Researcher biography

The actions of people just like you and me have caused a massive biodiversity crisis, pushing many species to the brink of extinction and beyond. Doing something about this is one of the most important and urgent problems globally. I am interested in understanding how people have affected the natural world around them, and how some of their destructive effects can best be reversed. On the flip side, I am also keen to understand whether people can benefit positively from experiences of biodiversity.

To answer these questions I work on pure and applied topics in biodiversity and conservation, spanning the fields of biogeography, conservation planning, conservation psychology and urban ecology. Much of my work is interdisciplinary, focusing on the interactions between people and nature, how these can be enhanced, and how these relationships can be shaped to converge on coherent solutions to the biodiversity crisis. Recent research topics include predicting the consequences of urbanization on biodiversity and human quality of life in south-east Queensland, investigating patterns of contagion in global habitat destruction, working out how best to expand Australia’s protected area system, and achieving the conservation of migratory shorebird populations.