I joined Flinders University in the School of Biological Sciences in January 2017 as the new Matthew Flinders Fellow in Global Ecology. I am also a Chief Investigator in the new ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, and I lead its Modelling Node here at Flinders. From 2008-2015 I was at the University of Adelaide (Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change 2015-2016), and from 2004-2008 I was Senior then Principal Research Fellow at Charles Darwin University. I was an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Tasmania from 1999-2004. My research is mainly in the area of global-change ecology — how human endeavour and climate fluctuations have altered past, present and future ecosystems. My most important contributions have been in the area of applied ecology, biodiversity conservation, theoretical ecology, extinction dynamics, human demography, species responses to climate change, disease ecology, and applying ecological theory and modelling techniques to hindcast prehistoric ecosystems. My work has provided environmental policy advice around the world, and my papers are highly cited. My most recent book (2015) with Professor Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University is entitled Killing the Koala and Poisoning the Prairie: Australia, America and the Environment (Chicago University Press). I am currently writing another book with Professor Ehrlich nominally entitled Jigsaw Utopia, as well as another solo effort entitled The Effective Scientist (under contract with Cambridge University Press).

During my early research years I focussed primarily on the population dynamics and behavioural ecology of land-breeding marine fauna. Later, I moved to a more modelling-based focus examining the temporal and spatial patterns of ecological processes, including density-feedback mechanisms. As part of this work, I have established a strong profile in the determinants of extinction risk of modern flora and fauna, the degradation of ecosystem services from anthropogenic habitat change, and the spatial dynamics of marine biodiversity. I have developed applications in disease ecology, predator-prey dynamics, and climate change predictions. Much of my work has focussed on providing evidence for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development pathways. I have devised new ways of projecting human population size, with implications for long-term climate change and biodiversity maintenance; I have developed models to predict the best times to apply mosquito control for the reduction of disease risk, promote fisheries sustainability, assess the determinants of effective protected areas, and define the optimal mix of low biodiversity-impact electricity generation. I examined carbon cycles and budgets, examined broad-scale ecological patterns in response to climate gradients, and experimentally manipulated climate for fine-scale experiments in community composition and resilience.