Cluster Leads
Send an email to mbi_speciesecosystems@lists.unimelb.edu.au
Fill out our form to register to the Species and Ecosystems cluster.
Researchers in this cluster
Find profiles, areas of interest and contact details.
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Name Interests Dr Joe Greet, Senior Research Fellow (Wetland Plant Ecologist) Traditional Owner Engagement, Plant Life Histories, Wetland Plants, Ecology, Riparian Vegetation, Restoration, Environmental Flows, Feral Animal Management, Natural Flow Regime Cayn Borthwick Dr Benjamin Wagner (Research Fellow, Forest Resilience and Adaptation) Landscape ecology, wildlife conservation, greater glider, habitat distribution modelling, forest ecology, remote sensing, machine learning, statistical modelling, habitat distribution modelling Terry Walshe Risk, uncertainty, decision making, 4101 climate change impacts and adaptation, A/Prof Robyn Schofield Atmospheric Chemistry, AIRBOX, Polar and Tropical processes, Aerosols and Clouds, Air Quality, Lung Health, Airborne Transmission, Energy, Environmental Science A/Prof Neil Young Parasitology, Genomics, Bioinformatics, Molecular evolution, Transcriptomics, biological sciences, genetics, life sciences & biomedicine Dr John Wilkins History & philosophy of science, philosophy and religious studies, life sciences & biomedicine, biology Dr Matt Swan ecological applications, environmental sciences & ecology, ecology, climate change impacts and adaptation Alexander Idnurm Mendelian genetics and mating in fungi, Oilseed brassicas and human pathogens, science & technology, genetics, infectious diseases, microbiology, biological sciences Professor Peter Vesk Plant ecology, Plant functional traits, Native vegetation management, Eucalypt forests & woodlands, Biodiversity & conservation, Environmental sciences, Ecological modelling, Ecological statistics, Ecological restoration Professor Margaret Mayfield Ecology, Diversity, Plants, Pollination, Coexistence, Theory, Invasive species, Restoration, Conservation Professor Angus Webb Environmental Flows, Populations, Landscapes, Environmental Analysis, Bayesian Modelling, science & technology, physical sciences, environmental sciences, life sciences & biomedicine Dr Billy Geary Quantitative Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation, Fire Ecology, Ecological Modelling, Ecosystem Management, Biodiversity Policy, Invasive Species, Decision Science, Conservation Planning Dr Ashley Dungan microbial ecology, bacteria, symbiosis, microbiome engineering Dr Ahmet Beyatli Phytochemical and biological activities of different seaweeds and medicinal plants A/Professor Graeme Coulson Kangaroo, behaviour, management, ecology, biological sciences, science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, zoology, ecology Dr Kendall Jones Conservation biology, conservation planning, climate change Joanne Birch biological sciences, science & technology, evolutionary biology, plant sciences, genetics KaYi Ling Venture Creator at the University of Melbourne's Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre (MEC) Yung En Chee science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, environmental sciences, environmental sciences & ecology, ecology, climate change impacts and adaptation, environmental management, biodiversity & conservation, biodiversity conservation Dr Jodie Valpied Environmental psychology, Biodiversity & ecology, Personality psychology, Individual differences within species, Openness to experience, Platypus conservation, Anna Farago Visual Art and Design Education, A/r/tography, Teacher Education, Community Based Art Education, Socially Engaged Art Practice, Eportfolios teacher education, pebblepad, educational technology and computing Dr Tiffany Kosch Chytridiomycosis, Conservation Genomics, Targeted Genetic Intervention, Synthetic Biology, Amphibian Genomics, Genetic Management of Threatened Species, Immunogenetics, Engineering Resilience, Disease Ecology Nazia Akram Zoology, molecular biology, amphibian disease ecology Kashmini Sumanasekera Wildlife conservation, wild animal health Tharaka Liyanage Wildlife health and conservation, zoonotic diseases, Asian elephant medicine and management Sam Girvan Native mammals, habitat refuges Dr Natalie Briscoe Biological sciences, ecology, climate change impacts and adaptation, life sciences and biomedicine Kevin Newman Quantitative and applied ecology A/Professor Jasmin