Academic
I’m a Professor of Urban Ecology in the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences and Director of the Office for Environmental Programs at The University of Melbourne. I led the NESP Hub for Clean Air and Urban Landscapes (CAUL) from 2018 to 2021.
My research interests include:
• urban ecology
• ecology and conservation biology of amphibians
• animal behaviour
• ecological ethics
Author
In addition to my academic publications, I’m a writer of fiction and creative non-fiction. I study Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT University.
ACTIVITIES
E-book: Cities for People and Nature
The CAUL Hub launched an interactive e-book, Cities for People and Nature, in late 2020. It showcases the hub’s work across five themes: Cities are Indigenous places; Air quality; Urban greening; Urban biodiversity; and Future cities. The book features beautiful artwork by Dixon Patten of Bayila Creative.
Article: Sensory pollution and the biodiversity crisis
Creative non-fiction meets academic writing in this short piece on sensory pollution (chemical, noise and light pollution) and its many potential impacts on biodiversity. Published in The Ecological Citizen in 2019.
Fiction: Interview with a granite boulder
My first piece of published fiction appeared in Overland 239 (Winter 2020). The eponymous boulder, Ken, brings much wisdom and perspective to the big issues of our time.
Text book: Ecology of Urban Environments
In 2016, I published Ecology of Urban Environments (Wiley Blackwell). Designed as a text book for upper-level undergraduate and Masters students, it also provides an accessible introduction to urban ecology for researchers, urban practitioners and policy-makers. Keep an eye out for the Chinese edition, to be published this year by Wuhan University Press!