Research

Much of our research involves SCUBA diving

MTQ has the following key research activities.

Cultures and Histories

The collection from internationally significant historic shipwreck HMS Pandora has been a major focus of the MTQ's Cultures and Histories Program research. Associated with this focus is responsibility for the Queensland Museums' entire Maritime Archaeology/Heritage collections and maritime heritage research. In particular, MTQ is able to offer associated researchers, clients and stakeholders access to:

The internationally significant Pandora Collection.
A database of the shipwrecks off the Queensland Coast.
Collections relating to the trade in indentured labour, the pearling industry and other historic maritime activities of significance to Queensland's maritime heritage.
Oral histories collected under a project called 'Old Salts, alternative life-stylers and the occasional beach-bum'.

More information

For more information about Queensland Museum's Cultures & Histories (Maritime Archaeology), phone +61 (0) 7 4726 0600.

Queensland Museum Cultures & Histories Program
Maritime Heritage
HMS Pandora

Biodiversity

Corals

In the Corals section the major research programs are directed towards understanding the evolutionary basis of the present patterns of biodiversity of reef corals throughout the world. Having studied the Great Barrier Reef and the Indonesian region in depth, and many other Pacific and south Asia locations with assistance from collaborators, the focus of this study is now on the Indian Ocean and research will be made on Indian and central Indian ocean locations over the coming year. Closer to home, corals of sub-tropical and inshore Queensland locations are being studied to provide a baseline for following range extension predicted to come as a result of global warming.

A second research program in "Corals" is studying the sea anemones (Actiniaria) of Australia and training an expert in this area for Australia. This project will update the documented biodiversity of these animals for Queensland and the rest of Australia, providing distribution data, identification guides and a theoretical basis for the use of these marine animals as marine bioindicators. This project is also examining possible invasive species in Australian locations.

Project Leader: Dr Carden Wallace
Phone: +61 (0) 7 4726 0635
Email: carden.wallace@qm.qld.gov.au

Corals identification Service

Identification of corals can be a very challenging and time-consuming activity. Because of the great morphological variability within many species of corals the taxonomic schemes may be quite complex and require interpretation by an expert. In addition, identification often requires microscopic examination of the skeleton and comparison with type specimens from a recognised collection. Museum of Tropical Queensland provides a specialist coral identification service that utilises our extensive collections and facilities as well as the expertise of our staff. This service is available to scientists, reef managers and conservation workers, aquarists etc. for a small fee. For identification we usually require a small specimen. However, identifications can often be made from photographs (close ups) that can be submitted as digital images attached to an email. It is worth noting that coral specimens submitted from outside Australia must be accompanied by a CITES export certificate.

Contact: Paul Muir
Phone: +61 (0) 7 4726 0642
Email: paul.muir@qm.qld.gov.au

Tropical Natural History

A major focus of the Tropical Natural History section is sorting and identification of continental shelf soft-sediment benthos, as part of the Great Barrier Reef Seabed Biodiversity Project, a collaborative study involving the Queensland Museum, Australian Institute of Marine Science and CSIRO. Recent research has concentrated on studies of the deep-water bryozoa (lace corals), as well as comparative studies on shallow water, soft sediment bryozoans. Additional work is carried out on the systematics and biology of whales and dolphins

Project Leader: Dr John Hooper
Phone: +61 (0) 7 3840 7722
Email: john.hooper@qm.qld.gov.au