Aaron originates from Aotearoa (New Zealand) and brings with him a background in biodiversity management, conservation, and freshwater ecology. Since moving to Australia he has completed a Masters of Ecosystem Management and Conservation at the University of Melbourne. During this time, he worked as a research assistant in the Forest Hydrology group undertaking soil infiltration experiments in areas burned in the 2020 bushfires. Aaron is now completing a PhD with FLARE. He is investigating structural characteristics, fire behaviour and ecosystem services of forest which have transitioned to an alternative state due to repeated short-interval fires. Aaron is using areas of transitioned forest in Wilsons Promontory as a case study landscape. He is also advising and undertaking field surveys for the ecological restoration of two transitioned forest blocks.

Ellie Nichols is a PhD candidate at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, based in the Choat lab. Her research focuses on the physiology underlying eucalypt dieback under drought and heat stress, with an emphasis on resilience and recovery. She is passionate about integrating field-based research into forest management within the context of a changing environment

Dr Renée Marchin Prokopavicius is a plant ecophysiologist who has studied the effects of warming, drought, and heatwaves on plants growing in urban forests, temperate forests, and subalpine grasslands. Her research aims to determine which species succeed in changing environments by measuring plant functional traits related to growth and survival survival – leaf gas exchange, transpiration, phenology, high temperature tolerance, drought tolerance.

Katinka is a research scientist with interests including climate change impacts on forest health, in particular drought and heat -induced forest die-off; and improving the success of forest restoration techniques.

Amy Smart is a PhD student at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE) with a strong interest in Gondwana rainforest ecology. Her previous research focused on cool temperate rainforests, where she examined biotic interactions influencing the reproductive success of Nothofagus moorei. This included studying seed predation, regeneration strategies, and the effects of vertebrate disturbance on seedlings, deepening the understanding of the complex reproductive dynamics within these ancient systems. Currently, Amy’s research expands to investigate the resilience of Gondwana rainforests across New South Wales, spanning cool temperate, warm temperate, and subtropical communities, within the World Heritage-listed Gondwana rainforests of NSW. She focuses on how these forests respond to increasing drought stress and bushfire risk and is studying their recovery following the major fires of 2019–2020. Through her work, Amy aims to advance scientific understanding of how climate extremes are impacting even the most long-lived and resilient forests, providing insights to support the effective conservation and management of these globally significant ecosystems.

I am a PhD Candidate at the ANU, where I study the spatial distributions of species and niche dynamics. My research interests include biogeography, evolutionary ecology, macroecology, conservation planning, and management. Previously, I worked as a field ecologist for both private and public organisations in the ACT region.

Mnqobi Zuma is a forest ecologist and PhD candidate at Murdoch University’s Harry Butler Institute. He has over five years of experience as a research forester in a pine breeding program at Mondi in South Africa and holds a Master of Science in Biocontrol Solutions for Plant Health from Université Côte d’Azur in France. His doctoral research explores how fire, drought, and Phytophthora cinnamomi interact to shape plant–soil feedbacks and influence ecosystem recovery in the Northern Jarrah Forest of southwestern Australia. His particular interest is in how soil fungi mediate these feedbacks and contribute to forest resilience under compounding disturbance.