Our Team

Professor Jodie Conduit
Head of the Marketing Discipline, Adelaide Business School

Research interests lie in understanding how to engage consumers in interactions with organisations, and each other, that enable them to work together to achieve meaningful and relevant outcomes, particularly in contexts for social inclusion and environmental sustainability.

Professor Paul Babie

Research focus includes private law theory including the consequences of globalisation, especially finance and anthropogenic climate change. The legal theory and religious legal systems.

Associate Professor Peter Burdon

Research uses interdisciplinary materials from sociology, political science, economics, philosophy, history and environmental studies. Peter is a recognised leader in environmental theory and interested in earth jurisprudence, political theory and legal education.

Dr Margaret Castles

Research interests are integrating conservation and ecological science with legal and policy advocacy.  Would like to develop multidisciplinary approaches to support legal policy reform by combining science law and public policy in robust and persuasive promotion of environmental interests.

Mr Paul Leadbeter

Research interests include land use planning law and policy, biodiversity law, native vegetation, urban trees and regulatory systems, heritage law, water law and policy.

Associate Professor Beth Nosworthy

Particular research interests in the application of corporate governance to differing corporate forms, the specific role of the directors' duties within corporate governance more generally, and the growing emphasis on climate within the realm of environmental, social and governance reporting.

Dr Alexandra Wawryk

Research interests include mining and petroleum regulation, particularly in terms of environmental protection; climate change and laws for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Associate Professor Adam Loch

Research interests include agricultural and natural resource economics, water markets and trade, irrigator decision-making, risk and uncertainty, transaction costs, institutional analysis, governance and reform

Associate Professor Patrick O'Connor

Current focus on the use of markets for efficient decision making for environmental restoration and conservation investment.  

Dr Alexandra Peralta

Lecturer at the Centre for Global Food and Resources, and a development economist with experience in impact evaluation, field experiments, gender analysis and farmer decision-making models. Extensive international experience with the CGIAR and ACIAR in projects in East Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific. Research aims at gaining understanding of the social and economic processes that lead to economic development. 

Emeritus Professor Mike Young
Research Chair in Environmental and Water Policy 

Research interests include agriculture, ecological economics and natural resources law, environmental science and management. Also includes environmental sciences, freshwater ecology, natural resource management, natural resource management and water resource management.

Associate Professor Alec Zuo

Research interests include environmental and agricultural economics, water markets, climate change, mental health, and consumer food related behaviour in general.

Dr Phillipa McCormack

Research is on the challenges and opportunities that climate change represents for law and policy reform, including on topics such as ecological restoration; threatened species conservation law and translocation policy; protected area laws and management; and climate-driven species redistribution

Dr Kate Delaporte

Research interests include improving Australian native plants for horticulture by research into propagation, cultivation, and breeding and selecting new varieties and species. Also supporting indigenous knowledge of food/medicines from plants; renewing the Urban Forest, sustainable agriculture and the environment; amenity horticulture, general horticulture; re-forestation and plant genome conservation.

Dr Katja Hogendoorn

Research interests include behavioural ecology and evolution of native bees, in particular related to mating, social and foraging behaviour. Contributing to taxonomy and phylogeography of native bees. Enhancing the environment for crop pollinating bees, development of native bees as greenhouse pollinators, the use of bees as vectors of biological control agents, and the conservation of native bees.

Dr Matthew Knowling

Aims to achieve sustainable agricultural futures using computer models and data analytics to help farmers, businesses and policy makers better manage their resources. Has worked extensively within multidisciplinary teams comprising agronomists, hydrologists, climate scientists, economists and engineers, and led the development of decision support tools integrating data and concepts from across these disciplines.

Dr Jessica Stanhope

Research interests lie in ecohealth, particularly how exposure to green spaces can improve human health through both public health and clinical approaches.

Associate Professor Wayne Boardman

Research focus on conservation of endangered species, emerging wildlife diseases, wildlife disease ecology, health and diseases of Australian native wildlife and wildlife anaesthesia.

Associate Professor Charles Caraguel

Research interest includes improve understanding, establish evidence, and develop more effective health risk identification and management in the aquaculture industry using epidemiology of infectious and non-infectious diseases.

