Dr Janice Lough

Senior Principal Research Scientist
A Healthy and Resilient Great Barrier Reef

Contact Information

Phone
(07) 4753 4248
Int
+61 7 4753 4248
Email
j.lough@aims.gov.au
Background

Janice obtained her PhD in 1982 examining the connections between sub-Saharan Africa rainfall variations and sea surface temperature in the tropical Atlantic.  She then undertook an NSF-funded post-doctoral position with Prof Hal Fritts at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona – using tree-ring reconstructions of climate to understand the nature and causes of climate variability and change. In 1986, she took up a post-doctoral position at AIMS examining the growth and environmental histories obtained from annually-banded coral skeletons and was appointed to a Research Scientist position in 1988.

Since then she has learned a lot about coral reefs and the threats that a rapidly changing global climate system is already imposing on them. She also oversees AIMS Coral Core Archive – a nationally and internationally collection of coral cores, primarily from Australia’s east and west coast coral reefs, which is shared with collaborators around the world. 

Tertiary Education

1982 PhD Climate Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich UK
1976 BSc (Hons) Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich UK

Employment History

Prior to joining AIMS in 1986:
Research Associate, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA 1982-1986
Senior Research Associate, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK 1980-1982

Research

Janice undertakes research in three main areas:

  1. developing and interpreting high-resolution paleoclimate reconstructions to provide pre-observational context for current climate changes e.g. reconstruction of Burdekin River flows back to the mid-17th century
  2. determining the nature, causes and consequences of climate variability and change for tropical coral reef ecosystems which are already showing their vulnerability to increasingly severe thermal stress events
  3. constructing massive coral calcification histories which record coral growth responses to climatic and environmental change
Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Prof Jens Zinke, University of Leicester  – paleoclimate histories from coral cores of the eastern Indian Ocean
  • Dr Stephen Lewis, James Cook University – Holocene river flood histories from coral micro-atolls
  • Dr Dirk Erler, Southern Cross University – history of nitrogen cycling on the Great Barrier Reef
  • Prof Julia Cole, University of Michigan – paleoclimate histories from coral cores of northern Australia
Other Activities
  • Adjunct Professorial Research Fellow and Partner Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville
  • Advisory Editor – Coral Reefs
  • Associate Editor – Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publications

Janice has published over 160 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters.

Recent examples include:

