About

Associate Professor Jamie Seymour or the “Jelly Dude from Nemo land” has been researching and working with venomous and dangerous animals for over 20 yrs with his present interest being “Why do animals have venom?” Based in Cairns, in Northern Australia, an area that has an over abundance of venomous animals, he is uniquely placed to study the ecology and biology of Australia’s venomous species. He teaches at all levels at James Cook University, one of the top 5% of research universities in the world with his favourite subject being “Venomous Australian Animals”, a subject designed and taught by this effervescent academic.

He has been successfully involved in programs designed to decrease the envenomings of humans by jellyfish, namely in Australia, Timor Leste (for the United Nations), Thailand and Hawaii. His research has been directly responsible for changes in the present treatment protocol for Australian jellyfish stings. He established and is the director of the Tropical Australian Venom Research Unit (TASRU) which is now recognised as one of the premier research groups in the world for the studies of the ecology and biology of box jellyfish and research into medical treatment of box jellyfish envenomings.

Experience
  • 1996 to present - Associate Professor, James Cook University (Cairns)
  • 1995 to 1996 - Senior Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville)
  • 1982 to 1996 - Chemist, Tooheys (Grafton)
  • 1994 to 1995 - Research Director, Stahmann Farms (Moree)
  • 1991 to 1994 - Research Scientist, CSIRO (Brisbane)
  • 1986 to 1991 - Tutor, James Cook University (Townsville)
Research Disciplines
Socio-Economic Objectives
Publications

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles
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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 144+ research outputs authored by Prof Jamie Seymour from 1991 onwards.

Current Funding

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation - Research Grant

Optimising the methodology of box jellyfish venom extraction

Indicative Funding
$25,000 over 1 year
Summary
Box jellyfish present a severe health threat to the people of FNQ, however their venoms remain poorly understood, hindering the advancement of medical treatments. Our research team extracts venom for research and antivenom production, however our current equipment induces significant heat build-up, which can affect the biological activity and thus medical relevance of the venom components. The use of newer, technologically advanced equipment which is optimized to increase sample yield and preserve heat labile venom components will result in the extraction of a more biologically active and medically accurate sample of venom, which will bolster clinical sting research.
Investigators
Emily O'Hara and Jamie Seymour (Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine)
Keywords
Irukandji; Box jellyfish; Venom

Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation - Research Grant

Curing arthritis using novel compounds from jellyfish venom

Indicative Funding
$43,630 over 2 years
Summary
This research aims to determine if a specific fraction of the venom from the box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri, relieves the symptoms in induced rheumatoid arthritic mice by either i) decreasing the severity of the damage in joints of mice, i.e. curing the disease or ii) decreases the pain associated with the disease but does not decrease the underlying disease.
Investigators
Jamie Seymour (Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine)
Keywords
Box jellyfish; Arthritis; Drug

Australian Lions Foundation - Scientific and Medical Research on Marine Species Dangerous to Humans

Examining the venom ecology of the unknown juvenile stages of the Irukandji jellyfish Carukia barnesi

Indicative Funding
$3,500 over 1 year
Summary
The main aim of this study is to examine the venom ecology of the juvenile stages (polyps and recently metamorphosed medusa) of C. barnesi, an animal for which strong circumstantial evidence suggests venom variation may occur over its development. I aim to achieve this by collecting adult Carukia barnesi from double Island using underwater lights at night, return them to the lab and induce spawning in them. Once spawned, the venom from these adult animals will be collected from both the bell and tentacles using the previously published methods.
Investigators
Emily O'Hara and Jamie Seymour (Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine)
Keywords
Irukandji; Box jellyfish

Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation - Research Grant

Does leaving an untreated box jellyfish tentacle on a victim increase the amount of venom delivered?

Indicative Funding
$8,012 over 1 year
Summary
We wish to determine if the number of stinging organelles discharging from tentacles of the box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri actually increases with time after the tentacles come in contact with the envenomed victim. If they do not, then this adds further weight to the suggested first aid advice of NOT using vinegar in box jellyfish and Irukandji stings.
Investigators
Jamie Seymour (Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine)
Keywords
vinegar; Box jellyfish; First Aid

Ecological Society of Australia - Student Research Grant

Bleaching tolerance and recovery of Anemonia sp. to thermal and saline stress

Indicative Funding
$1,500
Summary
Corals and sea anemones that live within shallow and intertidal habitats are continually exposed to dynamic and often significant fluctuations in environmental conditions. As both temperature and salinity each have the capacity to result in bleaching stress of Anthozoans individually, it is important to understand how shallow and intertidal Anthozoans may respond when these stressors are combined.This study aims to examine the tolerance and recovery of anemones spp., a small tropical sea anemone, to bleaching.
Investigators
Katrina Kaposi, Jamie Seymour and Robert Courtney (College of Business, Law & Governance and Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine)
Keywords
Anemonia sp (Actinaria); Bleaching; Symbiodinium spp

Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation - Research Grant

Elucidating previously undiscovered stinging organelles in the Irukandji jellyfish Carukia barnesi

Indicative Funding
$5,000 over 1 year
Summary
Nematocysts are stinging organelles found in jellyfish that contain and inject their venom. From the highly venomous irukandji jellyfish Carukia barnesi, a previously undiscovered type of nematocyst has been found. We seek to use high magnification and fluorescent microscopy to determine the nature of this new nematocyst, to further understand the venom ecology of this lethal jellyfish.
Investigators
Emily O'Hara, Jamie Seymour and Jen Whan (Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine and Research Infrastructure)
Keywords
Irukandji; Nematocysts; Box jellyfish
Supervision

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current
  • The Structure and Function of Ichthyocrinotoxins in Stone Fish and it's possible Application as an Anti-Helminth Treatment (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
  • Venomic Ecology in Cubozoans (Box Jellyfish) (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
  • Impacts of bleaching on the venom ecology of a tropical cnidarian (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
Completed
Data

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit Research Data Australia.

Collaboration

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.

  • 5+ collaborations
  • 4 collaborations
  • 3 collaborations
  • 2 collaborations
  • 1 collaboration
  • Indicates the Tropics (Torrid Zone)

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Email
Location
  • E1.102P, Health & Sciences (Cairns campus)
Advisory Accreditation
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