Contact details

Ms Rachael Middlebrook
Centre for Marine Studies
The University of Queensland
Gehrmann Laboratories (#60)
St Lucia QLD 4072 Australia

(tel) +61 (0) 733653548
(fax) +61 (0) 733654755
(email) r.middlebrookuq.edu.au

Connections

Collaborators
Dr Mathieu Pernice
Dr Simon Dunn

People > Rachael Middlebrook

Position: PhD Candidate
Last update: 24-May-2010		Supervisors: Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Dr Sophie Dove, Dr Ken Anthony

Research

Determining thermal threshold dynamics and variability in reef building corals

The ability of corals to adapt or acclimatize to increasing sea surface temperature extremes over the coming decades will greatly influence the ability of coral reefs to survive the effects of global warming. My research investigates the potential of reef building corals to acclimate to rising sea surface temperatures by exploring the role that thermal history plays in modulating the susceptibility of the coral symbiosis to major thermal stress. Key to this research is determining thermal threshold variability across species and reef scales as well as investigating the effect of local climatology on coral tolerance levels.
Keywords: Acclimation, chlorophyll, coral bleaching, coral health, coral physiology, in-situ experimentation, lipids, photoprotection, Photosynthesis, Photosynthetic productivity, SST, Symbiodinium, Thermal thresholds

Education

BSc(Hons) Coral reef biology - University of Queensland (2006)
BSc Marine Biology - Macquarie University (2005)

Awards

ARC CoE Student Publication Prize (2009), Wentworth Scholar (2008)

Publications

Middlebrook R, Anthony KRN, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Dove S (2010) Heating rate and symbiont productivity are key factors determining thermal stress in the reef-building coral Acropora formosa. 213: 1026-1034

Anthony KRN, Hoogenboom MO, Maynard JA, Grottoli AG, Middlebrook R (2009) Energetics approach to predicting mortality risk from environmental stress: a case study of coral bleaching. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY 23: 539-550

Middlebrook R, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Leggat W (2008) The effect of thermal history on the susceptibility of reef-building corals to thermal stress. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY 211: 1050-1056

Middlebrook R, Williamson J (2006) Social attitudes towards marine resource management in two Fijian villages. Ecological Management & Restoration 7: 144-147