Hufschmid Epidemiology, disease ecology, conservation, parasitology, ecotoxicology, flurosis A/Professor John Morrongiello River regulation, loca, adaptation, fish, biological response, fishery induced evolution Siri Hayes Photography Dr Helena Bender Wildlife management, animal behaviour, sonic deterrence, emergence, complexity science, sustainability Ella Plumanns Pouton Plant ecology, fire ecology, seed ecology, biodiversity conservation Lee Skerratt Wildlife health, emerging infectious diseases, Chytridiomycosis, One Health, Rewilding, Immunology, Targeted Genetic Intervention, Immunology Dr Rebecca Webb Chytridiomycosis, Virulence, Amphibian Dr Malyon Bimler Biological sciences, environmental sciences, coexistence, science & technology Dr Patricia Menendez Statistics, Mathematics, Time Series, Smoothing Methods, data science, applied statistics Dr Vanessa Ferdinand behavioral and social science, science & technology, psychology Zheyu Chen Taxonomy and systematics of land and freshwater snails; History of Chinese Zoology A/Professor Margaret Ayre community-based, catchment management, science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, management A/Professor Suzie Reichman PFAS, soil invertebrates, environmental risk assessment, Earthworm, terrestrial ecotoxicology, metals, Microplastics, soil chemistry Dr Panos Loukopoulos pathology, oncology, One Health, osteosarcoma, metabolomics, diagnostic investigation Heber Dias de Oliveira Root microbe interactions, symbionts to parasites Dr Alexis Pang Precision agriculture, soil science, sensors, Artificial Intelligence, spatial science, learning sciences Dr Tina Parkhurst biological sciences, environmental sciences, ecology, science & technology, climate change impacts and adaptation, Life on Land Dr Nicole Rafferty Community Ecology, Pollination Ecology, Phenology, Climate Change, biological sciences, Ecology Professor Kirsten Parris Urban systems, Bioacoustics and animal communication, Amphibians, science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, environmental sciences Zoë Wilson Agriculture Dr Georgia Garrard Environmental sciences, science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, climate change impacts and adaptation, Ecology Nathan Nguyen Zoology, ecology Saoirse Kelleher species distribution modelling, conservation technology, remote sensing, bioacoustics Alexander Peska marine and coastal science, wildlife ecology, remote sensing Dr Qingting Liao Conservation and biodiversity Dr Mahima Kalla MedTech, Poetic Inquiry / Poetic Representation, Digital Health Equity, co-design, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Climate Action A/Professor Amy Hahs Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture, life sciences & biomedicine, environmental sciences & ecology, climate change impacts and adaptation Dr Paul Nabity Plant Insect interactions, Pest Resistance, Eco-physiology, Evolution, Gall formation Dr Andy Bennett veterinary science Dr David Wilkinson science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, environmental sciences & ecology, biological sciences, multidisciplinary sciences Dr Tomas Poblete Machine Learning, Hyperspectral Imaging, Thermal Imaging, Biotic Stress Detection, Remote Sensing, Radiative Transfer Modelling, Ainslie Macdonald Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences, animal production, life on land, climate action, agriculture, dairy & animal science, pharmacokinetics, Dr Melissa Pineda Pinto Justice, Urban Nature, City planning & Design, Critical geography, Social-ecological systems, sustainable cities and communities, science & technology, environmental sciences & ecology Shankar Adhikari Forest ecosystem services, climate change adaptation, forest management, silviculture A/Professor Martin Tomko Spatial communication, retail analytics, cyber-physical-social systems, spatial recommender systems, annotation, search and retrieval, and ranking of spatially related data A/Professor Luba Volkova Forest biomass, net primary productivity, wildfire, planned burning emission, inventory, emission factors, FREL Dr Emma Hudgins Invasive Species, Conservation Decisions, Ecological Modelling, Species distributions, Economic Impact, Urban Trees, Spatial Ecology Lara Skerratt Anthropology, governance of the ocean commons Dr Anja Skroblin Fire ecology, rangelands management, environmental sciences, life on land, climate change impacts and adaptation, environmental