Dr Anne-Lise Chaber

A conservationist and wildlife veterinarian with interests that lie in wildlife conservation, anthropogenically driven diseases and the link between ecosystem, human and animal health (One Health).

Dr Todd McWhorter

An ecological physiologist interested in how vertebrate animals function and how function evolves. Most recent research has expanded into animal welfare, particularly using physiological and behavioural indicators to study and optimise the welfare of captive wildlife and production animals.

Dr Natasha Speight

A lecturer and registered veterinarian her current research focuses on the biology, health and diseases of South Australian populations of koalas, particularly oxalate nephrosis.

Larissa Arakawa Martins

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow exploring the association between the built environment, thermal comfort and people's health and wellbeing. Special interests are environmental monitoring, building performance simulation, human thermal comfort modelling and the applications of machine learning for thermal comfort modelling.

Dr Carlos Bartesaghi Koc

Interested in analysing the spatial and temporal dynamics and interactions that occur in the built environment, focusing on performance-based analysis of cities, neighbourhoods, urban precincts, streets and buildings. Research spans urban ecology, remote sensing, numerical modelling and simulation, spatial data science, GIS, green infrastructure, machine learning, algorithm-based design, urban climatology and meteorology, energy efficiency, air quality, and environmental monitoring.

Dr Scott Hawken

Urban Designer, Landscape Architect, and Landscape Archaeologist, his research and teaching bring together these three disciplines in creative ways. A strong supporter of the kind of transdisciplinary thinking necessary to tackle the large problems of our time, he makes use of high-end geospatial technologies including GIS, remote sensing, and Geodesign, which enable the integration of “big-data” into real-world applications.

Professor Volker Hessel 

Research includes analysis of a pharmaceutical flow chemistry reaction. Coiled Micro-flow inverter for selective extraction of metal ions from mimicked asteroid ore. Immobilized lipase-catalyzed synthesis of biodiesel in a microreactor using recycled grease trap waste as a feedstock. Food waste valorisation of Southern Australian crops and food chain by flow chemistry, considering real-world Australian supply chains.

Dr Amelie Jeanneau

Research focuses on the quantitative spatial modelling of natural hazards and potential mitigation options under uncertain future conditions. This research also aims to bridge the gap between scientific research and policy development to ensure that scientific results are more easily accessible to the broader community and policymakers.

Professor Holger Maier

Focus on developing improved techniques for the sustainable management of infrastructure (with a particular focus on water, energy and the water-energy nexus) and natural resources (with a particular focus on water resources and natural hazards) in an uncertain environment.

Professor Veronica Soebarto

Research interests span from age-friendly built environment, environmental performance assessments of buildings, building performance simulation, building monitoring, human thermal comfort, to the social dimension of sustainable design.

Dr Ehsan Sharifi

An advocate for the application of architectural sciences in place making practice, Dr Sharifi's research interests include urban greenery, urban microclimates, low carbon living, thermal comfort, and heat stress and health.

Professor Seth Westra
Director, Water Research Centre

Research aim is to develop scientifically defensible solutions to a range of practical water resources problems. Focus on quantifying the impacts of climate change and variability on Australian and international water resources, developing flood estimation methods, improving hydrological (rainfall-runoff) models.

Dr Kyle Armstrong

Research interest lies with bioacoustics, conservation, bats, species discovery and taxonomic resolution of problematic groups. Population genetics and the ecology of wildlife in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Pacific.

Associate Professor Lee Arnold

Research focuses on reconstructing archaeological, palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental histories using luminescence dating techniques, with a particular emphasis on single-grain optically stimulated (OSL) dating applications and advancements.

Professor Andrew Austin
Director, Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity

Biology, systematics and molecular phylogenetics of parasitic wasps, the evolution of host-parasitoid interactions, and the biodiversity and phylogeography of groundwater arthropods.

Associate Professor Jeremy Austin
Deputy Director, Australian Centre for Ancient DNA

Evolutionary biologist working in the fields of ancient DNA, molecular ecology, conservation genetics and forensic biology. 

Emeritus Professor Bill Breed 

Research interest is in the fertilisation of Australian rodents and marsupials, together with the morphology and evolution of sperm, eggs and egg coats. 

