Payal Bal - The University of Queensland
Twitter: @payalbal
I was born in the south of India but spent most of my life in North India. I grew up in Chandigarh, a city made up of retired army officers, putting about on golf courses and middle-class families constantly dropping off and picking up kids from school. It was a small city where everyone knew everyone else and you could see the lower Himalayas (the Shivaliks) on a clear day from almost anywhere in the city.
I get motivated by interesting people, music, the arts, art deco, Gerald Durrell, my dad’s National Geographic magazines and unconventional ideas. But discussing ideas with friends over beer beats all!
I love walking. And coding, whatever little I know of it. I also enjoy experiencing the enormity of things, mountains in particular. And I have to admit, although I don’t think my PhD will do anything of note for conservation, I do love it…on some days. Partly, because I enjoy being one of a larger group of thinkers and scientists. One of the music acts I really enjoyed was a band from Melbourne, called the Graveyard train. A very raw, industrial-meets-pirate sound and a very good live performance! The other one of note over the last year was a Sufi-music festival I went to in Bangalore (south India) last year. I don’t think I have a favourite Australian animal. Favourite Australian landscape on the other hand, from the little I have seen, is the Purnululu National Park in Western Australia. SPEC.TA.CU.LAR!
Twitter: @payalbal
I was born in the south of India but spent most of my life in North India. I grew up in Chandigarh, a city made up of retired army officers, putting about on golf courses and middle-class families constantly dropping off and picking up kids from school. It was a small city where everyone knew everyone else and you could see the lower Himalayas (the Shivaliks) on a clear day from almost anywhere in the city.
I get motivated by interesting people, music, the arts, art deco, Gerald Durrell, my dad’s National Geographic magazines and unconventional ideas. But discussing ideas with friends over beer beats all!
I love walking. And coding, whatever little I know of it. I also enjoy experiencing the enormity of things, mountains in particular. And I have to admit, although I don’t think my PhD will do anything of note for conservation, I do love it…on some days. Partly, because I enjoy being one of a larger group of thinkers and scientists. One of the music acts I really enjoyed was a band from Melbourne, called the Graveyard train. A very raw, industrial-meets-pirate sound and a very good live performance! The other one of note over the last year was a Sufi-music festival I went to in Bangalore (south India) last year. I don’t think I have a favourite Australian animal. Favourite Australian landscape on the other hand, from the little I have seen, is the Purnululu National Park in Western Australia. SPEC.TA.CU.LAR!
Nathalie Butt - The University of Queensland
Research motivations: understanding the interaction of climate/climate change and biodiversity – both in terms of how plant/forest distributions are determined by climate, and how land cover change (deforestation/land clearing), affects local and regional climate through changes to radiation budgets and hydrology. Since gaining my doctorate from Oxford University, based on Amazonian lowland forests, I have worked on long-term forest ecology plots in the global Smithsonian Institute programme, and for the Earthwatch Regional Climate Centre Programme, which involved citizen scientists in the collection of ecological monitoring data. Marine turtle ecology and biogeography and species distribution modelling are other areas of interest.
Born in: Cheltenham, UK (but also lived and grew up in Asia and Australia).
Favourite animal: no, but jacaranda is my favourite tree. Moreton Bay figs are pretty awesome too. I quite like bats, because they hang out in trees.
Something I love doing: observing the night sky. Is it super-nerdy to have a favourite nebula? (it’s M42).
Research motivations: understanding the interaction of climate/climate change and biodiversity – both in terms of how plant/forest distributions are determined by climate, and how land cover change (deforestation/land clearing), affects local and regional climate through changes to radiation budgets and hydrology. Since gaining my doctorate from Oxford University, based on Amazonian lowland forests, I have worked on long-term forest ecology plots in the global Smithsonian Institute programme, and for the Earthwatch Regional Climate Centre Programme, which involved citizen scientists in the collection of ecological monitoring data. Marine turtle ecology and biogeography and species distribution modelling are other areas of interest.
Born in: Cheltenham, UK (but also lived and grew up in Asia and Australia).
Favourite animal: no, but jacaranda is my favourite tree. Moreton Bay figs are pretty awesome too. I quite like bats, because they hang out in trees.
Something I love doing: observing the night sky. Is it super-nerdy to have a favourite nebula? (it’s M42).