management, science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine Iris Hickman Plant ecology, botany James Nolan Zoology, biological and biomolecular science Ellen Hodgson Film, Indigenous knowledge Nande Notyalwa Ecosystem ecology, botany, biological conservation, Invasive alien species, fire ecology, fragmentation, population ecology, community ecology Elliot Gould Quantitative and applied ecology Andrew Irvin Nissology, Creative Practice, Climate Change, Mobility, Sustainability, Science Fiction, Media Studies, Media Production, Conservation Lakshmi Bala Bioengineering Dr August Hao Science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, ecology, environmental sciences & ecology, biological sciences, forecasts, platform, biodiversity conservation, niche Tamar Orly Mycology Professor Natalie King Curator, Contemporary Art, Photography Juliet Sefton Sea-level change, paleoenvironments, coastal change, sedimentology, quaternary science, mangroves, saltmarshes, geochemistry, geochronology Dr Janelle Evans Performance art, Australian contemporary art, social sciences, education, scientific disciplines, Michael Traurig Environmental sciences, environmental management, change impacts and adaptation, life on land, reef characterisations, saccostrea, marine invertebrates, functional diversity, ecology A/Professor Matthew Champion Material Culture, Affect & Emotions, Low Countries, Sound Studies, Time, Medieval and Early Modern Studies Kylie Quinn Immunology, vaccines, ageing Dr Miranda Stanyon Affect & emotions, Romanticism, long eighteenth century, aesthetics, sound studies, comparative literature, reception theory, Anglo-German literature, sublime Hongyi Liu Urban horticulture Dr Joshua Thia Biological sciences, science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, genetics, human genome, environmental sciences & ecology Dr Zahra F Islam Microbiology, Microbial ecology, Microbial physiology, Bacteria, Plant-bacteria interactions, Soil microbiology, Extremophiles, Bacterial metabolism, Ecology Dr Alistair Legione Infectious laryngotracheitis virus, mycoplasma, Koala retrovirus, Chlamydia pecorum, waterfowl, Nanopore sequencing, science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine Ben Henley Water resources, palaeoclimatology, hydrology, climate change, climate variability, earth sciences, climate action, science & technology, physical sciences Dr Helen L Hayden Soil biology, microbial ecology, soil science, agricultural microbiomes, soil microbes, soil health, soilborne diseases, agronomy, ecology Luping Zhang Ecology Dr Yen-Tzu Fan Bioenvironmental systems Dr Belinda van Heerwaarden Phenotypic plasticity, fertility thermal limits, climate change, endosymbionts, genetics Dr Bonnie Wintle Science and technology, ecology, environmental sciences
About the cluster
The species and ecosystems cluster brings together academics and researchers from across the university whose research centres on the impacts and preservation of species and ecosystems.
The areas of focus of the cluster include but are not limited to:
- Technical & science solutions
- Culturally significant species
- Indicators, monitoring & remote sensing
- Conservation communication & education
- Partnerships for conservation
- Ethics and politics of conservation and ‘species management’
- Water quality, microplastics and pollution
- science communication
- Biodiversity and pathogens
- Trade and law
Research projects
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Creating the Victorian Biodiversity Index
Partnering with DEECA to understand customer engagement with nature and climate, helping strengthen the bank’s nature‑positive leadership.
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Building capacity and conserving Bogong moths (deberra)
The Bogong moth is central to a collaboration uniting Traditional Knowledge and Western science to protect a culturally and ecologically vital species.
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Testing habitat additions to save frogs from pandemic disease
Testing whether thermal hotspots and salty pools can act as disease refuges, providing evidence to guide conservation actions by land managers across the state.
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Dynamic spatio-temporal modelling of chytridiomycosis in frogs
Using epidemiological models informed by experimental estimates of chytridiomycosis across different microclimates.