ESA2024 ECE Mentor Booth – Meet the Mentors

(Listed alphabetically, by surname)

Prof Andy Bennett

Andy an integrative ecologist who has worked in the university sector for over three decades, including in Australia and Europe.

Dr Christina Birnbaum

Christina is lecturer in terrestrial ecology at the University of Southern Queensland and lead-convenor of ESA’s Plant-soil Ecology Special Interest Network.

Dr Holly Bradley

Holly is a Research Fellow at Curtin University with a research background in conserving threatened and culturally significant fauna within a mining context.

Dr Patt Finnerty

Patt is this years ESA ‘Next Generation Ecologist’ winner. Patt currently works at USYD as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with his research focusing on species reintroduction and ‘rewilding’ efforts in remote and urban Australian setting.

Dr Caitlyn Forster

Caitlyn is an Associate Lecturer at Sydney University, and Superstar of STEM. Her research includes pollination ecology, citizen science and entomological education.

A/Prof Hedley Grantham

I have a joint position as Chief Scientist at Bush Heritage Australia and as an academic within the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW. Part of this role is also Director (research) at Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station. I obtained my Ph.D at the University of Queensland (UQ) on conservation planning in dynamic systems. After a joint post-doctoral fellowship with UQ and The Nature Conservancy focussed on supporting the systematic planning and zoning of a Marine Protected Area network in Raja Ampat Indonesia, I managed to work for international conservation NGOs, Conservation International and Wildlife Conservation Society. I led conservation planning programs and projects in marine and terrestrial areas across 30+ countries over the past 15 years.

Dr Erin Hahn

Erin, a CSIRO Research Scientist, leads airborne eDNA projects and specializes in genomic data from historic specimens. She’s a passionate science communicator and STEM advocate

A/Prof John Hunter

John Hunter is an Associate Professor in landscape ecology at the University of New England, with major interests in vegetation classification, mapping and functional traits.

Lincoln Kern

Lincoln was trained in botany and environmental science Antioch University in Ohio USA and Deakin University in Melbourne and has been working in the environmental field in Victoria on a full-time basis since 1991 including time with the Merri Creek Management Committee, the National Trust Save the Bush Program and Greening Australia Victoria. Lincoln has run Practical Ecology Pty. Ltd. since 1993, offering an integrated ecological restoration contracting and consulting service for managers of native vegetation and developers as required. He provides realistic land management advice because of extensive experience with costing, planning and doing the required physical works and implementing the processes of reconciling development and nature conservation objectives with staff and the public.

Dr Holly Kirk

Holly is an ARC Industry Fellow at RMIT University, she collaborates closely with industry and government on applied research to inform urban nature conservation.

Dr Gabrielle Lebbink

Gabrielle is an ECR specialising in vegetation ecology and with experience in both academic and industry roles. Currently Gabrielle is working for the NT Government as an Ecological Data Analyst.

Dr Sam Lloyd

Sam is Principal Scientist with Healthy Land and Water (the regional Natural Resource Management body for south-east Qld), and an author. Sam has over two-decades experience in research, education and management in ecology, bushfire and NRM. Sam recently published her first children’s book, Alight: A Story of Fire and Nature (CSIRO Publishing).

A/Prof John Morgan

John is a plant ecologist who has a strong commitment to delivering evidence-based solutions for environmental issues via engagement with government policy.

Dr Heather Neilly

Heather is a landscape ecologist with a particular interest in arid zone restoration. She is currently an ARC Early Career Industry Fellow at Federation University, exploring the best ways to restore functional and resilient Eucalyptus mallee woodlands. Heather has strong industry connections, previously working as an ecologist in mining, consulting, for conservation NGOs and local council. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Adelaide (2001-2005) and PhD at James Cook University in Townsville (2014-2018). Heather lives in Renmark, SA with her husband, three daughters and two dogs.

Dr Marissa Parrott

Marissa, Senior Conservation Biologist at Zoos Victoria, works to research and recover threatened species in wild populations, and captive breeding and reintroduction programs.

Dr Cara Penton

Cara holds a hybrid role at Charles Darwin University and Warddeken Land Management, specializing in cross-cultural ecological monitoring and cybernetics in West Arnhem.

Prof Euan Ritchie

Euan’s work has a strong focus on the significance of species interactions and ecological functions of Australian mammals, fire, invasive species, and ecosystem management. This research is aimed at more effective environmental policy, management actions, and biodiversity conservation. Euan is also the President of the Australian Mammal Society, a Councillor within the Biodiversity Council, and a passionate and prolific science communicator

Dr Natasha Robinson

Natasha is Principal Scientist Conservation for NSW DCCEEW. Her research includes fire ecology, reintroduction biology and more recently, arboreal marsupials and arid zone ecology.

Dr Shaina Russell

Shaina is a Senior Scientist for NSW DCCEEW. Shaina’s research includes cross-cultural ecology and more recently arid zone ecology

Dr Caragh Threlfall

Caragh is an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University. Her research interests include urban ecology & biodiversity, with a particular focus on urban greening and habitat restoration approaches for native wildlife.

Prof Peter Vesk

Peter is a quantitative ecologist who integrates fundamental and applied research, working mainly with plants. A clear challenge in plant ecology is how to generalise understanding, how to move beyond treating every study and every species as a special case. Research in Peter’s group mainly falls in two fields: (a) the analysis of plant functional traits and types and their generality; (b) predicting, planning and measuring the outcomes of vegetation conservation, management and landscape restoration. Most of the work includes developing and applying conceptual and quantitative ecological models appropriate to the problem at hand. eter completed undergraduate and Masters at U Sydney, a PhD at Macquarie, a postdoc at Monash, before joining Univ Melbourne as a lecturer in 2005, where he now is a Professor.