Townsville is home to the headquarters of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, or AIMS.
AIMS is Australia’s specialist marine-science research agency, and its main campus is at Cape Ferguson, about 50 kilometres southeast of Townsville in Queensland. From this base, scientists study coral reefs, fisheries, climate impacts, coastal ecosystems and marine biodiversity.
Cairns is also strongly associated with the Great Barrier Reef because it is a major tourism and research gateway, but it is not the location of AIMS headquarters. Brisbane is Queensland’s capital, while Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory.
AIMS operates research facilities and collaborates with universities, government agencies and conservation groups. Its long-running observations have helped document changes in coral cover, coral bleaching, crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and reef recovery.