Scientific Advisory Committee
At WWF-Australia we rely upon scientific analysis to form the basis of our work. Our Scientific Advisory Committee, comprising senior scientists from academic institutions and government agencies, assists us with strategic planning and the monitoring and evaluation of all aspects of our conservation activities.
This expert group is assisting us with our review of Australia's biodiversity conservation priorities, culminating in the development of WWF-Australia's Conservation Strategy 2005-2010.
The members of the Scientific Advisory Committee are:
Dr Andrew Burbidge, Chair
Research Fellow, Department of Environment and Conservation, WA and private conservation consultant. Chair, WA Threatened Species Scientific Committee and former Chair, Commonwealth Endangered Species Advisory Committee and Endangered Species Scientific Subcommittee. Governor, and Fellow of WWF-Australia.
Dr Michael Brown
Honorary Research Associate, Department of Plant Science, University of Tasmania and part-time consultant for a number of agencies on conservation ecology. Worked for many years in the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service and with Forestry Tasmania, where he was Chief Scientist on his retirement in 2003. More than 35 years experience in the fields of conservation and ecology, and author or co-author of more then 130 publications on forest ecology, fire ecology, biological conservation and other aspects of vegetation science.
Dr Trevor Ward
Consultant marine ecologist - international policy and planning for fisheries, marine ecosystems and biodiversity; Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, University of the Sunshine Coast; Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Western Australia; formerly CSIRO Marine Research and Leader of CSIRO's national marine environmental research program.
Dr Colin Filer
Convenor of the Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Program at ANU's Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Formerly Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Papua New Guinea; and Head, Social and Environmental Studies Division, National Research Institute, Papua New Guinea.
Dr Susan Moore
Senior Lecturer, School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University. More than 15 years professional experience in natural resource management and policy research. More than 100 publications on environmental policy, social aspects of biodiversity conservation and nature-based tourism. Former member Natural Resource Management Council (WA) and Chair, Bushcare Reference Group (WA).
Prof Stephen Garnett
Professor of Tropical Knowledge at Charles Darwin University in Darwin. He is a biologist by training whose current research aims to advance the knowledge economy of tropical Australia. He leads a small group of economists, wildlife ecologists and policy analysts and is undertaking a range of social, livelihoods and policy research. The research hopes to improve retention of skills in the tropics, enhance business clustering, engage small business in research, understand Indigenous microbusiness governance, quantify economic benefits of research and develop wildlife-based livelihoods for Indigenous people. He is also continuing several decades of research on the ecology and conservation management of threatened species, particularly birds.
Professor Bob Pressey
Professor at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University where he is establishing a new research program on conservation planning for terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. His previous work experience includes 19 years with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service and 8 years as a private environmental consultant. His field of expertise is conservation planning which he has pursued in many parts of Australia and in current or past collaborative projects in South Africa, Canada, China, Brazil, the USA and Turkey. He leads the IUCN World Commission for Protected Areas task force on conservation planning.
Prof Sam Lake
P.S. (Sam) Lake, B.Sc (A.N.U., Ph.D. (Southampton) is a Professor in Ecology in the School of Biological Sciences, Monash University. His major research interests centre on the ecology of freshwater systems, in particular the effects of both natural (floods, droughts) and human-generated disturbances (toxic pollution), restoration ecology and conservation biology of freshwater systems - especially rivers and streams.
Assoc Prof Luca Tacconi
Associate Professor at the Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University, where he teaches and researches environmental governance. He has held positions with the Center for International Forestry Research, the Australian Agency for International Development, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, the University of New South Wales and the University of Queensland. Luca has worked on research and development activities funded by organisations such as the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, the Department for International Development (UK), the European Commission and The World Bank. He is a member of the Commission on Environmental, Economics and Social Policy and the World Commission on Protected Areas of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Luca has authored two books and many scientific papers on biodiversity conservation, forest policy and development.
Professor Hugh Possingham
Hugh completed Applied Mathematics Honours at The University of Adelaide in 1984. After attaining a Rhodes Scholarship in 1984 Hugh completed hisD. Phil at Oxford University in 1987. Postdoctoral research periods followed at Stanford University and at the Australian National University (as a QEIII Fellow). In 1991 he took a Lectureship, later Senior Lectureship, in Applied Mathematics at The University of Adelaide. In 1995 he was appointed Foundation Chair and Professor of the Department of Environmental Science at the Roseworthy campus of The University of Adelaide. In July 2000 Hugh took up a joint Professorship between the Departments of Zoology and Entomology, and Mathematics at The University of Queensland. In February 2001 The Ecology Centre was established with Hugh as Director. From 2003-2007 Hugh was an ARC Professorial Research Fellow. Professor Possingham is currently an ARC Federation fellow (2007 - 2011) and Director of a Commonwealth Environment Research Facility - Applied Environmental Decision Analysis.
Prof. Lesley Hughes
Professor in ecology at Macquarie University. Chair, NSW Scientific Committee; Lead author, IPCC Working Group II, responsible for assessing climate change impacts on biodiversity in Australia and New Zealand; member of management committee, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility; member of Expert Advisory Group on biodiversity and climate change, Dept. of Climate Change.
Prof Max Finlayson
University researcher and research director - wetland ecology and management practice and policies, ecosystem services and interactions with agriculture and human wellbeing, and global and local-scale assessment of change in wetland ecosystems including analysis of climate change and water-land interactions, and proponent of community involvement in research and conservation planning and implementation. Longstanding member and former Chair of the Ramsar Wetland Convention's scientific and technical review panel, member of scientific advisory council for the Tour du Valat Biological Station in the Camargue in France, former President of Wetlands International governance council, participant in global assessments covering climate change, water management in agriculture, environment and ecosystem services.
