We are developing broad new skills in analytical, conceptual, and applied techniques for conducting high impact research, and leading to significant advances, in the disciplines of: (i) global change biology; (ii) invasive species pest management; (iii) illegal wildlife trade; and (iv) the prioritisation of evidence-based biosecurity decision making. In all our research we endeavour to present and translate our results in exciting and innovative ways. In this regard, we collaborate with local and national government environment and biosecurity agencies, non-government conservation organisations, and international wildlife enforcement agencies.
We are currently experiencing a sixth mass-extinction event, the Anthropocene. We are interested in the role of alien species as drivers of recent extinctions, and we explore the ecological changes experienced by a range of species and communities, which are heavily influenced by ongoing anthropogenic change.
Invasive pests and diseases are among the greatest threats to global biodiversity and constitute an unprecedented form of human-induced global change. We are working to promote evidence-based solutions to the management of invasive species, and provide new state-of-the-art technological solutions to their surveillance and control.
Wildlife trade is a multi-billion-dollar business, with hundreds of millions of live specimens and commodities being traded every year. We are applying novel statistical and mathematical approaches to evaluate the legal and illegal trade in species, and working with enforcement agencies to assist in combatting illicit transnational wildlife crime.
Regional economies depend heavily on tourism and trade, which carry unavoidable risks for the introduction of new pests and diseases. We are constructing innovative new pathway tools and surveillance techniques for estimating the risk of future incursions across a broad range of emerging invasive pests and diseases.