Professor Justin Brookes

Critical assessment of water quality for human and environmental health. Determination of the ecological outcomes from environmental flows.

Dr Stuart Brown

Research includes seeking to provide a stronger understanding of patterns of climate change and their consequences for biological diversity and mechanisms of invasiveness. 

Associate Professor Phill Cassey
Head, Invasion Ecology Group

Critical analytical and applied techniques to the study of applied ecology, wildlife conservation, and biosecurity risk management.

Professor Sean Connell

Explore new perspectives and opportunities, including how carbon emissions provide a triple trophic boost to marine ecosystems, the adaptability and adjustability of ecosystems to climate change.

Dr Jenna Crowe-Riddell

An evolutionary biologist investigating the impacts of environmental change on the neural systems of reptiles. 

Professor Stephen Donnellan

Research focuses on the evolution and biogeography of the Australasian fauna. Use a range of molecular genetic methods to examine issues in the population genetics, phylogeography and phylogenetic relationships of vertebrates and selected invertebrate groups.

Dr Raphael Eisenhofer

Research interest in learning how microorganisms interact and evolve with their hosts (especially Australian marsupials), and how these microorganisms influence host ecology and conservation success.

Dr José M. Facelli

Research focuses on the interactions between invasive plants and soil microorganisms, and how the plant-soil microbes interactions affect the process of invasion of natural ecosystems, and hinder the restoration of degraded ones.

Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries

Research interests includes invertebrate systematics and taxonomy (particularly parasitoid wasps) and the use of citizen science for biodiversity documentation.

Professor Robert Fitzpatrick

Focus on the interface of soil science (pedology), regolith science, mineralogy, biogeochemistry, forensic science, mineral exploration and climate change. 

Associate Professor Damien Fordham

Research interests are diverse and include global change biology, biogeography, climate science, quantitative ecology and conservation biology.

Associate Professor Diego Garcia-Bellido

Palaeoecological analyses of the oldest complex marine communities, represented by the Ediacaran and Cambrian fossils of South Australia.

Professor Bronwyn Gillanders
Deputy Director, Environment Institute
Head of School of Biological Sciences

Aquatic waters (freshwater, estuarine and marine) with a strong focus on ecology of fish and cephalopods, and environmental issues. Bronwyn is president of the Council of World Fisheries Societies. 

Professor Frank Grutzner

Research aims to understand how different animal genomes evolved, how they are organised and how this effects their function. 

Dr Michelle Guzik

Research priorities have been to document biodiversity, and untangle evolutionary history, of groundwater dependent fauna and ecosystems to achieve practical conservation outcomes. 

Professor Bob Hill

Botanical research in the areas of palaeobotany, plant systematics, plant ecophysiology. The application of research from these areas helps to interpret changes that have occurred to the Australian flora through evolutionary time.

Professor Sandra Hodge
Director, Australian Bioactive Compounds Centre

Research focuses on the identification and therapeutic targeting of failed clearance of apoptotic cells and bacteria in the airway, and its pro-inflammatory consequences, in severe, treatment refractory chronic lung diseases including COPD/emphysema, neutrophilic asthma, childhood bronchiectasis and chronic lung transplant rejection.

Dr Alice Jones

Research is focused on the effect that human activities and environmental change have on the distribution of species, populations and ecosystems - and the impact that this has on their survival.

Dr Wallace Boone Law

Spatial science interests including multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing, GIS, and ecological modelling of terrestrial and maritime environments.

Professor Megan Lewis

Earth observation using remote sensing (from satellites, aircraft, lab & field instruments, and now drones) to document, analyse and monitor landscape composition and variation in space and time.

Associate Professor Bastien Llamas

Interests include investigating a range of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms and host-microbiome interactions that facilitate human adaptation to diverse environmental and cultural stressors. Combine a range of advanced new analytical methods to integrate past and present indigenous genetic diversity from human populations around the world into a new pan-human reference genome.

Professor Andy Lowe
Director, Environment Institute

Understanding the adaptive capacity and resilience of species is key to developing management strategies for ecosystems that face fragmentation and climate change.

