What is the name of the research station on Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef?

The research station on Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef is called Heron Island Research Station.

The station is on Heron Island, a coral cay about 80 kilometres from Gladstone, Queensland, within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It sits at the leeward end of a platform reef measuring roughly 10 by 5 kilometres, placing researchers close to the reef habitats they study.

Its origins trace back to the Great Barrier Reef Committee, founded in 1922 to encourage systematic research and conservation. University of Queensland scientists and the committee pursued a permanent facility after earlier reef expeditions demonstrated the value of long-term field research. Construction of the first station buildings began in 1952, and the University of Queensland later assumed full ownership.

Heron Island Research Station supports marine biology, coral-reef ecology, climate-change research, and student training. It is often confused with research facilities on One Tree, Lizard, or Orpheus islands, but those are separate stations on different Great Barrier Reef islands. A major fire damaged the Heron facility in 2007; rebuilt facilities opened in 2009.