People

Jane Waterhouse is originally from Perth in Western Australia. She completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science at Murdoch University in 1994 and Masters of Applied Science in Protected Area Management at James Cook University in 2000. Jane has 16 years experience working in the Great Barrier Reef on water quality science, catchment management and science coordination. She has specialist expertise in understanding interactions across landscapes, such as catchment-to-reef relationships.

Research Interests

A majority of my work has focused on water quality research, monitoring and management in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). I have contributed to research topics associated with flood plume dynamics in the GBR since 2001 through monitoring, GIS mapping and analysis and reporting of flood plume water quality data. I have also assisted in the completion of a number of risk assessments for water quality in the GBR, which have involved the collation, synthesis and analysis of a wide range of datasets in the GBR and its catchments. Examples include the Relative Risk Assessment of industries and regions in the GBR used to inform the Queensland Government agricultural regulations in 2009. I am particularly interested in the synthesis of scientific information to inform management decisions, and this is reflected in a number of recent projects such as the risk assessment mentioned above (refer to my publications list).

Research Online @ JCU Publications

Recent Research Projects

• Reef Rescue MMP – Assessment of terrestrial run off entering the Great Barrier Reef – Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
• Hazard Assessment of Water Quality in the Torres Strait Islands – National Environment Research Program
• Assessment of the risk of pollutants to the ecosystems of the GBR including differential risk between sediments, nutrients and pesticides and between land uses, industries and catchments – Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
• Assessment of relative risk of the impacts of broad-scale agriculture on the Great Barrier Reef and priorities for investment under the Reef Protection Package – Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
• Current loads of priority pollutants discharged from Great Barrier Reef Catchments to the Great Barrier Reef, 2009 – Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

Selected Publications:

Books

Waterhouse, J., Grundy, M., Brodie, J., Gordon, I., Yorkston, H. & Eberhard, R. (2009). Great Barrier Reef case study. In: Ferrier R (ed) Handbook of Catchment Management, UK Government.

Journal Articles

Brodie, J., Waterhouse, J. (2012) A critical review of environmental management of the ‘not so Great’ Barrier Reef, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 104-105, 1-22. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2012.03.012.

Waterhouse, J., Brodie, J., Lewis, S., Mitchell. A. (2012). Quantifying the sources of pollutants to the Great Barrier Reef. Marine Pollution Bulletin 65: 394-406.

Brodie, J., Bainbridge, Z., Lewis, S., Devlin, M., Waterhouse, J., Davis, A., Bohnet, I.C., Kroon, F., Schaffelke, B., Wolanski, E. (2012). Terrestrial pollutant runoff to the Great Barrier Reef: Issues, priorities and management response. Marine Pollution Bulletin 65: 81-100.

Brodie, J.E., Devlin, M.J., Haynes, D., Waterhouse, J. (2011). Assessment of the eutrophication status of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon (Australia). Biogeochemistry. Online. DOI 10.1007/s10533-010-9542-2.

Eberhard, R., Robinson, C. J., Waterhouse, J., Parslow, J., Hart, B., Grayson, R. and Taylor, B. (2009). Adaptive management for water quality planning – from theory to practice. Marine and Freshwater Research 60: 1189-1195 [doi:10.1071/MF08347]

Brodie, J., Lewis, S., Bainbridge, Z., Mitchell, A., Kroon, F. and Waterhouse, J. (2009). Target setting for pollutant discharge management of rivers in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area. Marine and Freshwater Research 60: 1141-1149 [doi:10.1071/MF08339]

Reports

Waterhouse, J. and Devlin, M. (2011). Managing water quality on the Great Barrier Reef:  An overview of MTSRF research outputs, 2006-2010 (MTSRF Synthesis Report).

Johnson, J., Waterhouse, J. and Morris, S. (Writing Team) (2011) Reef Rescue Marine Monitoring Program 2009/2010 Synthesis Report. Report prepared by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Consortium of monitoring providers for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns (pp.).

Devlin, M., Harkness, P., McKinna, L. and Waterhouse, J. (2010). Mapping of risk and exposure of Great Barrier Reef ecosystems to anthropogenic water quality: A review and synthesis of current status. Report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, August 2010. Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research. Report Number 10/12.

Brodie, J., Waterhouse, J., Lewis, S., Bainbridge, Z., Johnson, J. (2009). Current loads of priority pollutants discharged from Great Barrier Reef Catchments to the Great Barrier Reef. ACTFR Report 09/02, James Cook University, Townsville.

Brodie, J. and Waterhouse, J. (2009). Assessment of relative risk of the impacts of broad-scale agriculture on the Great Barrier Reef and priorities for investment under the Reef Protection Package, Stage 1 Report April 2009. ACTFR Report 09/17, James Cook University Townsville. Report to DERM.

Brodie, J., Mitchell, A. and Waterhouse, J. (2009). Regional assessment of the relative risk of the impacts of broad-scale agriculture on the Great Barrier Reef and priorities for investment under the Reef Protection Package, Stage 2 Report July 2009. ACTFR Report 09/30, James Cook University Townsville. Report to DERM.

Brodie, J., Binney, J., Fabricius, K., Gordon, I., Hoegh–Guldberg, O., Hunter, H., O’Reagain, P., Pearson, R., Quirk, M., Thorburn, P., Waterhouse, J., Webster, I., Wilkinson, S. (2008). Scientific Consensus Statement on Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef. The State of Queensland (Department of Premier and Cabinet) Brisbane.

Brodie, J., Binney, J., Fabricius, K., Gordon, I., Hoegh–Guldberg, O., Hunter, H., O’Reagain, P., Pearson, R., Quirk, M., Thorburn, P., Waterhouse, J., Webster, I., Wilkinson, S. (2008). Synthesis of evidence to support the Scientific Consensus Statement on Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef. The State of Queensland (Department of Premier and Cabinet) Brisbane.