Dr Jess Marsh

Research focusing on the conservation biology of invertebrates, an important component of biodiversity. Jess combines taxonomy and systematics with ecology and conservation.

Dr Irene Martin-Fores

Studies plant connections and processes, esp biological invasions, from a multi-scale approach. Main interests are invasion ecology and biosecurity, global change, biogeography and biodiversity patterns, community ecology, functional ecology, ecological modelling and conservation biology.

Dr Dominic McAfee

Marine Ecologist working on the restoration of Australia's lost oyster reefs. Taking a socio-ecological approach to restoring lost habitat to help society and nature adapt with climate change. 

Dr Camille Mellin

Research interests include the ecological impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems, ecosystem resilience to cumulative disturbance impacts, macroecology and ecosystem services (nutrition).

Associate Professor Luke Mosley

Research focus is to understand and help solve complex environmental issues across multi-disciplinary boundaries (soil, water, ecology, human impacts). Current research is directed to understanding the effects of climate change arising from increasing droughts, reduced river flows, and sea level rise.

Professor Ivan Nagelkerken

Marine biology and climate change effects on marine ecosystems; estuarine, seagrass, mangrove fish ecology.

Associate Professor Bertram Ostendorf

Specialise in GIS, spatial simulation modelling, and spatial decision support. Understanding causes of spatial heterogeneity of the environment at different spatial and temporal scales and how we can use this knowledge to increase economic production and integrity of our environment.

Dr Jasmin Packer

Research aims to design innovative solutions, linking world-leading science with on-ground management, to better protect South Australia’s threatened communities and species. An independent Research Fellow who's known for her commitment to think global - act local.

Dr Thomas Prowse

A mathematical ecologist with a particular focus on population biology and epidemiology for wildlife populations. Specifically using stochastic modelling to address applied ecological questions in the fields of wildlife management, fisheries, conservation biology, invasion ecology and disease ecology.

Dr Liz Reed

Research interests include vertebrate taphonomy and site history, Quaternary palaeoclimate and biodiversity records from caves and refining megafauna extinction records.

Associate Professor Kate Sanders

Research focuses primarily on trait evolution and speciation in squamate reptiles, and the evolution of sensory systems in the transition to aquatic habitats in snakes. The research has a substantial fieldwork component focused primarily in Indonesia and Western Australia, which has led to the discovery of new species, and generated ecological and distributional data that have contributed to conservation assessments.

Dr Ramesh Raja Segaran

Research interest includes use of unmanned aerial vehicles (uav/drones/RPAS) for environmental management and precision agriculture. Spatially explicit decision support systems, landscape and urban-natural ecological interactions and design.

Dr Emma Sherratt

An evolutionary biologist focused on developing and applying comparative methods and morphometric tools to studying phenotypic trait evolution, primarily with reptiles, amphibians, mammals, beetles and molluscs.

Dr Yassine Souilmi

Research includes data-mining the Online Ancient Genome Repository (OAGR), a comprehensive centralised database containing all known ancient DNA specimens, genomes, and associated metadata. Effort to improve ancient DNA bioinformatic analyses and applying novel technological methods to address outstanding evolutionary questions. 

Dr Andrew Thornhill

Research includes large-scale molecular phylogenetic analyses of plants, across a broad botanical and geographical range. Pioneer of spatial phylogenetics "big data" field.

Professor Michelle Waycott
Chief Botanist, State Herbarium of SA

Native plant population studies supporting decision making including reproductive strategies, connectivity and survivorship in coastal, marine and arid adapted plants.

Dr Laura Weyrich

Research aims to reconstruct the human microbiome in the past using ancient DNA techniques. Actively reconstructing oral microbial communities from ancient humans on six continents over the past 20,000 years.

Dr Nina Wootton

Research focuses on addressing critical environmental challenges, particularly marine plastic pollution and its impact on ecosystems and health.

Associate Professor Abel Santos

Research includes structural engineering of nanoporous materials by electrochemical approaches, nanophotonics, optical sensing and biosensing. Smart drug delivery from nanocarriers and surface coatings for biomedical applications. Microfluidic lab-on-a-chip systems for all-in-one sensing applications.

