 Today the island is divided into three sections - the resort, research station and National Park.The origins of the research station exist within the Great Barrier Reef Committee, which was established in 1922 by UQ's first Professor of Geology, Henry C. Richards and Sir Matthew Nathan, then Governor of Queensland.Nathan, Richards and a group of like minded academics and politicians from Australia and overseas, wanted to promote the need for original research, debate and exploration of the Great Barrier Reef within politics, the university and scientific community and in newspapers and public addresses.