“I’m trying to understand how we can use or manipulate herbivore foraging behaviour just using plant odour rather than having to use fences or shooting or all these quite abrasive control methods.”

In this episode of our new podcast, Ecology Matters, meet University of Sydney PhD candidate Patt Finnerty.

With his supervisors, Patt was among the first to show that mammalian herbivores like the swamp wallaby and the African elephant, use smell to find and choose between food options. Now, Patt is looking at whether introducing the smell of less-favoured or unpalatable plants can be used to deter herbivores from other, high-value plants. Patt’s research aims to provide alternatives to lethal control or fencing for land managers wishing to protect ecologically or economically valuable plants from browsing damage.

Patt was awarded the 2021 Jill Landsberg Trust Fund Scholarship in recognition of his excellent research.

Over the next few weeks, meet ecologists from around Australia, discover more about their work, what their hopes and fears are for the future of our natural world, and why they think that ecology matters. We’ll be releasing one episode each week until September!

Find Ecology Matters wherever you get your podcasts or play it directly from our website.