Dr Catherine (Cath) King: BSc (Hons), PhD, GradDipEd

Research interests

I am a Principal Research Scientist, leading research in environmental toxicology and contaminated site risk assessment at the Australian Antarctic Division. I have over 30 years’ experience in the fields of aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment. As an international leader in Antarctic environmental science, I work to build and maintain collaborations, and manage diverse multidisciplinary teams. We deliver strategically important scientific research that contributes to evidenced-based decision making in policy, environmental management and operational developments both for the Australian Antarctic Program, and internationally to other Antarctic Treaty nations through submissions to the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP).

I joined the Australian Antarctic Division in 2005, where I have developed a portfolio of ecotoxicology research. Much of my research focuses on determining the sensitivity of a range of species to environmental stressors including contaminants that occur in the Antarctic environment, especially metals, fuels and complex wastewater mixtures. My contamination research encompasses both marine and terrestrial environments, with the ultimate aim of developing site-specific Environmental Quality Guidelines and Remediation Targets for waters, soils and sediments in Antarctica and subantarctic regions. My Antarctic research portfolio has included over 25 Antarctic-based research projects, and the supervision of over 35 postgraduate research students.

Prior to my time with the Antarctic Division, I was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Contaminants Research at CSIRO in Sydney. In this position, I conducted research on the bioavailability and toxicity of contaminants in waters and sediments to marine invertebrates, and contributed to the development of the first Handbook for Sediment Quality Assessment for Australia. This followed on from work conducted during my Doctor of Philosophy (University of Sydney, Australia, 1999), in which I investigated the impact of metals, organics and complex wastewaters on early life stages of marine invertebrates. My doctoral project was a collaboration with the Aquatic Toxicology group at Sydney Water, with whom I worked as an Environmental Scientist. My first experience in Antarctica was also during this time, when I joined the Human Impacts Research Program in the 1996–97 and 1997–98 summers to conduct research on the impact of the legacy rubbish tip site in the Thala Valley at Casey station on nearshore ecosystems. This work provided robust scientific evidence of the impacts of contamination from the tip site and provided some of the impetus to remove waste, and to remediate the site. Contaminated site assessment, clean up and remediation, continues to be a core focus for the Australian Antarctic Division’s scientific program.

Current projects

  • #4100: Development of environmental risk assessment and remediation guidelines for Antarctic and subantarctic marine and terrestrial environments; Chief Investigator
  • #4520: Assessment of waste and contamination in marine and terrestrial ecosystems with recommendations for environmental management at Mawson station; Chief Investigator
  • #4503: Reducing Environmental Impacts at Contaminated Sites in Antarctica
  • #4450: Using indigenous terrestrial micro-invertebrates to assess environmental impacts of soil pollution in Antarctica
  • #4180: Human impacts of Antarctic stations on nearshore ecosystems
Collaborations
  • CSIRO
  • Deakin University
  • Griffith University
  • Macquarie University
  • Monash University
  • RMIT University
  • Southern Cross University
  • University of Melbourne
  • University of NSW
  • University of Sydney
  • University of Tasmania
  • University of Western Sydney
  • University of Wollongong
Key outcome areas
  • Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP)
  • Australian Antarctic Division Policy and International, Assets and Infrastructure, and Antarctic Operations and Safety Branches
  • Australian Government - ANZECC/ARMCANZ Australian and New Zealand guidelines for fresh and marine water quality
  • Australian Government - National State of Environment (SoE) reporting
  • Tasmanian Government
Publications

Koppel DJ, Price GAV, Brown KE, Adams MA, King CK, Gore DB, Jolley DF (2021). Assessing metal contaminants in Antarctic soils using diffusive gradients in thin-films. Chemosphere 269:128675.

King CK, Wasley J, Holan J, Richardson J, Spedding T (2020). Using an expert judgement response matrix to assess the risk of groundwater discharges from remediated fuel spill sites to the marine environment at sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, Australia. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 17(4):785-801.

Brown KE, King CK, Harrison PL (2020). Impacts of petroleum fuels on fertilization and development of the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 39(12):2527-2539.

Hancock AM, King CK, Stark JS, McMinn A, Davidson AT (2020). Effects of ocean acidification on Antarctic marine organisms: A meta-analysis. Ecology and Evolution 10: 4495-4514.

van Dorst J, Wilkins D, King CK, Spedding T, Hince G, Zhang E, Crane S, Ferrari BC (2020). Applying microbial indicators of hydrocarbon toxicity to contaminated sites undergoing bioremediation on subantarctic Macquarie Island. Environmental Pollution 259:113780.

Brown KE, Wasley J, King CK (2020). Sensitivity to copper and development of culturing and toxicity test procedures for the Antarctic terrestrial nematode Plectus murrayi. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 39(2): 482-491.

King CK*, Kefford BJ*, Wasley J, Riddle MJ, Nugegoda D. [*joint first authors] (2019). Sensitivity of a large and representative sample of Antarctic marine invertebrates to metals. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 38(7): 1560-1568.

See more of Dr King’s publications on Google Scholar.

Holan JR, King CK, Proctor AH, Davis AR (2019). Increased sensitivity of subantarctic marine invertebrates to copper under a changing climate - effects of salinity and temperature. Environmental Pollution 249: 54-62.

Koppel DJ, Adams MA, King CK, Jolley DF (2018). Chronic toxicity of an environmentally relevant and equitoxic ratio of five metals to two Antarctic marine microalgae show complex mixture interactivity. Environmental Pollution 242: 1319–1330.

Dawson A, Kawaguchi S, King CK, Townsend K, King R, Huston W, Bengtson Nash S (2018). Turning Microplastics into Nanoplastics: Digestive Fragmentation by Antarctic krill. Nature Communications 9: 1001.

Holan J, King CK, Davis AR (2018). Comparative copper sensitivity between life stages of common subantarctic marine invertebrates. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 37(3): 807–815.

Errington I, King CK, Wilkins D, Spedding T, Hose GC (2018) Ecosystem effects and the management of petroleum-contaminated soils on subantarctic islands. Chemosphere 194: 200–210.

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