Professor Helene Marsh

Professor Helene Marsh is Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science and the Dean of Graduate Research Studies at James Cook University. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and Co-Leader of the Species of Conservation Concern program of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Tropical Ecosystems Hub.

Professor Marsh’s extensive research interests include: marine conservation biology; marine natural resource management; Indigenous marine resource management; establishing priorities for conservation intervention; and marine wildlife population ecology, especially life history, reproductive ecology, population dynamics, diet, distribution, abundance and movements of dugongs and coastal dolphins.

Policy outcomes resulting from her work include significant contributions to the science base for the Dugong Sanctuary established in Torres Strait; dugong management in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, especially the Dugong Protection Areas and ‘no-take’ areas to protect dugongs in marine zoning plans; and the establishment of a Commonwealth Ministerial Taskforce to Investigate the Sustainability of Indigenous Hunting of dugongs and turtles.