Dr Luke Nothdurft
Faculty of Science,
School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Biography
Dr Luke Nothdurft is a marine geoscientist based at the Queensland University of Technology. Luke’s research focuses on changes in shallow marine carbonate skeletons and sediment. Using a combination of geological and biological field data and samples, Luke investigates problems around climate change in tropical marine environments over a range of time scales with laboratory-based geochemical and microscopic analysis. He has 20 years of experience working on the Great Barrier Reef with current projects on Halimeda bioherms, the transformation of fossil coral and algae into limestone and attachment of live corals to reef substrates.
Personal details
Positions
- Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Science,
School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Keywords
carbonate, coral, coral reef, diagenesis, geology, palaeoclimate, scanning electron microscope, sedimentology, synchrotron
Research field
Geology
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (Queensland University of Technology)
Teaching
- Science foundations
- Palelontolgy
- Marine Science
- Carbonate sedimentology
- Reef studies
- Field courses such as geological mapping
He also has participated in leadership teams for curriculum development and design of the Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Advanced Science, Earth Science major studies, and Climate science.
Experience
2021 – Present Acting Bachelor Science (ST01) Course Coordinator, QUT
2014 – 2021 Subject Area Coordinator - Bachelor of Science Honours - Earth Science, QUT
2020 Science Committee Vice-Chair - Australian and New Zealand Consortium International Ocean Discovery Program
2020 – Present Mars Science Team - Perseverance Rover - PIXL instrument operations - JPL NASA
2018 – Present Science Committee - Australian and New Zealand Consortium International Ocean Discovery Program
2014 – 2021 Subject Area Coordinator - Bachelor of Science - Earth Science, QUT
2013 - Australian University Geoscience Education Network Conference Organisor
Publications
- McNeil, M., Firn, J., Nothdurft, L., Pearse, A., Webster, J. & Roland Pitcher, C. (2021). Inter-reef Halimeda algal habitats within the Great Barrier Reef support a distinct biotic community and high biodiversity. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 5(5), 647–655. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/209965
- Schrank, C., Jones, M., Kewish, C., Van Riessen, G., Elphick, K., Sloss, C., Nothdurft, L., Webb, G., Paterson, D. & Regenauer-Lieb, K. (2021). Micro-scale dissolution seams mobilise carbon in deep-sea limestones. Communications Earth & Environment, 2(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/213013
- McNeil, M., Nothdurft, L., Dyriw, N., Webster, J. & Beaman, R. (2021). Morphotype differentiation in the Great Barrier Reef Halimeda bioherm carbonate factory: Internal architecture and surface geomorphometrics. The Depositional Record, 7(2), 176–199. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/205725
- Sloss, C., Tillquist, S., McGill, S., Penny, T., Ballington, C., Nothdurft, L., Trofimovs, J., Lawrence, M. & Schrank, C. (2021). Sedimentology and stratigraphy of syn-subduction Miocene fine-grained turbidites deposited in first stages of trench-slope basin development: Whakataki Formation, North Island, New Zealand. Sedimentary Geology, 414. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208851
- McNeil, M., Nothdurft, L., Erler, D., Hua, Q. & Webster, J. (2021). Variations in Mid- to Late Holocene Nitrogen Supply to Northern Great Barrier Reef Halimeda Macroalgal Bioherms. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 36(2). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/209964
- Sanborn, K., Webster, J., Webb, G., Braga, J., Humblet, M., Nothdurft, L., Patterson, M., Dechnik, B., Warner, S., Graham, T., Murphy, R., Yokoyama, Y., Obrochta, S., Zhao, J. & Salas-Saavedra, M. (2020). A new model of Holocene reef initiation and growth in response to sea-level rise on the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Sedimentary Geology, 397. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/197786
- Duce, S., Dechnik, B., Webster, J., Hua, Q., Sadler, J., Webb, G., Nothdurft, L., Salas-Saavedra, M. & Vila-Concejo, A. (2020). Mechanisms of spur and groove development and implications for reef platform evolution. Quaternary Science Reviews, 231. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/197785
- Hua, Q., Ulm, S., Yu, K., Clark, T., Nothdurft, L., Leonard, N., Pandolfi, J., Jacobsen, G. & Zhao, J. (2020). Temporal variability in the Holocene marine radiocarbon reservoir effect for the Tropical and South Pacific. Quaternary Science Reviews, 249. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/205726
- Erler, D., Shepherd, B., Linsley, B., Nothdurft, L., Hua, Q. & Lough, J. (2019). Has Nitrogen Supply to Coral Reefs in the South Pacific Ocean Changed Over the Past 50 Thousand Years? Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 34(4), 567–579. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/197830
- McCutcheon, J., Nothdurft, L., Webb, G., Shuster, J., Nothdurft, L., Paterson, D. & Southam, G. (2017). Building biogenic beachrock: Visualizing microbially-mediated carbonate cement precipitation using XFM and a strontium tracer. Chemical Geology, 465, 21–34. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/107197
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Luke, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Appointment to State/National/International Reference Group or Government Committees
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Member of the Science Committee - Australian and New Zealand Consortium International Ocean Discovery Program
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2013
- Details
- Brisbane Workshop - Australasian Universities Geoscience Educators Network
Selected research projects
- Title
- Geomorphological development of coral reefs, southern Great Barrier Reef: an integrated record of Holocene palaeoecology and palaeoclimate from cores
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP120101793
- Start year
- 2012
- Keywords
- Coral Reef; Climate Change; Sea-level; Geochemistry; Diagenesis
- Title
- Testing environmental stress on a dead Holocene coral reef in Moreton Bay, Queensland
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- ALNGRA10024
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
- Coral; Radiocarbon Dating; Palaeoclimate; Moreton Bay; Holocene; El Nino
- Title
- Environmental Stress Indicators in Coral Skeletons
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP1096184
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
- Coral; Climate Change; Sea Level; Geochemistry; Coral Reef; Skeleton
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- Clast Assimilation and Substrate Attachment in Acropora millipora (2019)
- Millimetre-Scale Localisation of Strain and Dissolution in Oolitic Grainstone (2018)
- Initiation and Growth of Mid-Holocene Coral Reefs, Cleveland Point, Moreton Bay, Queensland (2017)
- On Carbonate Alteration Zones in a Greenstone Keel of the East Pilbara Terrane (Doolena Gap Greenstone Belt) (2017)
- A Geomorphological Study of the South Wellesley Islands, Southern Gulf of Carpentaria (2016)
- Structural-Stratigraphic Reconstruction of the Lower Whakataki Formation, North Island, New Zealand (2016)
- Depositional Model for the Early Miocene Turbidite Sequence, The Whakataki Formation, NZ (2015)
- Controls on mid-Holocene fringing reef growth and termination in a high latitude, estuarine setting, Wellington Point, Southeast Queensland (2012)
Supervision topics
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.