Jonathan is a Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SEES) at The University of Queensland. Originally from New Zealand, he grew up on an active plate boundary where the rocks and types of landscapes he studies are generated. After graduating with a BSc Hons and MSc at the University of Otago and a stint in Antarctica, he studied in Japan as a Monbusho Schol at Niigata University. Following that he came to Australia where he undertook PhD studies at UNE focussing on the tectonic evolution of the New England orogen using radiolarian microfossils to determine the ages of marine rocks and constrain the timing of tectonic events. On completion of his PhD, he participated in the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Expedition 126 to the Izu-Bonin-Marianas system as a micropaleontologist to investigate intra-oceanic island arc development. He then returned to Japan to take up a JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) postdoctoral fellowship at Kochi University examining radiolarians in subduction complex rocks on the island of Shikoku. After spending five years during the early 1990s at the Department of Geology and Geophysics of the University of Sydney, he moved to the University of Hong Kong in 1995. At HKU he led the HKU Tibet Research Group and has now worked for over two decades on the India-Asia collision system. Most of his work involves using microfossils to constraint the ages of different rocks and thereby deduce the timing of tectonic events. We was Head of the Department of Earth Sciences at HKU from 2003-2009. In 2011, he returned to Australia and the University of Sydney after accepting the Edgeworth David Chair of Geology. Professor Aitchison commenced with UQ as Head of the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management in February 2015 until the end of 2016 when this school was merged with Earth Sciences to become the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. He was busy with duties and responsibilities as head of this very large school from 2017 through 2021. Now free to get on with his research, Jonathan maintains active programs in both micropaleontology and tectonics including: Early Paleozoic radiolarian evolution and development of microCT imaging techniques for microfossils, the India-Asia collision system, tectonics of eastern Gondwana, as well as paleobiogeography in Galapagos and the Indian Ocean. He has recently commenced an exciting investigation into deep recycling of organic carbon and the possibility that 'biodiamond's might occur in ophiolites of the SW Pacific region.
My research career began when I recognised that the marine world has a history and pattern that can be studied to better explain the past, understand the present, and predict the future. I started studying beaches and coral reefs since they are iconic and complex systems where marine, ecological, geological and human processes interact to produce the ecosystems we see today. My goal, and that of my lab (The BeachLab), is to develop tools, gather data, and provide analyses to help coastlines and coral reefs navigate a warmer world. Our projects are focused on fundamental research questions about how coasts and coral reefs change through time. We also have applied research objectives to support the future management of coastal and coral reef systems.
I am now a teacher and researcher in Geography and Marine Science at the School of the Environment at UQ. Prior to my appointment at UQ, I was a teacher and researcher at The University of Sydney (where I completed my Undergraduate and PhD) and in a combined post at The University of Bremen (MARUM) and the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT). Perhaps equally importantly I grew up on the east coast of Australia and I have a personal and professional passion for beaches, coral reefs, surf, and the ocean.
I use geochemistry to investigate the roles of fluids and volatiles in geological processes stretching from the Earth's surface to the deep mantle. I am particularly interested in hydrothermal alteration, metasomatism/metamorphism and magmatism. The common link between these areas, and the aim of my recent research, has been to investigate the longterm exchange of volatiles between the Earth's surface and mantle reservoirs, stretching from the seafloor, through subduction zones and into the mantle. I participated in Expedition 360 of the International Ocean Discovery Program in 2016, to the slow-spreading Atlantis Bank core complex on the SW Indian Ridge, where I acted as shipboard geochemist and crossed the equator by boat for the first time. I have long standing interests in fluid inclusions as tiny recorders of past fluid activity and special interests in the halogen and noble gas groups of elements.
I moved to UQ in 2019 from the Australian National University where I was a continuing Fellow and had held an ARC Future Fellowship. Prior to that I had an ARC QEII Fellowship at the University of Melbourne (2008-2013) and postdoctoral appointments at the University of Melbourne (2004-2008) and the Geological Survey of Norway (2001-2003). I did my PhD at the University of Manchester (2001) and undergraduate studies in Geology at the University of Edinburgh (1996).
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.
Current projects:
1) Long term monitoring of benthic composition at Heron Reef (2002-ongoing). Annual photoquadrate surveys are being collected at Heron Reef, Southern Great Barrier Reef. Initiated to develop remote sensing mapping approaches and assess coral composition over time. The resulting Maps, photo quadrate and benthic data, spectral reflectance are accessible online.
2) Long term monitoring of seagrass composition and abundance in Moreton bay Marine Park (2000-ongoing). For Eastern Banks it included monitoring seagrass species, cover and biomass 15x times since 2004 using photoquadrate survey and satelite imagery and for Moreton Bay it included seagrass extent and cover (2004, 2009, 2015, 2021, 2022), all data accessible via Moreton Bay Research Station.
3) Smart Sat CRC Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Seagrass and Coral Reefs 2023-2027. Collaborative effort with CSIRO, Adelaide University, DES Adelaide Coastal Waters.
4) 3D GBR Habitat Mapping Project 2015 - ongoing: Mapping and monitoring geomorphic zonation, bottom type and predicted coral type habitat for every Great Barrier Reef within the Marine Park.
5) Global habitat mapping project 2019-2023 Developed and implemention of global habitat mapping as part of the Allen Coral Atlas resulting in extent, geomorphic and benthic maps for reefs globally, funded through with Vulcan Philanthropies in partnership with; Planet; the Arizona State University and the National Geographic Society.
Other projects: Advisor for Reef Cloud Australian Institute of Marine Science and Coordinated Global Research Assessment of Seagrass System (C-GRASS).
Current position: Associate Professior in Marine Remote Sensing. Academic Director Heron Island Research Station and affiliated researchers with Centre for Marine Science and Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science
Citizen science: Strong supporter of citizen science based projects, as trainer, organiser and advisor for Reef Check Australia, CoralWatch, Great Reef Census and UniDive.
