Prof Helene Marsh BSc PhD

Helene Marsh is Professor of Environmental Science, and Dean of Postgraduate Studies at James Cook University. The central theme of her research has been to establish a sound ecological basis for the management of marine and terrestrial environments in tropical Australia. Committed to cross-disciplinary research, she has collaborated widely with colleagues in other disciplines, with many of her students supervised by staff from disciplines other than biology, including anthropology, biochemistry, geography and statistics.

Most of Professor Marsh’s research and that of her students has been in the field of mammalian population ecology, with an emphasis on life history, reproductive ecology, population dynamics, diet, distribution, abundance and movements. The dugong and endangered marine mammals of traditional significance have been the major focus of her research for the past thirty years. Her involvement in developing methods to monitor abundance has led to a theoretical and practical interest in the methodological problems associated with environmental monitoring. She is interested in the interactions between people and their environments, particularly the Great Barrier Reef region. This interest was stimulated by an interest in Indigenous resource management. This interest in people-environment interactions is currently fostered through her involvement with CRC Reef.

Professor Marsh is program leader for CRC Reef's Conserving World Heritage Values Program and Education Program.