Please join me in congratulating GRG PhD student Madhavi Patterson and collaborator Dr. Pat Hutching on the publication of their new paper in Coral Reefs: Patterson, M. A., J. M. Webster, V. Chazottes, W. Renema, Z. Szilagyi & P. Hutchings (2025). “Net erosion and accretion of experimental blocks of Porites sp. skeleton deployed for 10.6 to 20.3 years at Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef.” …

Hi All, please find details to an exciting opportunity of a fully funded PhD position at the (University of St Andrews, UK) to investigate "The coral biomineralisation response to temperature and pH change in the Central Pacific over the last 500ka" based on unique fossil corals collected on IODP Exp. 389 (Hawaiian Drowned Reefs). See the outline for the IAPETUS project this project.

Lindhorst, S., Budke, L., Beaman, R. J., Eisermann, J. O., Hübscher, C., Lahajnar, N., Lüdmann, T., Webster, J. M., & Betzler, C. (2025).Deep-water canyon–channel systems of the Queensland Plateau, Northeast Australia. Marine Geology, 491, 107678. A new study of the Queensland Plateau in the Coral Sea led by Geocoastal Research Group (GRG) collaborator Sebastian Lindhorst (University of Hamburg)

Williams, C., Webster, J.M., Bevitt, J.J., Webb, G.E., Nothdurft, L.D., Paumard, V., McGregor, H., and Murphy, R.J., 2025, Neutron computed tomography: A novel high-resolution, non-destructive method for screening fossil coral for diagenetic alteration for geochronologic and paleoclimatic reconstructions: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v. 26, e2025GC012439, The work has also been featured in a University of Sydney news story:

Hi All, a very exciting opportunity has come up for a fully funded Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to join a project researching global environmental changes and impacts on coral reef systems. See a brief summary, link to more information, and how to apply below. The University of Sydney - 0137485 Postdoctoral Research Associate – Coral Reef Systems on the Edge 

From July 30 to August 3, 2025, the X389 science team gathered in Hilo, Hawaii, for our second post‑cruise meeting. This event brought together researchers from across the globe—both in person and online—to share preliminary findings, refine analyses, and plan future publications from the IODP X389 expedition. It was a great meeting but we did have the added complication of the tsunami generated by the Russian earthquake…

Gazi, M. Y., Fellowes, T. E., Deo, R., da Silva, A. P., Perris, L., & Vila-Concejo, A. (2025). A quantitative approach to classify the shape of beach profiles. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 109373. The first chapter of my PhD thesis has now been published! In this study, we developed a Profile Morphotype Index (Γ) to quantitatively classify beach profiles…

Hi All, a very exciting opportunity has come up to undertake a PhD project with the Geocoastal Research Group in collaboration with a wide network of wonderful Australian and international colleagues. Project title: Lessons from coral reef systems on the edge: investigating the impact of rapid environmental changes on reef development. Project summary: This PhD project will investigate how coral reefs have responded to major environmental changes over the past 500,000 years, including fluctuations in sea level, temperature, and water quality.

Please join me in congratulating of GRG collaborator Dr Karen Vyverberg on the publication of her new paper in the journal Science Advances  and the accompanying press release here.  Vyverberg, K., A. Dutton, B. Dechnik, J. M. Webster, R. L. Edwards, D. Zwartz, P. Zhang, M. Pythoud and R. M. DeConto (2025). "Episodic reef growth in the Last Interglacial driven by competing influence of polar ice sheets to sea level rise." …

Hi All, please find our new paper "Constraints on sea-level rise during meltwater pulse 1B from the Great Barrier Reef" that has now been published in Nature Communications at the following link. The paper is fully open access so please feel free to share. Webster, J. M., Yokoyama, Y., Humblet, M., Braga, J. C., Esat, T., Fallon, S., and Bard, E., 2025, Constraints on sea-level rise during meltwater pulse 1B from the Great Barrier Reef: Nature Communications, v.

Hi All, please find the link to a short “Science Highlights” article just published in the AGU science magazine EOS co-authored by myself and GRG collaborator Prof. Ana Christina Ravelo (UC, Santa Cruz). Webster, J. M., and C. Ravelo (2025), Unlocking climate secrets of Hawai‘i’s drowned reefs, Eos, 106,  Published on 11 April 2025. The purpose of the article is to summarise some of the scientific highlights, as well as the significant challenges we faced, while carrying out the International Ocean Discovery Program’s (IODP) Expedition 389 (

Hi All, it is with great pleasure to announce that the full Proceedings of IODP Expedition 389 (Hawaiian Drowned Reefs) have now been published online. Webster, J.M., Ravelo, A.C., Grant, H.L.J., and the Expedition 389 Scientists, 2025. Hawaiian Drowned Reefs. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, 389: College Station, TX (International Ocean Discovery Program). These Proceedings present a comprehensive summary of all data and samples that were collected on X389.

Hynes, M. G., Masdar, H., Parenden, D., de Voogd, N. J., Stuut, J.-B. W., Jompa, J., Webster, J. M., & Renema, W. (2025). Impact of Holocene relative sea-level changes on patch reef-island development in the Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Holocene, 0(0). I am happy to announce that the second chapter of my thesis (and the backbone of the entire thesis really) has been published!