Scholarships supporting future researchers

Drought and climate variability continue to challenge Northern Australia, but the scholarship program is helping to equip future researchers with the tools to respond.

The Tropical North Queensland (TNQ) Drought Resilience Hub Honours Scholarships, valued at up to $5,000, support students at James Cook University and partner institutions whose research addresses priorities such as drought adaptation, climate change, land management, innovation, skills development, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agricultural enterprise.

Applications for the 2026 program opened 9 October and will be closing on 4 December 2025. Successful students will undertake projects that strengthen agricultural resilience and regional communities, while presenting their findings through milestone reports and an industry presentation.

2025 Scholarship Recipients with their topics:

• Jorja Harvey: Impacts of cultivation and insecticide use on macro-invertebrates and their relationship with soil carbon in sugarcane systems. Supervised by A/Prof Paul Nelson.
• Edward Venn: Advanced remote sensing for biomass estimation and ecosystem assessment: Applications in mangrove, wetlands and grasslands in Australia. Supervised by Dr Ben Jarihani.
• Keleisha Moore: Mapping water dynamics in West Queensland for improved grazing land management through high resolution imagery. Supervised by Dr Ben Jarihani.
• Lily Lewis: remote monitoring of water levels and volumes in Australian wetlands and water bodies - A multi-satellite approach. Supervised by Dr Ben Jarihani.
• Nicole Sallis: Sex change in fish - Assessment of the biomarker Vitellogenin in cultured fish species. Supervised by Prof Dean Jerry.
  Jacopo Bartholomew: Acoustic recording as a novel monitoring method for Invasive Chital Deer. Supervised by Prof Lin Schwarzkopf
• Stewart Underhill: Understanding environmental drivers of behaviour in burrowing frogs. Supervised by Prof Lin Schwarzkopf

November 2025