CQU has federal feasibility funding for a coastal marine ecosystems research centre at its Gladstone campus, a field which James Cook U, big on Barrier Reef studies, has pretty much had to itself in FNQ.

This isn’t surprising, with CQU VC Scott Bowen appearing to consider Irving Berlin’s song “Anything you can do I can do better” a guide to life. While starting way-behind, CQU now has campuses where JCU once enjoyed monopolies, noticeably in Townsville and Cairns and while James Cook has a global research rep in tropical sciences, including the Great Barrier Reef, Professor Bowen seems keen to build one.