Caitlin is a early career ecologist at Arid Recovery. She oversees the ecological monitoring program and works with other staff to set research priorities.

Dr Lauren Young is the Chief Executive of Arid Recovery, an independent, not-for-profit conservation organisation in arid South Australia. Lauren has 15 years of experience across arid, tropical, and subtropical environments. She has led research on community ecology, threatened species, and invasive species management across northern and central Australia.

I am a PhD candidate at Deakin University in the evolutionary ecology field. My PhD project shows I enjoy long walks on the beach (hoodie fieldwork), treasure hunting (locating highly camouflaged hoodie scrapes and eggs), chasing birds (surveying escape behavioural responses), watching birds (identifying band IDs of individual hoodies), and stalking birds online (obtaining hoodie locations and breeding activity data using BirdLife Australia’s citizen science Beach-nesting Bird monitoring program).

Dr David Taggart completed his PhD at Monash University on the Life history and Reproductive biology of Marsupial Carnivores, then took up a research position at the Institute of Zoology (London). Since then he has worked at several Australian Universities / Wildlife institutions, including 11 years as Principal Scientist with ZoosSA. David has >30 years’ experience conducting field-based wildlife conservation and research projects across Australia. He has broad expertise on marsupial ecology, reproduction, assisted breeding, conservation and reintroduction biology, with specific expertise on wombats, rock-wallabies / other macropods, koalas and a wide variety of marsupial carnivores. David has published extensively in his field and is an active member of several state and national Threatened Species Recovery Teams. David is passionate about the conservation of Australia’s unique native wildlife and in bringing together diverse expertise and innovative techniques to halt species decline and improve ecosystem health and resilience at the landscape scale. David currently works as an Associate Professor of Wildlife Biology and Conservation with the University of Adelaide, and as Principal Scientist with Fauna Research Alliance, a wildlife NGO.

Angie Symon is a conservation intern with Zoos Victoria, working with the Threatened Species team to support the recovery of Victoria's most endangered species. Within the internship, Angie has focused on translocations of the critically endangered helmeted honeyeater and monitoring their success in the wild. Before her work with Zoos Victoria, Angie completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Honours) at Deakin University, investigating the foraging ecology of the eastern barred bandicoot across its translocated range in Victoria. Following her internship, Angie hopes to pursue further research and is particularly interested in invertebrates, mesopredators and trophic dynamics.

Luke Emerson is a Research Fellow at the University of Newcastle, where he works within the Conservation Science Research Group led by Professor Matt Hayward. He contributes to a NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub project focused on improving management of feral cats and foxes in priority landscapes. Luke recently completed his PhD on large carnivores, investigating their spatial behaviour, foraging ecology, and niche dynamics. Beyond big teeth and claws, he is fascinated by the broader ecological factors that influence wildlife populations and shape communities—work that aims to inform conservation in our rapidly changing, human-dominated world. His research seeks to understand how and why biological communities are structured in space and time, by examining habitat selection, competition, coexistence, species abundance, and ecological relationships. Luke has received multiple academic awards and research grants, supporting fieldwork across Australia, New Zealand, and Belize. Before his PhD, Luke worked at the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research in Victoria, contributing to studies on threatened arboreal marsupials such as Leadbeater’s possum and the southern greater glider. Whether deploying camera traps, tracking predators, or analysing data, Luke’s work is driven by a curiosity about what shapes wildlife communities—and how we can better conserve them.

Natalie is an honours student with the Threatened, Rare, Endemic Plant Ecology Research Group in the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW Sydney, Australia. Her honours project is focused on investigating the ecology of a critically endangered shrub species, Bossiaea fragrans. This includes examining its seed ecology, life history strategies linked to fire, breeding systems, and looking at the relationship between maternal climate and seed production and quality to ultimately support the informed management and conservation of the species. She is passionate about the ecology and conservation of threatened native plants, with particular interest in seed and pollination ecology, and their relationship with plant population dynamics and restoration.

As an aquatic ecologist I have had the opportunity to work in diverse Australian freshwater systems, from the NSW Northern Rivers, to rivers and wetlands of the Murray Darling Basin and Far North Queensland. My PhD with the University of New England has given me the opportunity to contribute to the knowledge and conservation of ephemeral Upland Wetlands of the New England Tablelands, which are a unique Threatened Ecological Community. Upland Wetlands face significant threats due to changing land use and management is impeded by knowledge gaps in their ecology and the ecosystems services they provide across the surrounding heavily cleared and grazed agricultural landscape. Now in the final stage of my PhD, I intend to pursue positions in research that will continue to inform the conservation and management of aquatic systems.

After majoring in sociology as an undergrad, Ariana’s interests pivoted to wildlife and conservation biology. She received a Masters of Science in Wildlife Conservation and Management from the University of Arizona, where she studied the impact of riparian conservation on the expansion of a top predator, the gray hawk. In her PhD, she is continuing to examine avian responses to riparian habitat quality and is particularly interested in the potential for microclimates to buffer species against climate change.

Shannon Kleemann is a recent PhD graduate from the University of Adelaide. Her research has focussed on investigating the impacts of drought and a drying climate on the health and breeding of southern hairy-nosed wombats across decades and how this will impact species management under climate change. She has also conducted studies on seasonal habitat selection and microbiome of southern hairy-nosed wombats and is involved in research on the reintroduction biology and population ecology of rock-wallaby species. She has experience in field ecology, wildlife genetics, and statistical analysis.

I am a joint researcher at UNSW Sydney and Taronga Conservation Society Australia, dedicated to the conservation of the platypus. My work spans ecological research, population monitoring, and community outreach, with a strong focus on using science to guide conservation efforts and engage the public. I’m passionate about protecting Australia’s unique wildlife and inspiring curiosity about the natural world through education and experience.