Each year the ACRS supports the research of up to five students by the provision of Student Awards. The most outstanding proposals are awarded the Terry Walker Prize of $4000 or the Danielle Simmons Prize of $4000. Up to three ACRS research awards of $2500 will also be awarded. Awards may not be used to fund conference attendance or travel not related to field studies. Applications open each year between January and mid-February.
2025 Grant recipients
| Award | Student / University | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Walker Award | Dayana Chadda-Harmer/The University of Sydney | Investigating the influence of previous heat wave exposure on the response of corals to acute thermal stress |
| Capricorn Award | Matthew Clements/The University of Sydney | The Crown-of-Thorns Sea Star Populations at One Tree Reef Post Bleaching and Cyclone Disturbance and Trial of Laser-Based Fluorescence Imaging of Pigment Bands and Tetracycline Tags as an Aging Tool |
| ACRS Award | Sheena Suet Wah Chung/Southern Cross University | Adaptation and selection in a range expanding subtropical coral |
| ACRS Award | Greta Zampa/James Cook University | Macroalgal thresholds for device-based reef restoration of coral populations on inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef |
| ACRS Award | Marine Pablo/James Cook University | Cellular mechanisms for establishment and modulation of Coral Associated Microbial Aggregates (CAMAs) in coral tissues |
2024 Grant recipients
| Award | Student / University | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Walker Award | Eleanor Kelly/University of Otago | The combined effect of oil exposure and warming temperature on coral reef fish predator-prey interactions and their physiological drivers |
| ACRS Award | Jakob Quade/The University of Sydney | Land-to-sea connectivity – Seasonal linkages between island seabird populations and soft sediment communities on the Great Barrier Reef |
| ACRS Award | Jasmine Haskell/Southern Cross University | Relating bacterial community composition to BVOC emissions from heat-stressed corals |
| ACRS Award | Matthew Clements/The University of Sydney | Determining key demographic parameters for a pervasive coral predator: the age and size structure of long-term non-outbreak populations of COTS |
2023 Grant recipients
| Award | Student / University | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Walker Award | Carl Santiago/University of Queensland | An investigation into the stability of cohabiting groups of anemonefishes (LIRS) |
| Danielle Simmons Award | Marine Tonetti Botana/Victoria University of Wellington | The role of signalling lipids in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis |
| ACRS Award | Juntong Hu/University of Melbourne | Functional interactions between the endolithic alga Ostreobium and its coral host |
| ACRS Award | Bede Johnson/Australian Institute of Marine Science | Characterising the potential of expelled heat-evolved Symbiodiniaceae to be acquired by adult corals |
| ACRS Award | Charlotte Page/University of New South Wales | What is killing corals in a remote, high-latitude coral lagoon? An investigating into the associated microorganisms of a White Syndrome affecting Acropora colonies at Norfolk Island, South Pacific |
2022 Grant recipients
| Award | Student / University | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Walker Award | Paige Strudwick/University of Technology Sydney | Microbiome dynamics of corals during propagation on metal-based structures in coral restoration practices |
| Danielle Simmons Award | Joanna Buckee/Murdoch University | Field validation of theoretical studies into water levels and coral emersion mortality risk at Great Barrier Reef sites. |
| ACRS Award | Christopher Cooney/The University of Sydney | Understanding the feeding strategy of the range expanding coral P. aliciae |
| ACRS Award | Peter Doll/James Cook University | Molecular-based method for the quantification of in situ crown-of-thorns starfish settlement rates |
| ACRS Award | Valerio Tettamanti/University of Queensland | A field guide to pre-settlement larvae of Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef |
2021 Grant recipients
| Award | Student / University | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Walker Award | Rachel Alderice/University of Technology Sydney | Is low oxygen stress management key to photoprotection in reef-forming corals? |
| Danielle Simmons Award | Amelia Desbiens/The University of Queensland | Resolving the impact of cryptic predation on crown-of-thorns starfish |
| ACRS Award | Molly Moustaka/University of Western Australia | Understanding how seascape configuration influences secondary productivity in coastal ecosystems |
| ACRS Award | Magena Marzonie/James Cook University | The influence of symbiont genetic diversity on thermally distinct coral reefs |
2020 Grant recipients
| Award | Student / University | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Walker Award | Dione Deaker/ University of Sydney | The resilience of Crown of Thorns seastar larvae to the low-food conditions typical of coral reefs and implications for population outbreaks |
| Danielle Simmons Award | Jeremy Horowitz / James Cook University | Diversity of Black Corals from Heron Island, Australia |
| ACRS Award | Catheline Froehlich / University of Wollongong | Investigating a link between devastating climatic events and changes in genetic diversity in coral-obligate fishes |
| ACRS Award | Yi-Yang (Alex) Chen / Australia National University | Energy flows across trophic levels: reef fishes can access the productivity from canopy-forming macroalgae in a tropical coral reef |
| ACRS Award | Francesco Ricci / University of Melbourne | Endolithic algae: the coral holobiont lungs |
2019 Grant recipients
| Award | Student / University | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Walker Award | Annika Lamb / University of Melbourne | Interspecific hybridisation: a tool in coral reef restoration |
| Danielle Simmons Award | Alexander Fordyce / University of Newcastle | Microbial interactions between corals and microboring endoliths |
| ACRS Award | Jessica Bergman / University of NSW | Acclimation capacity and disease susceptibility of Pocillopora damicornis following thermal anomalies on the Great Barrier Reef |
| ACRS Award | Ramona Brunner / James Cook University | The function of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in coral larvae settlement |
| ACRS Award | Victor Huertas Martin / James Cook University | Investigating trophic partitioning among planktivorous reef fishes |
2018 Grant recipients
| Award | Student / University | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Walker Award | Mardi McNeil / Queensland University of Technology | The role of macroalgae genus Halimeda in provision of inter-reef benthic habitat in the Great Barrier Reef |
| Danielle Simmons Award | Coulson Lantz / Southern Cross University | The combined effect of ocean acidification, seawater warming, and eutrophication on carbonate sediment dissolution and metabolism. |
| ACRS Award | Shannon McMahon / James Cook University | The effects of temperature and elevated CO2 on reef mesopredators |
| ACRS Award | Kelsey Sanbourn / University of Technology of Sydney | Paleoecology of the Last Interglacial Tantabiddi Reef of Western Australia |
| ACRS Award | Mikaela Nordborg / Jame Cook University. AIMS | Cumulative impacts of future climate conditions and heavy fuel oil on key life stages of the coral Acropora millepora |