Assoc Prof Luke Bennetts

An applied mathematician, with broad interests in mathematical modelling of physical systems using differential equations and statistical and mathematical analysis of data. Expertise in Antarctic sea ice and marginal ice zone dynamics, and also on the stability of Antarctic ice shelves.

Professor Peter Draper
Executive Director, Institute for International Trade

Research interests include reform of the multilateral trading system, ‘levelling the playing field’ in international trade, encompassing sustainability and industrial subsidisation. Interest in the role of trade policies in economic development
Indo-Pacific trade integration dynamics and arrangements.

Dr Michelle Phillipov

Research investigates the politics and pleasures of popular media – from food media and health messages to death metal music and 'extreme' cultures. Recent work explores how media interest in food is shaping public debate, media and food industry practices, and consumer politics.

Professor Alan Collins

Data-focussed geologist whose research focusses on applying a wide range of earth science specialisations to address tectonic questions. His research involves a combination of geochronology/thermochronology with geochemistry and structural geology. 

Professor Christian Doonan 
Director, Centre for Advanced Nanomaterials

Focus on the synthesis of novel classes of porous materials, including molecular porous materials, and new examples of more established materials, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Interested in applications of these materials in a number of areas including storage and release, molecular separations and catalysis.

Dr Juraj Farkas

Research focuses on biogeochemistry and non-traditional isotopes, and their application to solve problems relevant to earth system sciences and environmental studies.

Dr Tamara Fletcher

A palaeoclimatologist and palaeoecologist with a focus on Arctic amplification of temperature. Tamara's research uses archives of the past as a natural laboratory for understanding processes that link climate to phenomena such as wildfire and Arctic temperature amplification.

Dr Alexander Francke

A sedimentologist and geochemist interested in the interplay between Quaternary climates, humans and landscapes, with particular focus on the role of semi-arid and temperate Australia in the global carbon cycle. Develops and applies novel (trace metal) geochemical methods for the application on lake sediment archives to infer catchment erosion and landscape change.

Professor Nigel Spooner

Focus of research is measurement of radiation dose in natural and artificial materials within the environment. Key technological developments pioneered include the development of the world’s most sensitive radiogenic luminescence imaging technology, a novel class of radiation-sensitive optical fibres and single grain analysis technology.

Professor Christopher Sumby

Focus on the synthesis of novel classes of porous materials, including molecular porous materials, and new examples of more established materials, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Interested in applications of these materials in a number of areas including storage and release, molecular separations and catalysis.

Associate Professor Jonathan Tyler

Research interest in past climates and the use of chemical tracers in sediments to develop understanding of past climate changes. Most work conducted with lake sediments, but branching out to work with marine and cave deposits.

Dr Peta Callaghan

A Social Psychologist interested in research topics focused on social justice, especially environmental issues, racism and prejudice, and inequality. I utilise a range of qualitative methods in my research, including realist approaches such as content and thematic analysis, through to more constructionist approaches like discourse and critical discourse analysis.

Professor Anna Chur-Hansen

Research interests are broadly around food and eating; sex and relationships; physical pain; and death and dying. Companion animals and their impact on human health (psychological, social and physical).

Dr Mark Kohler

Research broadly focuses on cognitive and behavioural development and psychophysiology. Specific expertise in the areas of child sleep and cognition, sleep disorders, and memory, as well as interest in the interaction of child health, lifestyle factors and well-being.

Associate Professor Rachel Roberts

Research and teaching in the areas of child, adolescent and peri-natal clinical, health and neuropsychology, including issues of stigma and chronic illness. Of particular interest are psychological aspects of acquired brain injury and craniofacial conditions.

Associate Professor Carolyn Semmler

Research focuses on understanding how individuals who are proficient in unfamiliar face matching achieve high levels of performance and how technology might be used to enhance proficiency.

Professor Deborah Turnbull
Chair of Psychology

Research interest include maternity services, cancer prevention and screening, mental health. Deborah is an active teacher, researcher and combines these roles with senior administration activities at the University

Professor Peng Bi

Contributes to the fields of environmental epidemiology, ecosystem health and infectious disease epidemiology. Wide research experience in identifying and managing environmental health problems, including the impact of climate change on population health. 

