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Peter L. Harrison is an Australian marine biologist, ecologist, and a Distinguished Professor at Southern Cross University, Australia, and the founding director of the Marine Ecology Research Centre.[1] His specialty is coral reproduction ecology and larval restoration.
Coral spawning research edit
While conducting his PhD at James Cook University in Townsville in 1981, Harrison worked with a small group of other PhD researchers that first discovered the phenomenon Mass Coral Spawning.[2] This occurred following detailed monitoring of hundreds of corals and during night dives at Magnetic Island where the team observed millions of coral sperm and eggs filling the waters around them in a synchronized mass multi-species spawning event. This discovery was the first scientific documentation of a mass coral spawning event, and Harrison and the team published their first paper on the occurrence three years later in 1984.[3] His current major research focus is coral and reef restoration and developing larger-scale coral larval restoration projects using millions of coral larvae to restore damaged reefs in the Philippines and on the Great Barrier Reef.[4][5]
Recognition edit
Harrison and the team were awarded a Eureka Prize for Environmental Research in 1992 for their discovery of mass coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef.[6] Harrison led a United Nations funded mission to assess the impacts of the first Gulf War on the coral reefs of Kuwait, and has a new coral species discovered in the Arabian Gulf named after him (Porites Harrisoni). Peter has been appointed to the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee.[citation needed] A sculpture of Peter Harrison was created by Jason deCaires Taylor for the Museum of Underwater Art[7] as part of the Ocean Sentinels above the surface exhibition in 2022.[8]
Publications edit
Harrison has published over 200 scientific research papers, reports and books.[9] His work has been cited almost 15,000 times.[10]
References edit
- ^ "Marine Ecology Research Centre - Southern Cross University". www.scu.edu.au. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Peter Harrison". Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA). Retrieved 28 April 2022.
- ^ Harrison, Peter L.; Babcock, Russell C.; Bull, Gordon D.; Oliver, James K.; Wallace, Carden C.; Willis, Bette L. (16 March 1984). "Mass Spawning in Tropical Reef Corals". Science. 223 (4641): 1186–1189. Bibcode:1984Sci...223.1186H. doi:10.1126/science.223.4641.1186. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17742935. S2CID 31244527.
- ^ "Peter Harrison". Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "2019 - Millions of coral babies 'turbo-charged' in floating nurseries to restore damaged parts of the Great Barrier Reef - Southern Cross University". www.scu.edu.au. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ Distinguished Professor Peter L. Harrison, Southern Cross University, retrieved 5 May 2022
- ^ Prof Peter Harrison at the Museum of Underwater Art
- ^ Museum of Tropical Queensland (2022). "Ocean Sentinels above the surface". mtq.qm.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Professor Peter L. Harrison - Southern Cross University". www.scu.edu.au. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Peter L. Harrison".
External links edit
- Peter L. Harrison publications indexed by Google Scholar