Juan Carlos Ortiz AIMS and relevant others
Coral Reef research can focus on work on the Heron Reef but are not limited to that.
Funding
These project do not have funding or scholarships currently, but are supported by extensive pre-existing data archives of fully corrected satellite image archives and field data sets, a collective group of researchers working on the site, and ability to be supported in scholarship and funding applications.
Background
In 2023 orthophotomosaics were collected around Heron Reef as basis to integrate with satellite imagery and to understand the site level changes in benthic composition. The work can be supported by detailed field-based baseline of the reef, which is completed annually and has produced a 20+ year annual data set. Since 2011, Iin 2023 we collected orthomosaics of 20-50 m for 10 sites around Heron Reef, this provide the possiblity to get more detail benthic information and higher spatial scale locally.
PhD Topics
The data sets themselves provide a wealth of information for interested students to work on, hence we aim to engage with those interested in building coral reef science and management related , knowledge, skills, network, experience and development opportunities to enhance existing, or develop new careers.
If you are interested, please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to discuss how to develop a research project for special topic, masters or PhD research that might suit you focussing on:
- Ecological assessment of the benthic field data reviewing not only coral cover but also coral morphologies, or algae cover or other at site level scale over time and space
- Developing approaches for time series analysis of the orthophoto mosacis.
- Any other topic that promotes the use of the existing field data and/or high resolution image data.
- Or any other related topic.
See related information in:
Title: Close-range underwater photogrammetry for coral reef ecology: a systematic literature review
-
PhD, Masters or Honours Topics: Coral Reef Dynamics Integrating Geospatial/Earth Observation/Ecology
General
If you are interested in working as part of a collaborative, supportive, multi-disciplinary team that links different disciplines across academia, governments, industry and NGOs, on the topics below please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to it further.
Collaboration/Supervision possible with: Chris Roelfsema, Dylan Cowley, Nikki Brown, Julie Vercelloni QUT/AIMS, Emma Kennedy, Juan Carlos Ortiz AIMS and relevant others
Coral Reef research can focus on work on the Heron Reef but are not limited to that.
Funding
These project do not have funding or scholarships currently, but are supported by extensive pre-existing data archives of fully corrected satellite image archives and field data sets, a collective group of researchers working on the site, and ability to be supported in scholarship and funding applications.
Background
Since 2002 UQ Team have used Heron Reef as basis to develop integrated earth observation and field data monitoring, modelling and mapping approaches. Part of that work was establishing a detailed field-based baseline of the reef, which is completed annually and has produced a 20+ year annual data set. Since 2011, the Reef Check Australia Coral Watch Field teams have joined the surveys and collected their associated data sets. Iin 2023 we collected orthomosaics of 20-50 m for 10 sites around Heron Reef, this provide the possiblity to get more detail benthic information and higher spatial scale locally.
PhD Topics
The data sets themselves provide a wealth of information for interested students to work on, hence we aim to engage with those interested in building coral reef science and management related , knowledge, skills, network, experience and development opportunities to enhance existing, or develop new careers.
If you are interested, please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to discuss how to develop a research project for special topic, masters or PhD research that might suit you focussing on:
- Ecological assessment of the benthic field data reviewing not only coral cover but also coral morphologies, or algae cover or other
- Developing approaches in GEE for time series analysis to link field data to image date to get high resolution thematic maps of Heron reef.
- Ecological assessment over time of benthic components, but also impacts, fish, inverts and general coral healthy using coral health chart, reef check data and geolocated photos
- Any other topic that promotes the use of the existing field data and/or high resolution image data.
- Or any other related topic.
See related information in:
-
PhD, Masters or Honours Topics: Seagrass Dynamics Integrating Geospatial/Earth Observation/Ecology
General
If you are interested in working as part of a collaborative, supportive, multi-disciplinary team that links different disciplines across academia, governments, industry and NGOs, on the topics below please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to it further.
Collaboration/Supervision possible with: Chris Roelfsema, Dylan Cowley, Nikkie Brown, Carissa Klein, UQ, Julie Vercelloni QUT/AIMS, and relevant others
Seagrass research can focus on work in the Moreton Bay but are not limited to that.
Funding
These project do not have funding or scholarships currently, but are supported by extensive pre-existing data archives of fully corrected satellite image archives and field data sets, a collective group of researchers working on the site, and ability to be supported in scholarship and funding applications.
Background
Since 2000 the UQ Team have used Moreton Bay as basis to develop integrated earth observation and field data monitoring, modelling and mapping approaches. Part of that work was establishing a detailed field-based baseline of the seagrass in the Moreton Bay and specificly Eastern Banks. In the last 20+ years seagrass has been mapped regulary in this region.
