Background
Dr Chris Humphrey leads the ERISS Water and Sediment programme and is A/g Director of ERISS. He has a background in freshwater ecology and has spent most of his research career investigating tropical streams of northern Australia. A particular focus of his research has been the development, implementation and refinement of environmental monitoring programs used to assess potential human impacts (including mining) upon freshwater ecosystems. Chris has been involved in national and international river health and remediation programs and has represented the Department on a number of scientific committees associated with related programs. He has also authored and played a key technical coordination role in the previous and ongoing revisions of the Australian & New Zealand Water Quality Guidelines. Recent mine-related research focuses on rehabilitation of Ranger, including the development of post-mining closure criteria for freshwater ecosystems.
Areas of expertise and research interests
Tropical freshwater ecology; developing techniques river health monitoring and assessment; experimental design and analysis for river health assessments; developing water quality guidelines
Key publications
Humphrey, C, Bishop, K, Dostine P 2018. Vulnerability of fish and macroinvertebrates to key threats in streams of the Kakadu region, northern Australia: assemblage dynamics, existing assessments and knowledge needs. Marine and Freshwater Research.69, 1092-1109.
Humphrey CL, Chandler L 2018. Use of field-effects information to inform surface water guideline values for magnesium sulfate in Magela Creek. Supervising Scientist Report 212, Supervising Scientist, Darwin NT.
Bartolo RE, Harford AJ, Humphrey CL, George AK & van Dam RA 2018. Defining the importance of ecological processes for monitoring aquatic habitats for conservation and rehabilitation objectives at the Ranger uranium mine, Kakadu Region, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research https://doi.org/10.1071/MF17256
Humphrey CL & Chandler L 2018. Use of field-effects information to inform surface water guideline values for magnesium sulfate in Magela Creek. Supervising Scientist Report 212, Supervising Scientist, Darwin NT.
Dafforn KA, Johnston EL, Ferguson A, Humphrey C, Monk W, Nichols SJ, Simpson SL, Tulbure MG & Baird DJ 2015. Big data opportunities and challenges for assessing multiple stressors across scales in aquatic ecosystems. Marine and Freshwater Research 66, 1–21
Capon SJ, Lynch AJ, Bond N, Chessman BC, Davis J, Davidson N, Finlayson M, Gell PA, Hohnberg D, Humphrey C, Kingsford R, Nielsen D, Thomson JR, Ward K. & MacNally R 2015. Regime shifts, thresholds and multiple stable states in freshwater ecosystems; a critical appraisal of the evidence. Science of the Total Environment, 534, 122-130.
Dostine PL & Humphrey CL 2012. Macroinvertebrate responses to reduced baseflow in a stream in the monsoonal tropics of northern Australia, National Water Commission, Canberra. Case study. Supporting document in Guidance on ecological responses and hydrological modelling for low-flow water planning, Waterlines report 76, March 2012. (nwc.gov.au/publications/waterlines/76)
Garcia E, Dostine P, Humphrey C, Douglas M, Pusey B & Cook B 2011. Aquatic invertebrates. Chapter 5 In Aquatic biodiversity in northern Australia: patterns, threats and future. ed Pusey BJ, Charles Darwin University Press, Darwin NT, 51–70.
van Dam RA, McCullough CD, Hogan AC, Houston MA, Harford AJ & Humphrey CL 2010. Aquatic toxicity of magnesium sulphate, and the influence of calcium, in very low ionic concentration water. Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry 29(2), 410–421.
Wilson GDF, Humphrey CL, Colgan DJ, Gray KA & Johnson RN 2009. Monsoon-influenced speciation patterns in a species flock of Eophreatoicus Nicholls (Isopoda; Crustacea) Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 51(2), 349–364.
Batley GE, Humphrey CL, Apte SC & Stauber JL 2003. A guide to the application of the ANZECC/ARMCANZ Water Quality Guidelines in the minerals industry. Australian Centre for Environmental Research, Brisbane.
Humphrey CL, Barmuta LA, Davies PE, Davis JA, Mapstone BD, Trayler KM, Ward TJ & Biggs BJF 2001. Incorporating biological assessment into new generation water quality guidelines in Australia and New Zealand. Australasian Journal of Ecotoxicology 7(1), 65–80.
Humphrey CL, Storey AW & Thurtell L 2000. AUSRIVAS: operator sample processing errors and temporal variability-implications for model sensitivity. In Assessing the biological quality of fresh waters. RIVPACS and other techniques, eds JF Wright, DW Sutcliffe & MT Furse, Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, 143–163.
Humphrey CL, Faith DP & Dostine PL 1995. Baseline requirements for assessment of mining impact using biological monitoring. Australian Journal of Ecology 20, 150–166.
Humphrey CL & Dostine P 1994. Development of biological monitoring programs to detect mining waste impacts upon aquatic ecosystems of the Alligator Rivers Region, Northern Territory, Australia. Mitteilungen Internationalis Vereinigung Limnologiae 24, 293–314