Peter L. Harrison is an Australian marine biologist, ecologist, and a Professor at Southern Cross University, Australia, as well as the founding director of the Marine Ecology Research Centre.[1] His specialty is coral reproduction ecology and larval restoration.
Coral spawning research
editIn 1981, while conducting his PhD at James Cook University in Townsville, Harrison and a small group of other researchers discovered Mass Coral Spawning[2] through intensive monitoring and diving around Magnetic Island. In 1984, Harrison and the team published their first paper on the occurrence,[3]which had not previously been documented. One of his primary research focuses on coral and reef restoration[4] and development of larger-scale coral larval restoration projects. This work aims to use millions of coral larvae to restore damaged reefs in the Philippines and on the Great Barrier Reef.[5][6]
Recognition
editHarrison and the team were awarded the Eureka Prize for Environmental Research in 1992 for their discovery of mass coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef.[7] Harrison led a United Nations funded mission to assess the impacts of the first Gulf War on the coral reefs of Kuwait, and has a new coral species discovered in the Arabian Gulf named after him (Porites Harrisoni). Peter was appointed to the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee, on which he served from 2005 to 2015.[8] A sculpture of Peter Harrison was created by Jason deCaires Taylor for the Museum of Underwater Art[9] as part of the Ocean Sentinels above the surface exhibition in 2022 for his contributions.[10]
Teaching
editPeter Harrison is the unit assessor for the Coral Reefs on the Edge teaching unit, which is the capstone unit for Marine Science and Management degree. This unit is an intensive delivery teaching unit that is based at Heron Island on the Southern Great Barrier Reef each year, with lectures and hands-on training directly on the reef.
Publications
editHarrison has published over 200 scientific research papers, reports and books.[11] His work has been cited over 16,000 times.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Marine Ecology Research Centre - Southern Cross University". www.scu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Peter Harrison". Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
- ^ Harrison, Peter L.; Babcock, Russell C.; Bull, Gordon D.; Oliver, James K.; Wallace, Carden C.; Willis, Bette L. (16 March 1984). "Mass Spawning in Tropical Reef Corals". Science. 223 (4641): 1186–1189. Bibcode:1984Sci...223.1186H. doi:10.1126/science.223.4641.1186. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17742935. S2CID 31244527.
- ^ "Research Portal". researchportal.scu.edu.au. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Peter Harrison". Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "2019 - Millions of coral babies 'turbo-charged' in floating nurseries to restore damaged parts of the Great Barrier Reef - Southern Cross University". www.scu.edu.au. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ Distinguished Professor Peter L. Harrison, Southern Cross University, retrieved 5 May 2022
- ^ "Distinguished Professorship: Professor Peter Harrison" (PDF). Southern Cross University. August 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ Prof Peter Harrison at the Museum of Underwater Art
- ^ Museum of Tropical Queensland (2022). "Ocean Sentinels above the surface". mtq.qm.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Professor Peter L. Harrison - Southern Cross University". www.scu.edu.au. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Peter Harrison". Google Scholar Citations: Peter Harrison. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
External links
edit- Peter L. Harrison publications indexed by Google Scholar