Lisa Ashby
candidate in Master of transdisciplinary innovation (MTrans.innov.) – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Rosalie Chapple, Shelley Alexander
An ecocentric perspective on the inner and social lives of wild canids in Australia
Lisa’s research seeks to document the individual lives of Australia’s wild canids, or ‘dingoes’, and unmask the consequences of lethal management practices on their social and cultural experiences. She will explore how the dominant anthropocentric view of wild canids shapes our capacity to provide space and safety for them to construct rich, stable lives and communities. Further, this will be contrasted with exploration of how ecocentrism might alter Australian perceptions and management of canids, and what benefits might accrue for wild canids and people alike. Science-based socio-ecological evidence will be gathered in the field and, combined with existing literature, will form a conceptualisation of the lived experiences of the canids using ecocentrism and compassionate conservation as its basis. Following recent interdisciplinary animal-culture research, Lisa’s observations of their sociality will be underpinned with empathetic insights to describe canid inner and social lives under different contexts. This will present a clear vision of the richness of their communities and lives, challenging us to rethink how humans might interact with canids in ways that recognise their agency and rights.
Prativa Bomzon
PhD candidate – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Rosalie Chapple
Contextualising free-roaming dogs as ecological beings in the eastern Himalayan foothills of India
Prativa’s research investigates the evolving relationships between humans, free-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris), and other wildlife. Specifically, she is interested in how street, community, and owned dogs become feralised and how this shapes their experiences and relationships. Working in the complex landscapes of her hometown of Darjeeling, India, her study examines how the framing of domestication and co-evolution with people shapes how free-roaming dogs are perceived and the ecological interactions they have with their own and other species. Using a range of ecological, sociological, and animal studies perspectives, Prativa hopes to unravel the socio-cultural barriers that inhibit coexistence between free-roaming dogs, people, and wildlife.
Jake Brown
PhD candidate – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Rosalie Chapple, Rodney Bennison
Birds in Newcastle: Can decolonial approaches to urban design promote cohabitation and multispecies flourishing?
Jake’s research examines the socio-ecological characteristics and affordances of street trees and urban greening in providing for the flourishing of more-than-human residents of cities. We implement a novel approach to contextualising the lived experience of bird species to explore how they cohabit with people in cities and to unravel urban design principles that may be utilised to improve the quality of life for resident and visiting birds. We focus on the city of Newcastle, a city that arose out of coalmining, but which is undergoing rapid transformation towards clean energy and circular economies. Connection to place and belonging are increasingly important themes in urban planning, especially via growing awareness of indigenous connections to Country and nature. Here we extend this awareness to more-than-human constituents, utilising Newcastle’s urban greening policy to broaden the discussion around who are cities for and how we cater for their needs.
Loic Juillard
PhD candidate – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Andrea Harvey, Eamonn Wooster
The influence of extreme weather on the ecology and welfare of eastern grey kangaroos in semi-arid rangelands
Loic’s research brings attention to the challenges faced by eastern grey kangaroos during heatwaves and droughts by focusing on a population living in the semi-arid rangelands of south-western Queensland. By focusing on their health, demography, space use (specifically shade and water use), and interactions with predators, he shows that the impacts of heatwaves and droughts on kangaroos are complex and may have major consequences for the survival of eastern grey kangaroo populations as extreme weather events intensify. Loic uses the findings to build a list of welfare indicators for assessing animal welfare in response to global warming.
Nynke Kooistra
PhD candidate – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Rosalie Chapple
Understanding the potential for street dogs to thrive in the bustling communities of India
Nynke’s research explores the links between the health and well-being of street dogs, local human communities, the physicality of different urban environments, and the institutional systems. It aims to assess levels of ‘thriving’ in street dogs using an index comprised of the conditions and key institutional factors that impact on dog well-being thus offering a more objective assessment of the potential for dogs to thrive, rather than merely survive, in the urban ecosystem. Her research takes a multidisciplinary approach by studying dog behaviour, health and well-being, social interactions among dogs and with humans, community attitudes and levels of care, and supporting systems and institutional frameworks with the aim to find an optimum suite of conditions for dogs to thrive.
Taylor McEvoy
MTrans.innov. candidate – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Rosalie Chapple, Erick Lundgren, Eamonn Wooster
Reframing the functional contributions of wild boar in coexistence narratives
Taylor’s interests include understanding how some normative constructs hinder efforts to create a more just and equitable society, and how this concept applies to wildlife conservation. This has prompted his research on wild boar (Sus scrofa), a species often considered as illegitimate and unwanted which then influences the social and ecological contexts of our understanding of them. His research explores social values expressed through language, wild boar ecosystem effects, trophic positioning, and behavioural and demographic variations in habitat use. In the context of the significant global loss of wild megafauna and large predators, Taylor’s multidisciplinary approach provides a holistic view of wild boar ecology and their socio-ecological context in an increasingly human dominated world.