Colleen Corrigan - The University of Queensland
Colleen is a biologist by training whose applied work and research crosses into the social sciences and humanities. Since 2007, she has been a Senior Programme Officer at the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, UK. She is currently based in Brisbane, Australia, working toward her doctorate in international policy support for conservation while continuing to advise on projects for UNEP-WCMC. She has previously worked for several branches of the US Federal Government including the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. She was a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow on marine policy in Washington DC before directing an international NGO learning network on marine protected areas at The Nature Conservancy.
In 2009, she was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she spent five months in residence learning and applying leadership skills while also developing a regional collaborative approach for protection of marine areas of international significance, which influenced further work by the Convention on Biological Diversity. She returned to the East West Center as a visiting lecturer in environmental leadership in 2012.
Colleen is certified in group facilitation skills and has consulted as a facilitator for the UN Development Programme’s Equator Initiative as well as Germany’s Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Her first formal mentor experience took place in high school. She served as a coach to others when she taught in Belize for two years following college and since then has found working with others to build their capacities incredibly rewarding.
Colleen is a biologist by training whose applied work and research crosses into the social sciences and humanities. Since 2007, she has been a Senior Programme Officer at the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, UK. She is currently based in Brisbane, Australia, working toward her doctorate in international policy support for conservation while continuing to advise on projects for UNEP-WCMC. She has previously worked for several branches of the US Federal Government including the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. She was a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow on marine policy in Washington DC before directing an international NGO learning network on marine protected areas at The Nature Conservancy.
In 2009, she was an Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she spent five months in residence learning and applying leadership skills while also developing a regional collaborative approach for protection of marine areas of international significance, which influenced further work by the Convention on Biological Diversity. She returned to the East West Center as a visiting lecturer in environmental leadership in 2012.
Colleen is certified in group facilitation skills and has consulted as a facilitator for the UN Development Programme’s Equator Initiative as well as Germany’s Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Her first formal mentor experience took place in high school. She served as a coach to others when she taught in Belize for two years following college and since then has found working with others to build their capacities incredibly rewarding.
Martina Di Fonzo - The University of Queensland
Twitter: @MartinaDFonzo
I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but I am also Italian, and spent most of childhood living in South East Asia due to my parent's work. I joined the CEED node at the University of Queensland in October 2012, after completing a PhD at Imperial College London and the Institute of Zoology (also in London). My PhD was focussed on analysing distinctions in wildlife population decline-trajectories to infer the severity and nature of their threatening processes. Since starting my postdoc at UQ, I have been mainly working on developing decision frameworks for prioritising the conservation of threatened species based on cost-effectiveness.
I feel most motivated when I am working with conservation practitioners or policy-makers, on projects that can make a difference on the ground.
I love travelling to new places and experiencing different cultures. I also very much enjoy going to Art exhibitions whenever I get the chance. I recently discovered the existence of the pygmy possum, which has now become my favourite Australian animal.
Twitter: @MartinaDFonzo
I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but I am also Italian, and spent most of childhood living in South East Asia due to my parent's work. I joined the CEED node at the University of Queensland in October 2012, after completing a PhD at Imperial College London and the Institute of Zoology (also in London). My PhD was focussed on analysing distinctions in wildlife population decline-trajectories to infer the severity and nature of their threatening processes. Since starting my postdoc at UQ, I have been mainly working on developing decision frameworks for prioritising the conservation of threatened species based on cost-effectiveness.
I feel most motivated when I am working with conservation practitioners or policy-makers, on projects that can make a difference on the ground.
I love travelling to new places and experiencing different cultures. I also very much enjoy going to Art exhibitions whenever I get the chance. I recently discovered the existence of the pygmy possum, which has now become my favourite Australian animal.
Megan Evans - The Australian National University
Twitter: @megcevans
I’m an interdisciplinary scientist with a broad focus on environmental policy and economics, and a particular interest in the role of economic policy instruments in biodiversity conservation. I was born and bred in Brisbane, Australia, where I completed degrees in ecology and mathematics from the University of Queensland, and worked as a researcher at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions until 2012. I’m now based at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University in Canberra, where I’m in the process of morphing from a quantitative ecologist/conservation planner to a (pseudo?) social scientist. It’s this rather terrifying yet exciting process that’s made me passionate about interdisciplinarity in conservation science. My PhD research aims gain an understanding of what the key barriers and enablers are to achieving effective, efficient and equitable biodiversity offset policy.
