Dr Lisa Cawthen –  mammals

Lisa is a wildlife ecologist working in Tasmania as a researcher, community educator and consultant. Lisa has worked on a range of environmental project but her main research focus has been improving how we manage our forests for wildlife. She recently completed her PhD at the University of Tasmania, researching bats in an effort to conserve them and their habitat.

Dr Lynda Chambers –  birds

See above

Dr Tim Entwisle –  plants

Tim is the Director and Chief Executive, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne and Cranbourne. He is a scientist and scientific communicator with a broad interest in plants, science and gardens. Tim’s research interest is freshwater algae: since 1984, he has described dozens of new species, two new genera and a new family of algae.

Dr Volker Framenau –  spiders

Volker is one of Australia’s leading arachnologists and has significant research experience in the taxonomy and systematics, population biology and behavioural ecology of spiders and other arachnids. Volker is a Director of Phoenix Environmental Sciences, a Western Australian environmental consulting company that conducts biological surveys for mining and infrastructure projects.

Dr Lisa Gershwin –  jellies and drifters

Lisa is marine biologist in Tasmania and the Director of the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services. She has over 18 years of experience in jellyfish research, and has discovered more than 160 new species. Her recent research has focussed on forecasting the deadly irukandji bloom in tropical Australia. Lisa is also a passionate science writer and communicator.

Dr Curt Jenner – whales

Curt is the Managing Director and Principal Investigator at the Centre for Whale Research, Western Australia. His interests include population biology of humpback whales and blue whales, their migratory pathways, and the relationship of these pathways to oceanographic features.  As a Master Mariner, his strong sailing background has been very useful in these pursuits.

Dr Marie Keatley – plants

See above

Dr Anthony Richardson –  jellies and drifters

Anthony is marine researcher at CSIRO and a Senior Lecturer at The University of Queensland. He has diverse research interests in marine ecology, climate impacts research and analysis of large datasets using modern data analysis techniques. Anthony’s current research focusses on the effects of environmental variability on marine systems to predict impacts of climate change.

Dr David Schoeman –  beach invertebrates

Dave is a marine biologist at the University of the Sunshine Coast who researches how marine critters respond to climate change. His research focusses on identifying and quantifying ecological consequences of climate change at scales from the very local to global, and on designing strategies to minimise the loss of ecosystem services.

Associate Professor Steve Smith –  rocky shore marine

Steve is a marine benthic ecologist based at Southern Cross University’s National Marine Science Centre. He specialises in measuring and monitoring the biodiversity of subtropical marine and estuarine habitats. Steve is particularly interested in molluscs, and how these animals respond to natural and human-induced changes to their environment.

Dr Reid Tingley – reptiles and amphibians

Reid is a Research Fellow in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) at The University of Melbourne. Reid’s research combines field work with lab experiments and statistical modelling to understand how species traits and human activities influence the processes of invasion and extinction in amphibians and reptiles.