Current: Senior Lecturer in Aquatic Microbiology, Undergraduate Degree Coordinator, member of the editorial board of Microbiology Australia. 2003, Fellow of the Hanse Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany
July – December 2003: I was a Fellow of the Hanse Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany, whilst on sabbatical at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen. I collaborated with Dr Dirk De Beer and Prof. Rudolf Amann on a research project that used microelectrodes and molecular biological techniques to assess the impact of organic carbon on sedimentary microbial community structure and function.
Research Interests
Aquatic microbial ecology
I use microelectrodes to examine the distribution and diffusive fluxes of oxygen and other elements in sediments. Recent research has examined the long-term microbiological effects of seacage aquaculture on sediments. This research demonstrated that the microenvironment of the sediments underlying seacages is altered for long periods of time, despite the recovery of invertebrate populations. Concurrently, a former PhD student, Dr Andrew Bissett, demonstrated marked variation in bacterial communities in the sediments before and after cage stocking, indicating a high level of bacterial functional redundancy. A current PhD student (Dean
Thomson) is examining the impact of organic carbon on nitrogen cycling in the Huon Estuary as part of the Aquafin CRC environment program.
Probiotics in Aquaculture
This research centres on the use of probiotics
to enhance survival of larval crustacea. Most of our research has been conducted
in collaboration with Dr
Arthur Ritar and has studied phyllosoma larvae of
rock lobsters and Artemia. The rationale adopted has been to first reduce the
microbial load in culture systems and then colonize larvae with strains of
bacteria that inhibit pathogens without themselves causing damage to the host.
This approach has successfully protected Artemia during challenge from a pathogenic
strain of Vibrio proteolyticus. Artemia are now being used as a vehicle
to introduce desirable bacteria into the rock lobster larvae (PhD student - Ameya
Gudekar).
Teaching
I have developed and taught a wide range of undergraduate microbiology courses during my career. Currently, I teach General Microbiology, Applied and Environmental Microbiology and Ecology of Aquatic Ecosystems. I was awarded Teaching Merit Certificates by the University of Tasmania in 2000 and 2002.
My major objective for undergraduate students is that they learn how to think scientifically and to develop an appreciation of why this might be useful, even if they do not intend to practice science in their chosen career. Students should be able to use their newly learnt concepts and knowledge to think in a way that is qualitatively different from how they did previously. Principally, I use enquiry-based learning in which students construct their learning within a framework that I formulate. Students are guided through learning tasks designed to give them skills in how to think as a scientist and simultaneously develop their knowledge and conceptual base.
UnitsSelected Publications:- Bissett, A., Burke, C., Cook, P. L. M., Bowman, J. P., 2007, 'Bacterial community shifts in organically perturbed sediments.', Environmental Microbiology, 9 (1), pgs. 46–60
- Tolomei, A, Burke, C., Crear, B. and Carson, J. , 2004, 'Bacterial decontamination of on-grown Artemia.', Aquaculture , 232, pgs. 357 - 371
- Watts, M., Munday, B., and Burke, C., , 2002, 'Investigation of humoral immune factors from selected groups of southern bluefin tuna, Thunnus maccoyii (Castelnau): implications for aquaculture.', J. Fish Diseases, 25, pgs. 191- 200
- Hodson, S., Burke C. and Bissett, A., , 2000, 'Biofouling of fish-cage netting: the efficacy of a silicone coating and the effect of netting colour. ', Aquaculture, 184, pgs. 277-290
- Burke, C.M., 1999, 'Molecular diffusive fluxes of oxygen in sediments of Port Phillip Bay in southeastern Australia', Marine and Freshwater Research, 50, pgs. 557-66
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