Twitter: @megcevans
I’m an interdisciplinary scientist with a broad focus on environmental policy and economics, and a particular interest in the role of economic policy instruments in biodiversity conservation. I was born and bred in Brisbane, Australia, where I completed degrees in ecology and mathematics from the University of Queensland, and worked as a researcher at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions until 2012. I’m now based at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University in Canberra, where I’m in the process of morphing from a quantitative ecologist/conservation planner to a (pseudo?) social scientist. It’s this rather terrifying yet exciting process that’s made me passionate about interdisciplinarity in conservation science. My PhD research aims gain an understanding of what the key barriers and enablers are to achieving effective, efficient and equitable biodiversity offset policy.
Claire Foster - The Australian National University
Twitter: @claireNfoster
I’ve always been fascinated by the complexity of nature, and my research at ANU now focusses on the role of species interactions in maintaining ecosystem structure and function. While I love doing research I also have a strong interest in education and see a career in applied conservation biology as a way of combining these interests.
I was born in Melbourne, but grew up on the outskirts of Perth. Growing up my favourite animal was the wombat and after seeing 1000s of dead ones driving to and from my field site I finally saw my first live, wild wombat earlier this year. I can’t say I have a favourite animal anymore (although the Southern pygmy spiny-tailed skink would come pretty close). I love being active and outdoors and my weekends are pretty well filled up with camping, skiing and playing ultimate Frisbee.
Twitter: @claireNfoster
I’ve always been fascinated by the complexity of nature, and my research at ANU now focusses on the role of species interactions in maintaining ecosystem structure and function. While I love doing research I also have a strong interest in education and see a career in applied conservation biology as a way of combining these interests.
I was born in Melbourne, but grew up on the outskirts of Perth. Growing up my favourite animal was the wombat and after seeing 1000s of dead ones driving to and from my field site I finally saw my first live, wild wombat earlier this year. I can’t say I have a favourite animal anymore (although the Southern pygmy spiny-tailed skink would come pretty close). I love being active and outdoors and my weekends are pretty well filled up with camping, skiing and playing ultimate Frisbee.
Luke Kelly - The University of Melbourne
Twitter: @luketkelly
I’m a Research Fellow in the Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group, The University of Melbourne. I lead research projects on biodiversity responses to fire regimes, habitat fragmentation and extinction risk, and connectivity and island biogeography. My work at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions is focused on achieving better conservation outcomes by more effectively linking ecological models and formal decision frameworks.
I’m motivated by the fascinating arid, temperate and tropical ecosystems I work in, and by the great people I get to work with from around the world. I’m enthusiastic about participating in the ARC CEED leadership training program because strong leadership is needed to combat global environmental problems and biodiversity decline.
As I write this I’m listening to ‘Lullaby Renditions of Silverchair’ with my baby daughter. It’s being played on a xylophone and it’s surprisingly good. I’ve actually discovered that she sleeps better with loud music so my partner and I enjoy taking her to live pub gigs most weeks. Best show I’ve been to recently was probably Canadian punk band Propagandhi who blasted an energetic and fast-paced set in Melbourne a few months ago.
I know this is what everyone always says but my favourite animal is Ningaui yvonneae.
Twitter: @luketkelly
I’m a Research Fellow in the Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group, The University of Melbourne. I lead research projects on biodiversity responses to fire regimes, habitat fragmentation and extinction risk, and connectivity and island biogeography. My work at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions is focused on achieving better conservation outcomes by more effectively linking ecological models and formal decision frameworks.
I’m motivated by the fascinating arid, temperate and tropical ecosystems I work in, and by the great people I get to work with from around the world. I’m enthusiastic about participating in the ARC CEED leadership training program because strong leadership is needed to combat global environmental problems and biodiversity decline.
As I write this I’m listening to ‘Lullaby Renditions of Silverchair’ with my baby daughter. It’s being played on a xylophone and it’s surprisingly good. I’ve actually discovered that she sleeps better with loud music so my partner and I enjoy taking her to live pub gigs most weeks. Best show I’ve been to recently was probably Canadian punk band Propagandhi who blasted an energetic and fast-paced set in Melbourne a few months ago.
I know this is what everyone always says but my favourite animal is Ningaui yvonneae.
Ramona Maggini - The University of Queensland
I am from Switzerland, a small yet very diversified country with four national languages and as many cultural regions. I was born and grew up in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, but then moved to the French speaking part in order to attend university for my biological studies, and finally spent three years working in the German speaking part before coming to Australia. During my master and PhD at University of Lausanne I specialized in species distribution modelling, a technique that I have applied to different species and communities, at different scales and in different countries along the years and through different projects. One common goal though: support decision making in conservation and climate change adaptation, with a particular emphasis on threatened species. Conservation of species and natural habitats, and more generally the preservation of our biodiversity, has always been my primary focus, professionally, academically and personally.