PhD Topics
The data sets themselves provide a wealth of information for interested students to work on, hence we aim to engage with those interested in building seagrass science and management related , knowledge, skills, network, experience and development opportunities to enhance existing, or develop new careers.
If you are interested, please contact c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au to discuss how to develop a research project for special topic, masters or PhD research that might suit you focussing on:
- Ecological assessment of the benthic field data reviewing not only coral cover but also seagrass species, composition and biomass or other
- Developing approaches in GEE or other for time series analysis to link field data to image date to get high resolution thematic maps of Eastern Banks Moreton Bay.
- Ecological assessment over time of seagrass composition, but also impacts, fish, inverts and geolocated photos or other field data for the Eastern Banks or the Moreton Bay Marine Parks
- Any other topic that promotes the use of the existing field data and/or high resolution image data.
- Or any other related topic.
See related information in:
Title: Multi-Temporal Mapping of Seagrass Cover, Species and Biomass: A Semi-Automated Object Based Image Analysis Approach. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2014.05.001
Title: A Multi-date seagrass species and percentage cover field data set, derived from georeferenced photo transects for the Eastern Banks, Moreton Bay https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2015.40
Title: Challenges of Remote Sensing for Quantifying Changes in Large Complex Seagrass Environments https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2013.01.015
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Hyperspectral Earth Observation to monitor seagrass species and live coral
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
-
Doctor Philosophy
Encounter Climate Change by Developing Method for Estimating Seagrass Carbon Stock and Sequestration Using Remote Sensing Technology in Indonesia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
-
Doctor Philosophy
Understanding tsunami sources and frequency in northern Tonga
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Annie Lau
-
Doctor Philosophy
Identification of coral deposition, accretion, and erosional zones from detailed benthic and substrate mapping using hyperspectral image data
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn, Professor Gregory Webb, Dr Daniel Harris
-
Doctor Philosophy
Sustaining life on Pacific atoll islands in the face of accelerating coastal change: insights from three-dimensional change detection analysis
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Daniel Harris, Professor Stuart Phinn
-
Doctor Philosophy
A Global Initiative for Dynamic Pollution Mapping and Management in Coral Reef Ecosystems
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Amelia Wenger, Associate Professor Carissa Klein
-
Doctor Philosophy
Using space based Earth Observation to map Australia's kelp forests for a stronger Blue Carbon economy
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
-
Doctor Philosophy
Sustaining life on Pacific atoll islands in the face of accelerating coastal change: insights from three-dimensional change detection analysis
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Daniel Harris, Professor Stuart Phinn
Completed supervision
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEMATIC REEF HABITAT CLASSIFICATION SCHEME USING MULTI-SCALE REMOTELY SENSED DATA FOR INDONESIA'S COASTAL MANAGEMENT
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
-
2014
Doctor Philosophy
Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Microphytobenthos Abundance from Remote Sensing: Heron Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alistair Grinham, Professor Stuart Phinn
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Canopy Reflectance Modelling for Mapping Coastal Wetland Vegetation of South East Queensland, Australia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Drivers of coral reef composition, cryptic marine biodiversity, and coral health along the north coast of Timor-Leste
Associate Advisor
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Mapping Coral Reef Primary Production and Calcification from a Light-Use Efficiency Model with In-Situ and Remotely Sensed Data
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Examining the utility of Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) LiDAR on a low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) across environments of various composition and dynamic complexity
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
Mapping forest dynamics in Bangladesh from satellite images: Implications for the global REDD+ program
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ammar Abdul Aziz, Professor Stuart Phinn
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
Cyclone disaster mapping, monitoring and management using satellite remote sensing and spatial analysis
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Iraphne Childs, Professor Stuart Phinn
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Parameterization of bottom spectral reflectance for shallow water ocean color inversion models
Associate Advisor
-
2015
Doctor Philosophy
Characterisation of the Light Environment and Biophysical Parameters of Seagrass Using Remote Sensing
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn, Professor Catherine Lovelock
-
2013
Doctor Philosophy
Mapping and monitoring the long term spatial dynamics of land cover and seagrass distribution in South East Queensland, Australia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
-
2012
Master Philosophy
The use of remote sensing and field validation for mapping coral communities of Hervey Bay and Great Sandy Strait and implications for coastal planning policy.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
-
2011
Master Philosophy
Mapping and Monitoring Coral Reefs in Vietnam's Coastal Waters from High-Spatial Resolution Remote Sensing and Field Survey Data
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn
Media
Enquiries
Contact Associate Professor Chris Roelfsema directly for media enquiries about:
- Algae
- Coral reefs
- Field methods
- global
- Habitat mapping and monitoring
- Remote sensing
- Seagrass
- Water quality
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