Author: Andrew Baird Last year in July, I visited the Houtman-Abrolhos (HAI) with Dr Kate Quigley and colleagues to collect coral samples for a number of different projects including Kate’s ARC DECRA project looking at the potential for corals to adapt to climate change (Quigley et al. in press), Charlotte Dale’s PhD project on the Acropora of … Continue reading Houtman-Abrolhos Islands, July 2025

Author: Andrew Baird I have just returned from a research trip to Kenya. The trip included a workshop on coral taxonomy and a field trip to the coral reefs of Shimoni including a visit to Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park & Reserve. The corals of Kenya are very poorly known. To the best of my knowledge, no … Continue reading Kenya, March 2026

Author: Andrew Baird Spawning is upon us again on the Great Barrier Reef and I have just returned from a few days on Orpheus Island Research Station. I was helping Dr Carrie Sims of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute find mature Acropora colonies from which to produce planulae for her research on the early life history of … Continue reading Orpheus Island Research Station, November 2025

Author: Andrew Baird "A marine biologist is never on holiday" -- James Bond, the Spy Who Loved Me (1977) I have just returned from a trip to the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra, Indonesia, in October 2025. The Mentawai Islands are one of the premier surf destinations in the world with numerous world class waves … Continue reading The Mentawai, October 2025

Author: Andrew Baird Andrew, Tom and Charlotte recently returned from a sampling trip to the Seychelles hunting topotypes and attempting to sample as many different species as possible over 10 days on D’Arros Island followed by a week on Praslin and Mahe. The Seychelles is an important destination for Project Phoenix’s revision of the taxonomy … Continue reading The Seychelles

Author: Andrew Baird Andrew from James Cook University, Tom, Stefano and Merrick from Queensland Museum and Amanda from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service visited the Moreton Bay Research Station on North Stradbroke Island in December 2024 (Fig. 1). The aim was to collect and curate all the hard coral species in the Moreton Bay region … Continue reading Moreton Bay, December 2024

Author: Andrew Baird Prof Andrew Baird, of James Cook University, Australia, a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) alumni, joined Dr James Reimer and members of the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology (MISE) Laboratory of the University of the Ryukyus, Japan and Drs Michael Stat and Megan Huggett of the University of Newcastle, … Continue reading Ogasawara wrap 2023

Author: Andrew Baird If you only have one chance to go snorkel on Norfolk Island, the place to go is the Crystal Pool. This series of rock pools are almost completely isolated from the Ocean at low tide. The rock pools measure approximately 50 m in length, 3-4 m in width and 1-2 m in … Continue reading The Crystal Pool on Norfolk Island, January 2024

Author: Andrew Baird A team from Project Phoenix visited the coastal town of Hervey Bay as guests of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service & Partnerships to assess the biodiversity of the corals of the Great Sandy Marine Park (GSMP) in October 2023. Given the proximity to the coast and its high latitude, it might … Continue reading The Corals of the Great Sandy Marine Park, Queensland (AU)