Professor John Rolfe will be one of the directors for the research hub.Central Queensland University (CQU) will share in a $7 million investment in a research hub for Environmental Management and Water Quality.

The research hub, funded by the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) Program, is being led by the Australian National University, with other partners including the University of New South Wales, University of Western Australia, Griffith University and CQU.

Professor John Rolfe is leading the CQU component and will be one of the directors of the research hub. Key CQU staff in the program will include Dr Jill Windle in the Centre for Environmental Management.

Professor Rolfe said CQU will receive more than $600,000 to allow resource economists in CQU's Centre for Environmental Management to develop 2 main programs over the next 3 years.

The first will be a major study of the Great Barrier Reef to help identify public values for reef protection. This will help governments and community bodies to identify major funding priorities.

The second program will help to assess the design of incentive programs with farmers that are aimed at reducing water quality impacts from agriculture. Work will be undertaken with regional groups to identify how community priorities can be better incorporated into the way that incentive programs are designed and managed.

The CERF program will also support additional PhD students and visiting fellows. Professor Peter Boxall (Alberta, Canada) and Professor Riccardo Scarpa (Waikato, New Zealand) will be the first 2 visitors to CQU under the program.