On a more personal note I can say that I love travelling and discover new horizons. My favourite country so far is Australia under its myriad of facets and its variety of animal and plant species. I am moved by the beauty of the Jacaranda and Frangipani tree flowers, and fascinated by the evolutionary paths that lead to kangaroos, koalas, bilbies, platypuses and echidnas.
I am from Switzerland, a small yet very diversified country with four national languages and as many cultural regions. I was born and grew up in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, but then moved to the French speaking part in order to attend university for my biological studies, and finally spent three years working in the German speaking part before coming to Australia. During my master and PhD at University of Lausanne I specialized in species distribution modelling, a technique that I have applied to different species and communities, at different scales and in different countries along the years and through different projects. One common goal though: support decision making in conservation and climate change adaptation, with a particular emphasis on threatened species. Conservation of species and natural habitats, and more generally the preservation of our biodiversity, has always been my primary focus, professionally, academically and personally.
On a more personal note I can say that I love travelling and discover new horizons. My favourite country so far is Australia under its myriad of facets and its variety of animal and plant species. I am moved by the beauty of the Jacaranda and Frangipani tree flowers, and fascinated by the evolutionary paths that lead to kangaroos, koalas, bilbies, platypuses and echidnas.
Morena Mills - The University of Queensland
Twitter: @MorenaMills
Your place/country of birth: Sao Paulo, Brazil
What motivates you: Thinking I can change something and improve the natural environment or other people’s lives. I’d like my research to inform government policies, NGO strategies or collective action.
Something you love doing: I love coffee, great conservations, finishing things, surfing and music.
One of the best musical acts you’ve seen or heard in the past 2 years: So many, hard to choose.
Favourite Australian animal: Pretty-faced wallaby.
Twitter: @MorenaMills
Your place/country of birth: Sao Paulo, Brazil
What motivates you: Thinking I can change something and improve the natural environment or other people’s lives. I’d like my research to inform government policies, NGO strategies or collective action.
Something you love doing: I love coffee, great conservations, finishing things, surfing and music.
One of the best musical acts you’ve seen or heard in the past 2 years: So many, hard to choose.
Favourite Australian animal: Pretty-faced wallaby.
Matthew Mitchell - The University of Queensland
Twitter: @MGEMitchell
I’m a Postdoc in the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Queensland. I was born and raised in British Columbia, but most recently called Montreal Quebec home, and before that worked as an environmental consultant in Alberta. I moved to Brisbane eight months ago with my wife and (now) 20-month old daughter.
My research focuses on understanding how the arrangement of different habitats and land uses across landscapes affects the benefits that people receive from ecosystems. I’m particularly interested in human dominated landscapes, including agricultural and urban areas. This work flows out of what motivates me: understanding the connections between people and nature and applying this knowledge to conserve biodiversity and improve people’s quality of life.
I love travelling to new places, especially if it includes exploring nature with my daughter (this may be one reason I’m in Australia!). Appropriately given my interests, the best band I’ve seen lately is Plants & Animals in an outdoor concert in Montreal. I feel a particular loyalty to my favourite Canadian animal (the pika), but in Australia the echidna is at the top of my list.
Twitter: @MGEMitchell
I’m a Postdoc in the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Queensland. I was born and raised in British Columbia, but most recently called Montreal Quebec home, and before that worked as an environmental consultant in Alberta. I moved to Brisbane eight months ago with my wife and (now) 20-month old daughter.
My research focuses on understanding how the arrangement of different habitats and land uses across landscapes affects the benefits that people receive from ecosystems. I’m particularly interested in human dominated landscapes, including agricultural and urban areas. This work flows out of what motivates me: understanding the connections between people and nature and applying this knowledge to conserve biodiversity and improve people’s quality of life.
I love travelling to new places, especially if it includes exploring nature with my daughter (this may be one reason I’m in Australia!). Appropriately given my interests, the best band I’ve seen lately is Plants & Animals in an outdoor concert in Montreal. I feel a particular loyalty to my favourite Canadian animal (the pika), but in Australia the echidna is at the top of my list.
