Luke is an ecologist dedicated to the conservation of Australia's herpetofauna, and species classified as Data Deficient by the IUCN Red List. Luke's PhD focuses on conservation of Australian skinks, with a key focus being to assign Data Deficient skinks to more specific conservation statuses. He hopes to reduce the number of herpetofauna classified as Data Deficient, and indeed his work has already resulted in a number of Data Deficient skinks be raised for threatened listings. In his spare time, Luke enjoys exploring Australia's diverse environments and is a wildlife photographer.

Animals (freshwater fishes in particular), ecology and evolution are my main interest in life. I'm currently a PhD researcher focusing on developing eDNA methods to detect rare threatened species of blind Cave Gudgeons (Milyeringa spp.) and their populations within groundwater systems of Northwestern Australia.

Natalia is a Brazilian tropical forest ecologist pursuing a PhD in plant ecophysiology at James Cook University. Her current research in the Daintree Rainforest investigates tree hydraulic traits and water use, encompassing biological interactions and drought-coping strategies in rainforest species not typically adapted to dry conditions. Her previous work in Brazil focused on the legacy of evolution on the ecosystem services provided by largely neglected tropical dry forests. Beyond academia, Natalia has worked as a consultant conducting forest inventories for environmental impact assessments in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. In her free time, she enjoys quiet weekends at home filled with cooking, crochet, music, and films.

Mr. Tomohiro Kuroita is a researcher at AdvanSentinel Inc., specializing in environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis and wastewater-based epidemiology. His research focuses on developing innovative eDNA concentration methods, with particular emphasis on improving the efficiency of species detection in aquatic environments.

John McEvoy is a quantitative ecologist at CSIRO specialising in spatial ecology, monitoring of endangered species, movement behaviour and evidence-based conservation approaches.