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Recent Publications

2026

• Emslie, M. J. (2026). Chapter 1 – Australia. In González-Rivero, M., et al. Status and Trends of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). https://doi.org/10.59387/LFPR6347.AUS

• Cowley D. et al (2026). What’s in a coral pixel? Spatial variability in co-occurrence patterns for coral reef benthic communities. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsase.2026.102210

• Malthus, T.J. et al (2026) Radiometric Sensitivity Requirements for Detecting Live Coral and Seagrass Cover Using Spaceborne Imaging Spectroscopy. Remote Sensing.https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18152643

• Roelfsema et al (2026) Heron Island Research Station: six decades of experimental biology on a remote coral reef. Journal of Experimental Biology https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.252417

• Peng et al (2026) Global high-resolution mapping of seagrass to support conservation. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10704-3

• Golding et al (2026). Georeferenced benthic photo quadrats and benthic cover data derived from a time series of transect surveys for Heron Reef flat and slope areas, Great Barrier Reef, 2019 - 2025. The University of Queensland. Data Collection. https://doi.org/10.48610/7df1430

• Smart et al (2026). Georeferenced benthic photo quadrats and benthic cover data derived from a time series of transect surveys for the Eastern Banks, Moreton Bay, Australia, 2004-2025. The University of Queensland. Data Collection.https://doi.org/10.48610/9383138

• Smart, et al (2026) Hyperspectral Remote Sensing for Monitoring Coral Reef and Seagrass Ecosystems: Capabilities, Limitations and Future Directions https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.107928

2025

• Duffy, et al (2025) Measuring and Reporting on Seagrass as an Essential Ocean Variable for Science and Management, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf199

• Rowell, et al (2025) Multi-scale observations during the 2024 mass coral bleaching event on Heron Reef, Australia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-025-04759-5

• Cowley, et al (2025) Insights into Seagrass Distribution, Persistence, and Resilience from Decades of Satellite Monitoring. . https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17244033

• Kottermair, et al (2025) Mapping Reef Island Shoreline Changes: A Systematic Review of Data Sources and Methods.https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17244041

• Sjafrie, et al (2026). A framework for an effective nationwide seagrass data collection: a case study for Indonesia.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2025.107968

• Rowan et al (2025) Evaluating macroalgal hyperspectral separability in support of kelp mapping using Earth Observation,https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17203491

• Davey et al (2025) A review of the application of coral reef condition indicators in conservation planning and monitoring.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.114222

• Diederiks et al 2025), Two decades of coral carbonate production within and across geomorphic zones.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-025-02736-4

• Smart et al (2025) Decadal monitoring shows seagrass decline and community shifts following environmental disturbance in Moreton Bay, south-eastern Queensland, Australia.https://doi.org/10.1071/MF25049

• Lawson et al (2025) Broadscale reconnaissance of coral reefs from citizen science and machine learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-025-14261-6

• Rivera-Sosa, et al(2025) Six decades of global coral bleaching monitoring: a review of methods and call for enhanced standardization and coordination.https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1547870

• Carrasco Rivera, et al (2025) Remote Sensing Reveals Multidecadal Trends in Coral Cover at Heron Reef, Australia. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17071286

• Sansoleimani, et al (2025) Neotectonics have affected the geomorphology of the northern Great Barrier Reef‍ ‍https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-025-02628-7

• Lowe et al (2025) BenthicNet: A global dataset of seafloor photography for deep learning applications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04491-1

• Remmers et al (2025). RapidBenthos: Automated segmentation and multi-view classification of coral reef communities from photogrammetric reconstruction.https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14477

In The News

• Mapping a better future for coral reefs

• First complete global seagrass map reveals new opportunities for conservation (7 Aug 2026)

• Cultural heritage and knowledge exchange on Heron Island 2026 (9 July 2026)

• Connecting Local Custodians to Heron Island and connecting Heron Island to cultural heritage (7 Aug 2025)

• Thousands of Queensland reef photos lead to worldwide change (15 July 2025)

• Satellites a solution for tracking coral reef health (30 April 2025)

• Satellites unveil the size and nature of the world’s coral reefs (14 February 2024)

• Citizen scientists make ‘surprising’ coral find (7 February 2023)

• ‘Momentous’ mapping project completed, helping to save world’s reefs (9 September 2021)

• Real-time satellite system to monitor global reef bleaching (19 May 2021)

• New mapping set to improve Great Barrier Reef management (8 April 2019)

• International global reef project maps now online (2 November 2018)

• Citizen scientists awarded for mapping local reef (2 August 2018)

• International mapping partnership to tackle coral reef crisis (5 June 2018)

• A researcher's paradise (30 May 2016)

• Citizen scientists help save reefs (14 December 2015)