Sam Nicol - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
With a background in applied mathematics and decision science, I am also a passionate naturalist. I combine my interests by providing quantitative decision science that is designed to help managers make better resource allocation decisions. Put simply, I do the maths to figure out how to get better conservation outcomes for less money. Although I’m a quantitative thinker, I recognize that it is people who make the decisions that drive conservation, and decision models need to account for this. I enjoy leading and facilitating small group discussions and have completed a number of workshop-based projects, including expert elicitation.
I’ve worked on many projects around the theme of improving conservation decision-making. Some examples include:
With a background in applied mathematics and decision science, I am also a passionate naturalist. I combine my interests by providing quantitative decision science that is designed to help managers make better resource allocation decisions. Put simply, I do the maths to figure out how to get better conservation outcomes for less money. Although I’m a quantitative thinker, I recognize that it is people who make the decisions that drive conservation, and decision models need to account for this. I enjoy leading and facilitating small group discussions and have completed a number of workshop-based projects, including expert elicitation.
I’ve worked on many projects around the theme of improving conservation decision-making. Some examples include:
- Developing new theory and methods for metapopulation management and adaptive management;
- Finding ways to best protect endangered fish and migrant shorebirds across interconnected networks that are affected by a changing climate;
- Using expert data to prioritize the most cost-effective actions for conservation over large landscapes;
- Creating a tool to assess the risk of non-compliance for projects referred to the Department of Environment.
Hannah Pearson - The University of Melbourne
Twitter: @HannahPearson88
I am a PhD student at the University of Melbourne in the QAECO lab. My research passion is finding ways to improve the way ecologists do research. From my perspective, people are doing really important research but, if we optimised our methods, our research could be so much more useful.
I was born in Melbourne and have only left there on holidays (unless you count living in Switzerland between the ages 3 and 7). In fact I love it so much in Melbourne that I don’t want to live anywhere else.
If I want to be serious competition for any of the (relatively few) research jobs in Melbourne I am going to have to be the best I can be and that means building skills that I am currently short on such as networking and managing collaborative relationships. I will also need as much help with career planning as possible.
I love all Australian animals but I have a particular soft spot for birds, particularly Superb Fairy Wrens (my cars moniker is ‘the wren’) and Australian Magpies.
Twitter: @HannahPearson88
I am a PhD student at the University of Melbourne in the QAECO lab. My research passion is finding ways to improve the way ecologists do research. From my perspective, people are doing really important research but, if we optimised our methods, our research could be so much more useful.
I was born in Melbourne and have only left there on holidays (unless you count living in Switzerland between the ages 3 and 7). In fact I love it so much in Melbourne that I don’t want to live anywhere else.
If I want to be serious competition for any of the (relatively few) research jobs in Melbourne I am going to have to be the best I can be and that means building skills that I am currently short on such as networking and managing collaborative relationships. I will also need as much help with career planning as possible.
I love all Australian animals but I have a particular soft spot for birds, particularly Superb Fairy Wrens (my cars moniker is ‘the wren’) and Australian Magpies.
Stephanie Pulsford - The Australia National University
Project: The connectivity of reptiles, frogs and beetles in grazing landscapes in NSW
Description: I was born in Jindabyne, NSW and grew up with a love of the outdoors and nature. I feel passionate about conservation and the importance of science communication. I would like to improve my science communication skills in order to inspire others and myself to act positively for our natural world.
Project: The connectivity of reptiles, frogs and beetles in grazing landscapes in NSW
Description: I was born in Jindabyne, NSW and grew up with a love of the outdoors and nature. I feel passionate about conservation and the importance of science communication. I would like to improve my science communication skills in order to inspire others and myself to act positively for our natural world.
Anna Renwick - The University of Queensland
I’m a Scottish ‘lass’ living her dream here in Australia. My work focus lies at the nexus of ecological and social science and I’m particularly interested in developing strategies to enable stakeholders to manage multifunctional landscapes. My overriding work motivation is to make a real difference, in real communities, in real ecosystems.
I love cycling and I love bikes! I love the beach and combining them - cycling along the coast – is the crème de la crème. The last time I cycled north I saw a humpback whale and her calf ‘playing’ in the ocean – an amazing sight that left me tingling all day! When it comes to music I just can’t get enough of the sixties – it makes me happy! I think if I had to have lived in another decade it would have been the sixties!
I’m a Scottish ‘lass’ living her dream here in Australia. My work focus lies at the nexus of ecological and social science and I’m particularly interested in developing strategies to enable stakeholders to manage multifunctional landscapes. My overriding work motivation is to make a real difference, in real communities, in real ecosystems.
