October 2023 | View previous edition

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Waypoint is AIMS' newsletter, delivering a regular selection of AIMS news and achievements directly to your inbox. We hope you enjoy our latest edition. 

Celebrating Australia's National Sea Simulator 

We're excited to announce the National Sea Simulator (or SeaSim as its affectionately known) has received $15 million in new funding from the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to help support critical research into Australia's tropical marine ecosystems. 

This year we celebrate ten years since SeaSim opened its doors. In that time, it has been at the heart of many national and international studies, supporting more than 1320 researchers across 70 collaborating and funding organisations. The reliable, state-of-the-art aquaria will continue to be a hub for researchers to develop solutions for a changing planet as the facility expands.

Image: Marie Roman

The expansion as a merit-based National Facility maintains Australia's global expertise in coral reef research and enables AIMS to continue to provide unique, irreplaceable and world-leading science.

Here are some of the great successes over the last ten years that were made possible by SeaSim and the super team who run it. We look forward to sharing future successes.

What is Ecological Intelligence for Reef Restoration (EcoRRAP)? 

Tapping into the crown-of-thorn starfish’s keen sense of smell

We’re researching what natural chemical cues or ‘smells’ attract coral-eating starfish.

The team have built a cutting-edge behaviour analysis system to monitor how starfish respond when they’re exposed to different chemical cues. Identifying which chemical cues trigger an attraction response will help scientists develop a starfish bait. The bait could be used on the Great Barrier Reef to lure the starfish to one location, making control easier and more efficient. Control programs currently rely on divers searching for the starfish, which hide within nooks and crannies on a coral reef, making them difficult to find and cull.

This research is part of the COTS Control Innovation Program, funded by the partnership between the Australian Government's Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

AIMS@JCU students dive into the world of science communication

PhD students from AIMS at JCU showcased their cutting-edge research at the annual student seminar day. Stepping outside the lab and before their peers, 20 students presented talks or posters across a range of topics - from microbes, symbioses, crown-of-thorns and coral reefs.

The event is a great opportunity for students to step outside their comfort zone and share research findings with the broader AIMS and JCU science communities.

Since launching in 2004, the research partnership has supported more than 126 PhD graduates and nearly 100 other students or associate members through work-integrated learning and internships.