Terry Hughes (scientist)

Professor Terry Hughes FAA, ARC Laureate Fellow and Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University.

Terry Hughes, FAA (born 1956, in Dublin, Ireland) is a Distinguished Professor of Marine Biology at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. He is currently an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.^[1] His research interests encompass coral reef ecology, macroecology and evolution, as well as social-ecological interactions.^[2] His recent work has focused on marine ecology, macroecology, climate change, identifying safe planetary boundaries for human development, and on transformative governance of the sea in Australia, Chile, China, the Galapagos Islands, Gulf of Maine and the Coral Triangle.^[3] He is an ISI Highly Cited Researcher,^[4] with career citations exceeding 33,000.^[5]

Education and career

Hughes was awarded a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA, in 1984,^[6] for his groundbreaking research on coral life histories,^[7] phase-shifts and the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs.^[8] Following his PhD, he was an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1984-1990) before moving to James Cook University in Townsville, Australia.^[9] He was appointed Professor in 2000 and established the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in 2005.^[10] Hughes has published in excess of 130 peer reviewed publications, so far. His work receives extensive media coverage and he actively communicates his findings to a broader audience through popular articles,^[11] radio and television.^[12][13] Under the direction of Hughes, the ARC Centre has grown to become the world’s foremost authority on coral reef science and is a hub for world-leading research and graduate training. The ARC Centre produces greater than 350 publications annually and was recently awarded further funding until 2020.^[14]

Awards

In 2001, Hughes was elected to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Sciences for his contribution to coral reef science.^[15] He has been awarded the Centenary Medal of Australia for his services to Australian society and marine biology,^[16] a Silver Jubilee Award for Excellence by the Australian Marine Science Association,^[17] the Australian Museum Eureka Sherman Prize for Environmental Science,^[18] and the prestigious Darwin Medal by the International Society for Reef Studies.^[19] In 2014, he was awarded an Einstein Professorship by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.^[20]

Selected bibliography

• Catastrophes, phase-shifts, and large-scale degradation of a Caribbean coral reef. Hughes, T.P., Science (1994) 265:1547-1551.
• Patterns of recruitment and abundance of corals along the Great Barrier Reef. Hughes, T.P., A.H. Baird, E.A. Dinsdale, et al., Nature (1999) 397:59-63.
• Regional-scale assembly rules and biodiversity of coral reefs. Bellwood, D.R., and T.P. Hughes, Science (2001) 292:1532-1534.
• Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Jackson, J.B.C., T.P., Hughes, and 16 co-authors. Science (2001) 293:629-638.
• Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs. Hughes, T.P., A.H. Baird, D.R. Bellwood, et al., Science (2003) 301:929-933.
• Confronting the coral reef crisis. Bellwood, D.R., T.P. Hughes, C. Folke, and M. Nyström, Nature (2004) 429:827-833.
• New paradigms for supporting the resilience of marine ecosystems. Hughes, T.P., D.R. Bellwood, C. Folke, et al., Trends in Ecology and Evolution (2005) 20:380-386.
• Regime-shifts, herbivory and the resilience of coral reefs to climate change. Hughes, T.P., M.J. Rodrigues, D.R. Bellwood, et al., Current Biology (2007) 17:360-365.
• Rising to the challenge of sustaining coral reef resilience. Hughes, T.P., N. Graham, J.B.C. Jackson, et al., Trends in Ecology and Evolution (2010) 25:633-642.
• Assembly rules of reef corals are flexible along a steep climatic gradient. Hughes, T.P., A.H. Baird, E.A. Dinsdale, et al., Current Biology (2012) 22:1-6.
• Living dangerously on borrowed time during unrecognized regime shifts. Hughes, T.P., C. Linares, V. Dakos, et al., Trends in Ecology and Evolution (2012) 28:149-155.
• Multiscale regime shifts and planetary boundaries. Hughes, T.P., S. Carpenter, J. Rockström, et al., Trends in Ecology and Evolution (2013). 28:389-395.

References

1. Australian Research Council , accessed 21 July 2014.
2. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies , accessed 21 July 2014.
3. James Cook University , accessed 21 July 2014.
4. ISI Highly Cited , accessed 21 July 2014.
5. Google Scholar , accessed 26 August 2015.
6. ARCCOE Curriculum Vitae , accessed 21 July 2014.
7. Population dynamics and life histories of foliaceous corals , accessed 21 July 2014.
8. Catastrophes, phase shifts and large-scale degradation of a Caribbean coral reef , accessed 21 July 2014.
9. ARCCOE Curriculum Vitae , accessed 21 July 2014.
10. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies , accessed 21 July 2014.
11. The Conversation , accessed 21 July 2014.
12. ABC TV Future Forum: Can coral reefs survive the 21st century , accessed 21 July 2014.
13. ABC TV Catalyst: Future response of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change , accessed 21 July 2014.
14. ARCCOE Annual Report 2013 , accessed 21 July 2014.
15. Australian Academy of Science Fellowship List , accessed 21 July 2014.
16. Centenary Medal , accessed 21 July 2014.
17. AMSA Jubilee Awardees , accessed 21 July 2014.
18. Australian Museum Eureka Prizes , accessed 21 July 2014.
19. Darwin Medal Recipients , accessed 21 July 2014.
20. Chinese Academy of Sciences Einstein Professorship Program , accessed 21 July 2014.