“I really enjoy working with students and in particular supervising research students. I think it’s wonderful to see how your former students are making a difference all over the world.”
A distinguished conservation biologist, Emeritus Professor Helene Marsh graduated from The University of Queensland (UQ) with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) majoring in Zoology. In the 1970s, a time when conservation biology was a new term, Professor Marsh began her lifelong work specialising in tropical marine mammals, with a focus on dugongs and their habitats.
Professor Marsh was awarded a Personal Chair in Zoology at James Cook University in Townsville in 1991. In 1994, Professor Marsh was appointed Foundation Professor of Environmental Sciences and Head of School of Tropical Environmental Studies and Geography at James Cook University. As a result of the policy outcomes of her research, Professor Marsh has provided advice on marine mammal conservation to the governments of 14 countries.
She has received several international prizes for her research and is a Fellow of the Australian Academies of Science and Technical Sciences and Engineering.
Passionate about education, Professor Marsh has supervised 75 research higher degree students to successful completion and, until her recent retirement, was Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science and Dean of Graduate Research at James Cook University.
Professor Marsh currently chairs the national Threatened Species Scientific Committee, is the Australian Natural Heritage Expert on the World Heritage Committee and is a member of the Reef 2050 Plan Independent Expert Panel.
College affiliation
The Women's College within The University of Queensland 1964