Rashmi Singh
PhD candidate – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Rosalie Chapple
Socio-ecological transformations in the Indian trans-Himalaya: contextualising coexistence through multispecies relationships
Rashmi’s research focuses on the complex multispecies relationships that underpin socio-ecological systems. Transformation in these systems can drive positive change, but knowledge of how complex interacting parts affect one another is a considerable challenge that requires transdisciplinary thinking. As a global biodiversity hotspot, the trans-Himalayan region is struggling to balance the needs of its constituents and accommodate change. Through her doctoral research, she is focusing on transformations in human-canid and inter-canid relationships, particularly the free-ranging village dogs and wild canids like wolves and foxes. Already ecologically challenged, rural dogs are reportedly increasing in numbers in the Himalayan regions, and potentially driving novel interactions between the domestic canids, wild animals, livestock, and humans.
Margarita Steinhardt
PhD candidate – Supervisors: Susanne Pratt, Daniel Ramp
Evolutionary trajectories and historical processes that shape human-felid communities
Margarita’s research explores human-wildlife coexistence in shared multispecies landscapes with a specific focus on the Felidae (the cats) family. Combining perspectives from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, Margarita’s research seeks to understand what values, histories and relationships enable some human-felid communities to respectfully coexist while others are fraught with conflicts. Margarita’s first case study focuses on the interactions between Spanish naturalists and the charismatic Iberian lynx in the Southern Spain region of Andalusia. This work is driven by an interest in how nonhuman charisma shapes affective interspecies relationships between lay naturalists and the animals they are drawn to.
Deborah Sullivan
PhD candidate – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Kate Brandis, John Porter, Andrea Harvey
Optimising pelican health and well-being in a multi-stakeholder world
Deb’s research borrows from her expertise as a leading pelican biologist, seeking to address the complex relationship people have with these large waterbirds. Pelicans worldwide are at the interface between aquatic environments and human resource use, driving conflict between stakeholders that often results in the persecution of pelican populations. A bird’s physiological state contributes to its wellbeing, survival and reproductive success, however, knowledge of the physiology of the Australian pelican and the link between population dynamics, habitat characteristics and pressures from a peri-urban environment are poorly understood and underrepresented in scientific literature. Using a range of measures (blood chemistry, diet, and movement), Deb’s research aims to determine the health and wellbeing of pelicans in relation to the pressures of living in a peri-urban wetland environment.
Alex Trobec
PhD candidate – Supervisors: Daniel Ramp, Kenny Sabir, Luke Mathieson
Determining sustainability interventions to help improve the resilience of livestock farms against environmental perturbations
Alex’s research is part of the Foragecaster project, funded by the Food Agility CRC. Alex is a data scientist focused on sustainability practices that help farmers meet the growing demands of the global food system and biodiversity conservation. Alex has a National Industry PhD Scholarship from the Department of Education and he works full-time with AgriWebb, a key industry partner on the Foragecaster project. His PhD project investigates how livestock farms can increase long-term efficiency despite volatile rainfall and temperatures under global warming. While there is pressure to boost output by intensifying agriculture, farmers must also consider the environmental impacts of increased stocking load, including land deterioration and greenhouse gas emissions. His research will explore the relationship between farm productivity and environmental factors, identifying key drivers of resilience. This will help identify sustainable practices and holistic grazing management, providing farmers with the tools for informed, long-term decisions.
Our recent graduates
2022
- Gavin Bonsenspan PhD, Human-mediated landscapes of fear shape trophic cascades in shared desert ecosystems of the Middle East: elucidating the ecological roles of the Arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs)
- Louise Boronyak, PhD, Transformation from Conflict to Coexistence with Large Carnivores in Social-Ecological Landscapes
- Andrea Harvey, PhD, Wild horse welfare: Assessment and associations with population and behavioural ecology
- Esty Yanco, PhD, Towards morally-inclusive coexistence: Barriers, pedagogy, & opportunities for expansive conservation
2021
- Jianguo Li, PhD, The transport and accumulation processes of geochemical tracers in environmental compartments
- Erick Lundgren, PhD, Biodiversity and ecological function in an age of biotic redistribution
- Eamonn Wooster, PhD, Predator-prey interactions through the lens of coevolution and ecological context
2020
- Caitlin Austin, PhD, Life in the countryside: How human behaviour shapes fear in eastern grey kangaroos