Staff | Current Students

Staff research interests

Dr Kirsty Bayliss

Plant pathology, plant biosecurity.

Dr Lars Bejder

Whale and dolphin conservation biology/conservation, animal social structure, evaluating anthropogentic impacts on cetaceans.

Professor Michael Borowitzka

Algal biotechnology;biofuels; intertidal and benthic ecology; algal blooms; symbiosis; algal physiology and ecology; coral reef ecology.

Dr Barbara Bowen

Response of plants and plant communities to fire; effect of ecosystem disturbance on plant/animal interactions; plant anatomy and histology.

Dr Kate Bryant

Population and breeding ecology of terrestrial vertebrates; ecological genetics; evolution of life histories and mating systems of animals.

Dr Michael Bunce

Ancient DNA to study the evolutionary history of extinct/endangered species; techniques to isolate DNA from bone, sediments and other biological substrates; phylogenetics and forensics.

Dr Treena Burgess

Fungal population genetics; molecular taxonomy; biosecurity; biology, pathology and control of woody plant pathogens; plant-microbe interactions; health of plantations and natural ecosystems; ectomycorrhiza and plant nutrition; histology.

Associate Professor Max Cake

Molecular mechanisms of hormone action and the role of hormones and growth factors in the biochemical development of the respiratory system.

Associate Professor Michael Calver

Ecology and ethology of predation (vertebrate and invertebrate); immunological methods of studying animal diets.

Dr Jennie Chaplin

Evolutionary biology and population genetics: in particular using molecular genetic markers to study the life-history strategies, population structures and phylogeography of fishes and invertebrates.

Dr Ralf Cord-Ruwisch

Industrial and environmental microbiology, development and optimisation of industrial processes, process modelling, biofuels, bioremediation, biological waste and water processing.

Professor Bernie Dell

Nutrition of food, feed, fibre and bio-energy crops; tree health; urban forestry; reforestation; carbon sequestration; mycorrhizal technology; edible fungi.

Dr Hugh Finn

Bottlenose dolphins, black-cockatoos, wildlife biology.

Dr Howard Gill

Taxonomy and systematics of fishes; biology of estuarine and native freshwater fishes; larval development, and ontogenetic and seasonal changes in the diet of fishes. Professor Norm Hall Fish population dynamics; fisheries stock assessment; fisheries modeling.

Professor Giles Hardy

Biology, pathology, taxonomy and control of woody plant pathogens in managed and natural ecosystems; interactions of climate change and plant diseases; Phytophthora diseases and their impact on ecosystems; plant-microbe interactions; mycorrhizal fungi; insect-fungal interactions; health and function of plantation and natural ecosystems.

Professor John Howieson

Rhizobial ecology; legume nodulation; agricultural systems.

Dr John Huisman

Taxonomy and systematics of marine macroalgae, particularly of tropical regions. Introduced marine plants.

Associate Professor Carolyn Jones

Immunology of infectious diseases; human parasitic diseases; characterization of antigens; immunological and molecular diagnostics.

Professor Mike Jones

Plant biotechnology in agriculture; genetic modification of plants; genetic modification of food; plant molecular biology; molecular plant pathology (viruses, nematodes, fungi); marker assisted breeding; molecular diagnostics.

Professor Neil Loneragan

Fisheries ecology; dynamics of invertebrate fisheries (particularly prawns); relationships between coastal habitats and fisheries. production; stock enhancement of marine invertebrates and fish. Marine biodiversity and conservation planning.

Dr Garth Maker

Using metabolomics and mass spectrometry to study pharmacology and toxicology at a cellular level.  Develop new techniques for the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic disease.

Emeritus Professor Jen McComb

Plant cell, organ and tissue culture of woody Australian species; breeding systems, salt tolerance and disease resistance of Eucalyptus; physiology of parasitic plants.

Associate Professor Robert Mead

Biology and biochemistry of fluoroacetate and other fluorinated pesticides; plant secondary compounds and plant/animal interactions; biochemistry of disease states, including molecular biological studies of prostate and breast cancer and of coronary heart disease in association with affiliated hospital research teams.

Dr Navid Moheimani

Microalgae bioprospecting for biofuel production. Microalgae growth optimising (reliability of growth and limits to growth of microalgae). Novel methodologies for increasing microalgae productivity. Studying physiology of microalgae. CO2 bioremediation. Microbiological induced corrosion (MIC).

Dr David Morgan

Ecology of inland fishes of Western Australia; impacts of introduced fishes; fishways; salinisation; threatened fishes.

Dr Philip O’Brien

Development of molecular tests for detection of microbial pathogens. The mechanisms of host plant infection by Phytophthora. The mechanism of phosphite induced resistance of host plants to infection by Phytophthora. Molecular profiling of soil microbial communities.

Dr Graham O’Hara

Soil microbiology; biological nitrogen fixation; microbial ecology; physiology and genetics of Rhizobium.

Professor Ian Potter

Ecology of marine, estuarine and freshwater fish; the biology of lampreys including their life-cycles, ecology, phylogeny, cytogenetics and respiratory physiology.

Prof Ken Pollock

Quantitative methods for fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology. Sampling animal fisheries and wildlife populations including mark-recapture sampling. Recreational anglers survey methodology.

Dr Wayne Reeve

Prokaryote genetics, molecular biology and physiology; genomics and proteomics; signal perception and transduction; stress response and virulence; biological nitrogen fixation.

Professor Peter Rogers

Fisheries management policy, Fisheries adjustment and resource allocation, ecosystem approaches to fisheries management.

Associate Professor Yonglin Ren

Insect chemical ecology, biology and resistance to chemicals. More effective ways to manage phosphine to control insect pests in grain storage. Dispersal of chemicals and their efficacy in large storage bins. Exploration of novel non chemical method for control of stored product insect pests and management of phosphine resistance. The development of innovative, rapid and accurate diagnostic tools for insects, nematodes and pathogens. How to manage risk and assess risk from continued use of chemicals and from potential new incursions of exotic organisms. The role of volatiles in understanding and manipulating plant/pest/microbe interactions with the aim to control incursions and resistance build up to chemicals. Quarantine treatment and grain storage.

Dr Jill Shephard

Conservation genetics and population genetics; landscape genetics; avian conservation; spatial ecology and demography.

Dr Peter Spencer

Wildlife molecular ecology and taxonomy of Australian endemic species, wildlife forensics, invasive species and non-equilibrium genetics, development and application of DNA-based diagnostic tools.

Dr Jason Terpolilli

Plant-microbe interactions; nitrogen fixation; soil microbiology; bacterial physiology, molecular genetics and biochemistry

Dr Ravi Tiwari

Molecular biology of stress tolerance; gene regulation; proteomic analysis; role of alternative sigma factors in stress tolerance; biological nitrogen fixation; microbial ecology.

Dr Fiona Valesini

Relationships between habitats and faunal assemblages in nearshore marine and estuarine waters; fisheries ecology; nearshore habitat classification.

Dr Mike van Keulen

Ecology and physiology of marine plants; biological hydrodynamics; seagrass transplantation; coral reef ecology; physiology of corals; organism-sediment interactions; marine ecology and trophic studies; remote sensing of marine habitats; marine biodiversity.