Contact details

Dr Scarla Weeks
Gehrmann Laboratories (#60)
St Lucia QLD 4072 Australia

(tel) +61 7 3346-9056
(email) s.weeksuq.edu.au
(www) http://www.coralreefecosystems.org/index.php?page=researchgroup&groupid=9; www.gpem.uq.edu.au/scarla-weeks

Connections

Students
Ms Ana Redondo-Rodriguez
Mr Campbell Allen
Ms Lydie Couturier
Mr Fabrice Jaine
Mr Chris Rohner

Collaborators
Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Prof. Andrew Bakun
Prof. Stuart Phinn
Prof. Jane Hunter
Dr Peter Fearns
Dr Miles Furnas
Dr Janice Lough
Dr Gene Feldman
Dr Zhongping Lee
Dr Ray Berkelmans
Dr Craig Steinberg

People > Scarla Weeks

Position: Senior Research Staff
Last update: 01-Jun-2011

Research

Satellite Oceanography

My particular expertise lies in ecosystem-scale specific applications of satellite data to the oceanographic environment. Research interests include the link between climate change, oceanography and the biological response, with a focus on regional to local processes. Research into the role of mesoscale oceanographic variability in mass coral bleaching patterns forms an integral component to the development of an “Early warning and assessment system for thermal stress on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)”. Research applications include the impact of mesocale oceanography (physical / biological) and climate change on high trophic levels and fisheries management in east Australian waters and comparative western boundary currents.

Current collaborative projects of my group include: (i) The vulnerability of seabirds on the GBR to climate change, (ii) Movement and migration patterns of manta rays of the GBR in relation to oceanographic conditions and food availability, (iii) Implications of climate change for the oceanography of the GBR ecosystem, (iv) Biological and oceanographic influences on whale shark abundance and feeding ecology, (v) with CSIRO colleagues, Assessing the adequacy of current fisheries management under changing climate, (vi) Movements of planktivorous marine megafauna and links to ocean dynamics and productivity. The latter, based in southern Mozambique, allows comparison of the physical and biological oceanographic patterns impacting high trophic levels in the western boundary Mozambique-Agulhas and East Australia Current systems.

Also a member of the Centre for Spatial Environmental Research, I work in close collaboration with the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group in developing the application of satellite ocean colour and thermal data to coral reef and coastal ecosystems. A current focus is the development of products to quantify the attenuation of photosynthetically available radiation though the water column. Our ARC NASA Linkage project to develop Improved Tools for Comprehensive Monitoring of Water Clarity and Light Availability in Coral Reef Ecosystems is a collaboration between the University of Queensland, NASA, the Stennis Space Flight Centre, Curtin University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

I currently co-supervise five PhD students and a Postdoctoral Fellow working on various aspects of this research.
Keywords: chlorophyll, climate change, dynamics, ocean colour, oceanography, satellite, SST

Education

PhD Satellite Oceanography - University of Cape Town (2004)
MSc Satellite Oceanography - University of Cape Town (1992)
BSc(Hons) Ocean & Atmospheric Science - University of Cape Town (1990)
BSc(Hons) Medical Radiation Biology - University of Cape Town (1982)

Publications

Rohner CA, Richardson AJ, Marshall AD, Weeks SJ, Pierce SJ (2011) How large is the world’s largest fish? Measuring whale sharks Rhincodon typus with laser photogrammetry. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 78: 378-385

Plaganyi EE, Weeks SJ, Skewes TD, Gibbs MT, Poloczanska ES, Norman-Lopez A, Blamey LK, Soares M, Robinson WML (2011) Assessing the adequacy of current fisheries management under changing climate: a southern synopsis. ICES Journal of Marine Science 68: 1305-1317

Couturier LIE, Jaine FRA, Townsend KA, Weeks SJ, Richardson AJ, Bennett MB (2011) Distribution, site affinity and regional movements of the manta ray, Manta alfredi (Krefft, 1868), along the east coast of Australia.. MARINE AND FRESHWATER RESEARCH 62: 628-637

Weeks SJ, Bakun A, Steinberg C, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2010) The Capricorn Eddy: a prominent driver of the ecology and future of the southern Great Barrier Great Barrier Reef. CORAL REEFS 29: 975-985

Berkelmans R, Weeks SJ, Steinberg CR (2010) Upwelling linked to warm summers and bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY 55: 2634-2644

Bakun A, Field DB, Redondo-Rodriguez A, Weeks SJ (2010) Greenhouse gas, upwelling-favorable winds, and the future of coastal ocean upwelling ecosystems. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 16: 1213-1228

Diaz-Pulido GA, Mccook LJ, Dove S, Berkelmans R, Roff G, Kline DI, Weeks SJ, Evans RD, Williamson DH, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2009) Doom and Boom on a Resilient Reef: Climate Change, Algal Overgrowth and Coral Recovery. PLoS One 4: 5239--1

Bakun A, Weeks SJ (2008) The marine ecosystem off Peru: What are the secrets of its fishery productivity and what might its future hold?. PROGRESS IN OCEANOGRAPHY 79: 290-299

Weeks SJ, Anthony KRN, Bakun A, Feldman GC, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2008) Improved predictions of coral bleaching using seasonal baselines and higher spatial resolution. LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY 53: 1369-1375

Bakun A, Weeks SJ (2006) Adverse feedback sequences in exploited marine systems: are deliberate interruptive actions warranted?. FISH AND FISHERIES 7: 316-333

Weeks SJ, Barlow R, Roy C, Shillington FA (2006) Remotely sensed variability of temperature and chlorophyll in the southern Benguela: upwelling frequency and phytoplankton response. AFRICAN JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE 28: 493-509

Barlow R, Sessions H, Balarin M, Weeks SJ, Whittle C, Hutchings PA (2005) Seasonal variation in phytoplankton in the southern Benguela: pigment indices and ocean colour. AFRICAN JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE 27: 275-287

Bakun A, Weeks SJ (2004) Greenhouse gas buildup, sardines, submarine eruptions and the possibility of abrupt degradation of intense marine upwelling ecosystems. ECOLOGY LETTERS 7: 1015-1023

Gremillet D, Dell'Omo G, Ryan PG, Peters G, Ropert-Coudert Y, Weeks SJ (2004) Offshore diplomacy, or how seabirds mitigate intra-specific competition: a case study based on GPS tracking of Cape gannets from neighbouring colonies. MARINE ECOLOGY-PROGRESS SERIES 268: 265-279

Weeks SJ, Currie B, Bakun A, Peard KR (2004) Hydrogen sulphide eruptions in the Atlantic Ocean off southern Africa: implications of a new view based on SeaWiFS satellite imagery. DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART I-OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PAPERS 51: 153-172

See all 22 publications