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O, Skirving WJ, Lough JM, Liu CY, Mann ME, Donner S, Eakin CM, Cantin N, Carilli J, Heron SF, Miller S, Dove S (2019) Commentary: Reconstructing Four Centuries of Temperature-Induced Coral Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Frontiers in Marine Science 6: 86, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00086
  • van Oppen MJH, Lough JM (Eds) (2018) Coral Bleaching. Patterns, Processes, Causes and Consequences. Second Edition. Ecological Studies 233, Springer (356 p) (ISBN 978-3-319-75392-8)
  • Lough JM et al (2018) Increasing thermal stress for tropical coral reefs: 1871-2017. Scientific Reports 8: 6079, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-24530-9
  • Hughes TP, Anderson KD, Connolly SR, Heron SF, Kerry JT, Lough JM, Baird AH, Baum JK, Berumen ML, Bridge TC, Claar DC, Eakin CM, Gilmour JP, Graham NAJ, Harrison H, Hobbs JPA, Hoey AS, Hoogenboom M, Lowe RJ, McCulloch MT, Pandolfi JM, Pratchett M, Schoepf V, Torda G, Wilson SK (2018) Spatial and temporal patterns of mass bleaching of corals in the Anthropocene. Science 359: 80-83
  • Hughes TP, Barnes ML, Bellwood DR, Cinner JE, Cumming GS, Jackson JBC, Kleypas J, van de Leemput IA, Lough JM, Morrison TH, Palumbi SR, van Nes EH, Scheffer M (2017) Coral reefs in the Anthropocene. Nature 546: 82-90, doi:10.1038/nature22901
  • Hughes TP, Kerry JT, Álvarez-Noriega M, Álvarez-Ramero JG, Anderson KD, Baird AH, Babcock RC, Beger M, Bellwood DR, Berkelmans R, Bridge TC, Butler I, Byrne M, Cantin NE, Comeau S, Connolly SR, Cumming GS, Dalton SJ, Diaz-Pulido G, Eakin CM, Figueira WF, Gilmour JP, Harrison HB, Heron SF, Hoey AS, Hobbs JPA, Hoogenboom MO, Kennedy EV, Kuo C, Lough JM, Lowe RJ, Liu G, McCulloch MT, Malcolm HA, McWilliam MJ, Pandolfi JM, Pears RJ, Pratchett MS, Schoepf V, Simpson T, Skirving WJ, Sommer B, Torda G, Wachenfeld DR, Willis BL, Wilson SK (2017) Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals. Nature 543: 373-377, doi:10.1038/nature21707
  • Cook BI, Palmer JG, Cook ER, Turney CSM, Allen K, Fenwick P, O'Donnell A, Lough JM, Grierson PF, Ho M, Baker PJ (2016) The paleoclimate context and future trajectory of extreme summer hydroclimate in eastern Australia. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 121: 12820-12838, doi: 10.1002/2016JD024892
  • Su R, Lough JM, Sun D (2016) Variations in massive Porites growth rates at Hainan Island, northern South China Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 546: 47-60
  • Lough JM, Cantin NE, Benthuysen JA, Cooper TF (2016) Environmental drivers of growth in massive Porites corals over 16 degrees of latitude along Australia's northwest shelf. Limnology and Oceanography 61(2): 684-700
  • Lough JM, Lewis SE, Cantin NE (2015) Freshwater impacts in the central Great Barrier Reef: 1648-2011. Coral Reefs 34: 739-751
  • Lough JM, Llewellyn LE, Lewis SE, Turney CSM, Palmer JG, Cook CG, Hogg AG (2014) Evidence for suppressed mid-Holocene northeastern Australian monsoon variability from coral luminescence. Paleoceanography 29: 581-594, doi:10.1002/2014PA002630
  • Zinke J, Rountrey A, Feng M, Xie S-P, Dissard D, Rankenburg K, Lough JM, McCulloch MT (2014) Corals record long-term Leeuwin current variability including Ningaloo Niño/Niña since 1795. Nature Communications 5: 3607, doi:10.1038/ncomms4607
  • Cantin N, Lough JM (2014) Surviving coral bleaching events: Porites growth anomalies on the Great Barrier Reef. PLoS ONE 9: e88720
  • Bell JD, Ganachaud AS, Gerkhe PC, Griffiths SP, Hobday AJ, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Johnson JE, Le Borgne R, Lehodey P, Lough JM, Matear RJ, Pickering TD, Pratchett MS, Sen Gupta A, Senina I, Waycott M (2013) Mixed responses of tropical Pacific fisheries and aquaculture to climate change. Nature Climate Change 3: 591-599
  • Lough JM (2012) Small change, big difference: Sea surface temperature distributions for tropical coral reef ecosystems, 1950-2011. Journal of Geophysical Research 117: C09018, oi:10.1029/2012JC008199
  • Cooper TF, O'Leary R, Lough JM (2012) Growth of Western Australian corals in the Anthropocene. Science 335: 593-596
  • Lough JM, Cooper TF (2011) New insights from coral growth band studies in an era of rapid environmental change. Earth-Science Reviews 108: 170-184
  • Lough JM, Hobday AJ (2011) Observed climate change in Australian marine and freshwater environments. Marine and Freshwater Research 62: 984-999
  • Lough JM (2011) Great Barrier Reef coral luminescence reveals rainfall variability over northeastern Australia since the 17th century. Paleoceanography 26: PA2201, doi:10.1029/2010PA002050
  • Lough JM (2010) Climate records from corals. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 1:318-331

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