I love cycling and I love bikes! I love the beach and combining them - cycling along the coast – is the crème de la crème. The last time I cycled north I saw a humpback whale and her calf ‘playing’ in the ocean – an amazing sight that left me tingling all day! When it comes to music I just can’t get enough of the sixties – it makes me happy! I think if I had to have lived in another decade it would have been the sixties!
Gerry Ryan - The University of Melbourne
Twitter: @silverlangur
I'm a jack-of-all-trades conservation scientist and dilettante naturalist with some skills in wildlife demography, river dolphin biology, risk assessment, and management effectiveness evaluation. In a past life I floated up and down the Mekong River trying to count and advocate for biodiversity. I'm now in Melbourne doing a PhD looking at advancing conservation effectiveness using statistics at a few different levels: from new population modelling from count data, analysing and optimizing conservation investments, and looking at global trends in species.
Twitter: @silverlangur
I'm a jack-of-all-trades conservation scientist and dilettante naturalist with some skills in wildlife demography, river dolphin biology, risk assessment, and management effectiveness evaluation. In a past life I floated up and down the Mekong River trying to count and advocate for biodiversity. I'm now in Melbourne doing a PhD looking at advancing conservation effectiveness using statistics at a few different levels: from new population modelling from count data, analysing and optimizing conservation investments, and looking at global trends in species.
Jeremy Simmonds - The University of Queensland
I am a PhD student at the University of Queensland. My research focusses on broadscale patterns in bird species richness in heavily transformed regions of Australia and South Africa, and how this information can be used to inform management of human-modified landscapes. I am motivated by a curiosity about the natural world, and the joy that seeing wild animals gives me. The week of leadership and skills training in November 2014 was thought-provoking and hugely beneficial, and I particularly enjoyed meeting and learning from like-minded people with a range of experiences in biodiversity and conservation science. I look forward to this continuing as we progress through the program in 2015.
I am a PhD student at the University of Queensland. My research focusses on broadscale patterns in bird species richness in heavily transformed regions of Australia and South Africa, and how this information can be used to inform management of human-modified landscapes. I am motivated by a curiosity about the natural world, and the joy that seeing wild animals gives me. The week of leadership and skills training in November 2014 was thought-provoking and hugely beneficial, and I particularly enjoyed meeting and learning from like-minded people with a range of experiences in biodiversity and conservation science. I look forward to this continuing as we progress through the program in 2015.
Tanja Straka - The University of Melbourne
Twitter: @TanjaStraka
I grew up in a small town close to Stuttgart, Germany and finished a Master’s Degree in Zoology in 2008 in Munich. For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in animal welfare, biodiversity conservation and traveling. I have been very fortunate to combine these passions in my life so far. During my time in Munich, I was involved for over 10 years with the Jane Goodall Institute and worked on projects in amazing places such as Benin and Cameroon, West Africa. After finishing my studies, I started to work as a Research Assistant and travelled to several places in the world (including India and New Zealand) to work with insectivorous bats. In 2011, I came to Australia to complete an interdisciplinary PhD where I aimed (broadly) to understand the characteristics of urban wetlands that benefit both wildlife and humans. I recently discovered how great it is to run a half-marathon. So, you might find me running early mornings in a park or river close-by. One of the best musical acts I've seen in the last two years was a concert of a friend. She was singing German classics and it reminded me of how much I love my culture. As for my ‘favourite Australian animal’: I have been working for many years with insectivorous bats, so I am completely hooked with these animals in Australia.
Twitter: @TanjaStraka
I grew up in a small town close to Stuttgart, Germany and finished a Master’s Degree in Zoology in 2008 in Munich. For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in animal welfare, biodiversity conservation and traveling. I have been very fortunate to combine these passions in my life so far. During my time in Munich, I was involved for over 10 years with the Jane Goodall Institute and worked on projects in amazing places such as Benin and Cameroon, West Africa. After finishing my studies, I started to work as a Research Assistant and travelled to several places in the world (including India and New Zealand) to work with insectivorous bats. In 2011, I came to Australia to complete an interdisciplinary PhD where I aimed (broadly) to understand the characteristics of urban wetlands that benefit both wildlife and humans. I recently discovered how great it is to run a half-marathon. So, you might find me running early mornings in a park or river close-by. One of the best musical acts I've seen in the last two years was a concert of a friend. She was singing German classics and it reminded me of how much I love my culture. As for my ‘favourite Australian animal’: I have been working for many years with insectivorous bats, so I am completely hooked with these animals in Australia.