Associate Professor Sharyn Gaskin

Research program explores the pathways and impacts of environmental and occupational hazards on human health and society, and leads to the development of effective interventions to control and prevent exposure to hazards. 

Dr Adriana Milazzo

Current research involves quantitative research methods, working closely with the Communicable Disease Control Branch. Other research interests are in infectious disease epidemiology, climate change and population health, surveillance and zoonoses.

Professor Dino Pisaniello
Director, OEH Laboratory

Wide interest in occupational and environmental health, which includes exposure and risk assessment and control, intervention research and education.

Dr Yonatal Tefera

Possessing expertise in research translation and Environmental and Occupational Health policymaking, Yonatal's research focuses on understanding the influence of Social, Environmental and Occupational factors on human health and wellbeing.

Dr Leigh Thredgold

Research leverages his background in analytical chemistry to explore the pathways and impacts of environmental and occupational hazards on human health and society, and leads to the development of effective interventions to control and prevent exposure to hazards. 

Dr Len Turczynowicz

Research seeks to improve exposure assessment to protect public health through evidence-based approaches. Specialties include public health toxicology, human health risk assessment, vapour intrusion and air quality assessment and hazardous substances regulation

Professor Philip Weinstein
Director, Australian Bioactive Compounds Centre

The relationship between biodiversity and human health (infectious/chronic disease). Examples include mosquitoes, water quality and environmental microbiomes.

Associate Professor Douglas Bardsley

A social geographer and agricultural scientist with a focus on environmental and agricultural risk management, links between conservation and development, whilst educating for sustainable development. Developing adaptation options in response to climate change.

Associate Professor Benito Cao

Interest in the relation between racism and national identity in Brazil, with main research focus is the intersection between Environment and Citizenship. Guest editor of a special edition of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region (JIOR) on Environmental Challenges in the Indian Ocean Region: Environmental Citizenship and Civil Society Responses.

Associate Professor Georgina Drew

Research fields of environmental anthropology and the critical anthropology of development. Particularly interest in struggles over resource use and management in South Asia and in the Himalaya more broadly.

Professor Melissa Nursey-Bray

Focus on how to engage communities to be part of environmental decision making, particularly in the context of climate change and biodiversity protection. Worked with Indigenous, ports, local government and fishing communities on a range of projects to help environmental sustainability.

Associate Professor Yan Tan

Field of population and environmental studies, with a focus on migration. Research explores the interplay of environmental, demographic, socio-economic and institutional factors in climate (environmental) change, population mobility, and adaptation. 

Associate Professor John Tibby
Director, Sprigg Geobiology Centre

Understanding past climatic and environmental variability and change by examining indicators laid down in lake sediments. Using diatoms - a type of aquatic algae - to assess stream ”health”.

Professor David Chittleborough

Research focus on various aspects of soil and environmental science - processes of non-point source pollution, specifically the impact of soil processes and soil management on water quality; the reafforestation of wet-tropics landscapes, the biogenesis of soils and the restoration of arid soilscapes following open-cut mining. 

Professor Steven Cooper (Adjunct)

Research interest includes Phylogeography of Australian fauna: the biogeographic history of organisms and factors that influence speciation. Molecular systematics and evolutionary origins of Australian arid zone fauna. 

Dr Nastaran Mazloumi

Focus is on the design and conduct of research projects in fisheries, aquatic physiology, biology and related fields, applying quantitative methods in developing and managing commonwealth fisheries. An interest in fish physiology, biology and is conducting range of research about the biology of harvested fish species and their life history.

Professor Thuy Pham

A senior associate at Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), in the Climate Change, Energy and Low-Carbon Development team. Research focuses on the political economy of forest governance and climate change policies. She led and coordinated global climate change research and established a strong professional networks in developing countries. 

Dr Nick Whiterod

An ecologist with more than two decades experience, working broadly conserving and researching freshwater species and ecosystems across Australia and South Australia, including in the Mt Lofty Ranges and Coorong Lower Lakes Murray Mouth (CLLMM) region.

Professor Tom Wigley

A climate scientist, who is a major contributer to climate, carbon cycle modeling and to climate data analysis. He is "one of the world's foremost experts on climate change and one of the most highly cited scientists in the discipline."