John Llewelyn is an ecologist, evolutionary biologist, and modeller at Flinders University. His research focuses on how organisms adjust to their environment—ranging from trait shifts in fish over hundreds of millions of years to contemporary responses (or lack thereof) of tetrapods to human-driven change. He has studied topics such as the impacts of cane toads on native predators, the drivers of Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions, and climate adaptation in lizards and snakes. John's research experience includes behavioural and ecophysiological studies in the lab, fieldwork across Australia, and the refinement of modelling techniques. He values collaborative research and has enjoyed working closely with both students and established researchers.

Professor Shokoofeh Shamsi is a biologist at Charles Sturt University with a deep interest in the relationships between species, particularly parasitism, one of the most intimate and influential forms of interaction in nature. Her research focuses on understanding the ecological and evolutionary roles of parasites across wildlife, aquaculture, and fisheries systems. With a background in both veterinary and medical parasitology, she explores how parasites shape biodiversity, influence host populations, and impact ecosystem health. Professor Shamsi is a strong advocate for including parasites in mainstream ecological research and conservation planning. She is a Fellow of the Australian Society for Parasitology and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Marine and Freshwater Research.

I have a Bachelor of Environmental Science with First-Class Honours at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). I completed my honours as a student within Andy Leigh's plant physiology and ecophysiology lab at UTS. This abstract presents a part of my honours research I conducted over the past year. I am currently writing this work up as a manuscript for publication.

Professor David M Watson is an ecologist committed to evidence-based strategies to boost biodiversity and is based at Charles Sturt University where he leads the Environmental Programme at the Gulbali Institute. His current research programme encompasses historic biogeography, landscape ecology and wildlife monitoring across arid, temperate and tropical systems. Dave completed his PhD in the USA, studying birds in Central American cloud forests, returning to Australia to teach ornithology and set up his research programme in regional NSW. Mistletoe has long been a focus, revealing those ecological interactions and landscape features essential for maintaining diverse and functional ecosystems. Research highlights include establishing the Australian Acoustic Observatory, demonstrating the role of mistletoe as an ecological keystone and discovering a swag of undescribed species on isolated tropical mountains. As a board member of the Great Eastern Ranges and a founding member of the Slopes-to-Summit regional partnership, he works with landholders, Indigenous partners and philanthropists to connect people to country.

John is a plant ecologist interested in the ways that disturbance shape communities through the traits of plants - in this talk, resistance and tolerance traits are the focus . He has addressed these questions in grassy ecosystems that have been subjected to grazing, fire and abandonment, from sea-level to the highest mountain..

Emily is a second-year PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle's Centre for Conservation Science. Her research focuses on the occupancy, movement ecology and diet of small forest macropods in northern NSW.