Issue 581 (March 2009) - Office of Marketing and Communications

“My research group has focusedon global climate change, exploringhow corals and other organisms areresponding to increasing temperaturesand growing ocean acidity”UQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 13UQ’s Heron Island Research Station onthe Great Barrier Reef was officiallyreopened by Minister for Education,Training and the Arts Rod Welford onFebruary 20 following a $9 million upgrade.The refurbishments come after a firedestroyed most of the station in March 2007.UQ Centre for Marine Studies directorProfessor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg said having aresearch station in one of the healthiest partsof the Great Barrier Reef was an asset, notjust to UQ, but also to researchers worldwide.“This proximity enables researchers toexplore coral reefs using the latest laboratoryfacilities and equipment while only beingsituated literally metres away from a livingand breathing coral reef,” Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said.“There are very few places in theworld that have this type of access andsophisticated study platform. Investigatorsand students come here from all overAustralia and the world.”Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said coralreefs were important to people in Australiaand surrounding countries due to theirability to support industries like tourism andfisheries.“Over $6 billion flows into theQueensland economy each year fromtourists coming to see the Great BarrierReef, for example,” he said.“Unfortunately coral reefs both here inAustralia and all over the world are beingaffected by human activities such asdeclining water quality, over-fishing andglobal warming. This has generated animperative for research.”Research at Heron Island has already ledto major discoveries, including medicinalproperties associated with cone shells, andusing sea sponges and abalone to betterunderstand evolution.Professor Hoegh-Guldberg’s ownresearch area relies heavily on studying thereef at close hand.“My research group has focused onglobal climate change, exploring how coralsand other organisms are responding toincreasing temperatures and growing oceanacidity,” he said.“This work has turned out tobe fundamentally important to ourunderstanding of how coral reefs, the mostbiodiverse marine ecosystem in the ocean,are going to respond to increased levels ofatmospheric carbon dioxide.”Heron Island Research Station is one ofthe oldest marine research stations in theworld, having been in operation for morethan 50 years.Thanks to the reconstruction, the stationnow includes seven research labs, threeteaching labs, two instrument rooms,aquaria infrastructure and seminar andcomputer rooms, along with an 80-bedstudent accommodation block.It has extensive facilities foraccommodating undergraduatesincluding teaching laboratories and dormaccommodation.THE HERON ISLANDRESEARCH STATIONLocated at the southern end of the GreatBarrier Reef National Park, Heron IslandResearch Station (HIRS) is the largest andmost sophisticated marine research stationin Australia, providing research laboratorieswithin metres of Heron Reef.The research station is located at theleeward end of a coral cay on a 10 x 5kilometre platform reef, 80 kilometres eastof Gladstone and 600 kilometres north ofBrisbane.Heron Reef is home to approximately 60percent of the fish species and 72 percent ofthe coral species found on the Great BarrierReef, as well as the cay’s rich terrestrial floraand fauna.The research station is one of onlyfour centres of excellence recognised inthe global Coral Reef Targeted ResearchProgram funded by the World Bank.It was established more than 50 yearsago and is a cornerstone of the AustralianResearch Council’s Centre of Excellence inCoral Reef Studies.HIRS is recognised as one of the keyfacilities for marine research as well asundergraduate teaching and training. Manyhigh schools also come to Heron Islandto teach their students about coral reefecosystems.INFO ➔ www.cms.uq.edu.auNatural wonders: Heron island from the air, and from bottom left, a turtle on the beach,an aerial shot of HIRS facilities, underwater life and some of the station’s new buildings