Marji PUOTINEN

Position:   Fellow
Email:  marji@uow.edu.au

Research Interests

Disturbance modeling, Geographic Information Science (GIS), Reefs and coastal environments.  Landscape ecology

Representative Publications

Puotinen, ML and Boggs, G (in revision). Potential hotspots of tropical cyclone risk across the Northern Territory and adjacent waters, 1970-2006. Geographical Research.

Strevens, Puotinen, Whelan (in review). Powerline easements: ecological impacts and contribution to habitat fragmentation. Pacific Conservation Biology.

Game, Madden, Puotinen & Possingham (in press). Should we protect the strong or weak? An analysis of risk and resilience in marine protected areas. Conservation Biology. Accepted 10 April 2008.

Fabricius, Katharina E., Glenn De’ath, Marji Lee Puotinen, Terry Done, Timothy F. Cooper, and Scott C. Burgess, (2008). Disturbance gradients on inshore and offshore coral reefs caused by a severe tropical cyclone. Limnology and Oceanography, 53(2):690-704.

C A Hopley, B G Jones, M Puotinen, Assessing the recent (1834-2002) morphological evolution of a rapidly prograding delta within a GIS framework: Macquarie rivulet delta, lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences (2007) 54, (1047-1056).

Puotinen, ML (2007). Modelling the risk of cyclone wave damage to coral reefs using GIS: a case study of the Great Barrier Reef, 1969-2003. International Journal of Geographical Information Science. 21(1), 97-120.

Puotinen, ML (2007). Impact of Data Uncertainty on the Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Australian Cyclones, 1906-2006. In Oxley, L. and Kulasiri, D (eds) MODSIM 2007: International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, December 2007; pp 3301-1307. IBSN: 978-0-9758400-4-7. http://www.mssanz.com.au/modsim07/papers/ImpactOfDataUncertainty_s46_Puotinen.pdf.

Tum, S, Puotinen, ML, Skerratt, LF, Chan, B and Sothoeun, S (2007). Validation of a geographic information system model for mapping the risk of fasciolosis in cattle and buffaloes in Cambodia. Journal of Veterinary Parasitology 2007, 143, 364-367.

Puotinen, ML (2005). An automated GIS method for modeling relative wave exposure within complex reef-island systems: a case study of the Great Barrier Reef. In MODSIM 2005: International Congress on Modelling and Simulation: Zerger, A and Argent, R Eds: Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand: Australia, 2005; pp 1437-1443.

Puotinen, ML (2005). Tropical cyclone disturbance of the coral communities of the Great Barrier Reef, 1969-2003. In Planning for Natural Hazards: How can we mitigate the impacts?; Morrison, R, Quinn, S and Bryan, E Eds’ GeoQuest Research Centre: Australia, 2005; pp 153-165.

Puotinen, ML (2004). Tropical cyclones in the Great Barrier Reef Region, 1910- 1999: A first step towards characterising the disturbance regime. Australian Geographical Studies, 42(3): 378-392.

Tum, S, Puotinen, ML and Copeman, BD (2004). Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map the risk of Fasciolosis gigantica in Cambodia. Veterinary Parisitology 122(2): 141-149.

Chilvers, BL, Corkeron, PJ and Puotinen, ML (2003). The influence of trawling on the behaviour and spatial distribution of Indo-Pacific dolphins, Moreton Bay, Australia. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81(12): 1947-1955.

Bauer IL, Puotinen ML (2002). Geographic information systems and travel health. Journal of Travel Medicine. 9(6): 308-314.

Puotinen, ML, Done, TJ and Skelly, WC, (1997): An atlas of tropical cyclones in the Great Barrier Reef Region, 1969-1997. CRC Reef Research Centre, Technical Report No. 19. Townsville; CRC Reef Research Centre, 203 pp.

Puotinen, Marjetta L, (1994): Designing effective monitoring programs for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia. Coastal Management Journal, 22:391-398.

Searchable Publication List

Current Students

PhD & Masters

• Adam Carrigan – PhD – chief supervisor – in progress (due 2010)
• Rohan Somarathna – PhD – co-supervisor – in progress (due 2010)
• Gabriele Caccamo – PhD – co-supervisor – in progress (due 2010)
• Gabrielle Wiltshire – MSc – associate supervisor – in progress (due 2009)

Suggested Topics for Future Students

• Assess and test various freeware spatial tools for modelling habitat fragmentation and connectivity using spatial ecology methods (for example graph theory) [suitable for an Hons, MSc or PhD for a student with experience in GIS and ecology]

• Investigate the potential uses of genetic algorithms for use in spatial modeling, developing a simple prototype [suitable for an Hons project for a student with experience in GIS and programming]

• Adapt a rock fall model from the literature for use in ArcGIS and test its performance against known rock fall events on the Illawara Escarpment. [suitable for a PhD by a student with experience in spatial modeling, GIS, geology and is comfortable with maths]

• Adapt and extend the concept of ‘map calculus’ recently proposed in the GISc literature to explore the feasibility of embedding dynamic tropical cyclone wave hindcasting equations within ArcGIS. [suitable for a PhD by a student with experience in spatial modeling, GIS, and is comfortable with maths]

• Extend a spatial database of tropical cyclone tracks in the Northwest Pacific (currently from 1965 to present) back in time to include 1910 to 1963. Characterise the timing and distribution of tracks across the region over the extended time series and compare to the earlier time series. Choose one or two locations as case studies to examine in more depth by calculating the distance to the nearest cyclone track each year over the time period. [suitable for an Hons project for a student with experience in GIS and some spatial modeling]

Abbreviated CV

2005 – PhD, James Cook University, Townsville

1994 – Master of Environmental Management, Duke University, USA

1992 – BA (Geography), Augustana College, USA

2006 – present Senior Lecturer in GIS, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong

2004-2006 Lecturer in GIS, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong

1998-2004 Lecturer in GIS, School of Tropical Environment Studies and Geography, James Cook University

1995-1998 Research Associate, Cooperative Research Centre for the Ecologically Sustainable Development of the Great Barrier Reef, Townsville

1994-1995 GIS Coordinator and Manager, Emergency Management Division,
Iowa Department of Public Defense, USA

1992-1993 GIS Researcher, Offices of Developed Shorelines and the Duke Forest, Duke University, USA

1992 Researcher, Cartography Division, National Geographic Society, Washington DC, USA

1991-1992 Geography researcher, US Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Management Division, Rock Island, Illinois, USA