Associate Professor Nicole Flint
BSc (Hons) MEcon PhD
Principal Research Fellow / Acting DDR School of Business and Law
School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences
Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre, Centre for Regional Economies and Supply Chains
- n.flint@cqu.edu.au
- ORCID: 0000-0003-4331-4109
- (07) 4923 2128
- 07 4923 2128 Alternative Phone
About Me
Assoc. Prof. Nicole Flint is the Acting Deputy Dean Research for the School of Business and Law, and a Principal Research Fellow in the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences. Her research aligns with the Centre for Regional Economies and Supply Chains and the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre. Nicole's qualifications include a Bachelor of Science (Hons), Master of Economics and PhD. She worked in the Australian Public Service in fisheries and marine environmental management roles for five years before commencing at CQUniversity in 2011. Nicole’s research uses multidisciplinary approaches to provide practical solutions aimed at improving the outlook for freshwater and marine species and ecosystems, through a time of global change.
Nicole has been awarded more than $9M in external research funding since 2011, working with government, non-government and industry research partners to find novel solutions to complex environmental problems. She is particularly interested in the interactions between aquatic resources and regional industries including water supplies, agriculture, mining, ports and fisheries. Recent activities include national and international research to: improve water security and governance in agricultural catchments, develop water quality monitoring programs for regional and remote areas, enhance the assessment and management of Queensland mud crabs, develop ecosystem health indices and environmental indicators for waterway health report cards, investigate the economic benefits of aquatic habitats and of water supply infrastructure, and identify cost-effective monitoring approaches for large river catchments and water supplies. Nicole is a member of the Independent Science Panel for the Fitzroy Partnership for River Health and has been involved with the Partnership since 2012, providing expert advice to support the annual Fitzroy Basin Report Card. She is also a member of the Regional Report Cards Technical Working Group, represents CQUniversity on the Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership partners network, and is the elected research active staff member on CQUniversity's Research Committee to Academic Board.
General
Universities Studied At
Bachelor of Science (Honours), James Cook University
Master of Economics, University of New England
PhD (Fish biology), James Cook University
Previous teaching
ENVR12002 Applied Ecology. Lecturer for ecological indicators series: 2025
ENVR12002 Applied Ecology. Guest lecturer: 2020 - 2024
AGRI12005 Specialised Food Industries. Practical on fish health assessment: 2025
AGRI11003 Livestock Production. Practical on fish health assessment: 2021-2022
EVST13014 Freshwater and Marine Systems. Unit Coordinator: T1 2020 and T1 2019
MARN13007 Coastal Marine Resources. Lecturer for coastal fisheries series: T1 2020 and T1 2019
ZOOL13015 Environmental Physiology of Animals: Lecturer for aquatic environments series: 2016
ENEV21004 Water Resources and Society: Lecturer for history of water resources: 2014
MARN13007 Coastal Marine Resources. Lecture and laboratory activity for fish aging and growth: 2013
Professional Experience
Jul 2026 - Current - A/g Deputy Dean Research, School of Business and Law, CQUniversity Australia.
Sept - Dec 2025 - Visiting Researcher, Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen.
2022 - Current - Principal Research Fellow, Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre, CQUniversity Australia.
Apr 2026; Dec 2019 - Jan 2021; Jan 2019 - A/g Dean, School of Graduate Research, CQUniversity Australia.
Apr 2026; Dec 2024 - Jan 2025; Dec 2022 - Mar 2023 - A/g Deputy Dean Research, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity Australia.
2020 - 2024 - Postgraduate Research Coordinator, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity Australia.
2020 - 2021 - Research Fellow, Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre, CQUniversity Australia.
2015 - 2020 - Research Fellow, School of Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity Australia.
2011 to 2015 - Senior Research Officer, CQUniversity Australia.
2008 to 2010 - Sustainable Fisheries Section, Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (Senior Fisheries Assessor 2008, Assistant Director 2008-2010).
2005 to 2008 - Australian Fisheries Management Authority (Graduate 2005, Policy Officer 2006, Senior Fisheries Officer 2006-2008).
2000 to 2003 - Casual tutor, laboratory and field assistant, James Cook University.
Professional Memberships
Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society
Australian Society for Fish Biology
Resilient Rivers
Responsibilities
Research Active Representative, CQUniversity Research Committee of Academic Board
(Past) Research Member, CQUniversity Animal Ethics Committee
Member, Independent Science Panel, Fitzroy Partnership for River Health
Member, Regional Report Cards Technical Working Group
Member, Partners Network, Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership
Research Supervision
Accreditation
I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:
- 3005 Fisheries Sciences
- 3109 Zoology
- 3103 Ecology
- 3801 Applied Economics
- 4104 Environmental management
Current Capacity
Current Supervision
Complete Supervision
Research Interests
Ecology - Freshwater Ecology
Ecology - Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology)
Applied Economics - Environment and Resource Economics
Environmental management - Environmental assessment and monitoring
Environmental Science and Management - Natural Resource Management
Pollution and contamination - Surface water quality processes and contaminated sediment assessment
