Fields of Research

Forestry fire management
Landscape ecology
Occupational and workplace health and safety
Epidemiology
Environmental epidemiology
Environmental management
Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation
Terrestrial ecology
Pollution and contamination
Atmospheric aerosols
Public health
Meteorology
Fire ecology
Forest ecosystems
Population ecology
Climate change processes
Palaeoecology
Global change biology
Biogeography and phylogeography
Social geography
Ecosystem function
Health services and systems
Respiratory diseases
Community child health
Adverse weather events
Conservation and biodiversity
Human impacts of climate change and human adaptation
Genetics
Ecology
Preventative health care
Air pollution processes and air quality measurement
Natural hazards
Data management and data science
Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology)
Ecological physiology
Air pollution modelling and control
Infant and child health
Forestry biomass and bioproducts
Tourism
Environmental rehabilitation and restoration
Software engineering
Applied statistics
Tree improvement (incl. selection and breeding)
Natural resource management
Infectious diseases
Wildlife and habitat management
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology
Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology
Service oriented computing
Machine learning
Forestry management and environment
Historical, comparative and typological linguistics
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, society and community
Environmental engineering
Human geography
Environmental assessment and monitoring
Disaster and emergency management
Communications engineering
Data communications
Risk engineering
Surface water hydrology
Environment policy
Spatial statistics
Allergy

Research Objectives

Public health (excl. specific population health)
Terrestrial biodiversity
Natural hazards
Climatological hazards (e.g. extreme temperatures, drought and wildfires)
Ecosystem adaptation to climate change
Effects of climate change on Australia (excl. social impacts)
Health protection and disaster response
Air quality
Climate change adaptation measures (excl. ecosystem)
Assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems
Native forests
Clinical health
Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in terrestrial environments
Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems
Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems
Neonatal and child health
Understanding climate change
Climate variability (excl. social impacts)
Evaluation of health outcomes
Atmospheric processes and dynamics
Evaluation, allocation, and impacts of land use
Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in coastal and estuarine environments
Other environmental management
Information systems, technologies and services
Prevention of human diseases and conditions
Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences
Soils
Atmospheric composition (incl. greenhouse gas inventory)
Air quality, atmosphere and weather
Rehabilitation or conservation of terrestrial environments
Expanding knowledge in history, heritage and archaeology
Preventive medicine
Carbon and emissions trading
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connection to land and environment
Native and residual pastures
Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
Harvesting and transport of forest products
Environmentally sustainable commercial services and tourism
Hardwood plantations
Weather
Electronic information storage and retrieval services
Expanding knowledge in engineering
Understanding the impact of natural hazards caused by climate change
Global effects of climate change (excl. Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and the South Pacific) (excl. social impacts)
Government and politics
Artificial intelligence

Career Best Publications

Research Publications

'This crisis has been unfolding for years': 4 photos of Australia from space, before and after the bushfires
A comparison of two generic trap types for monitoring mosquitoes through an annual cycle in tropical Australia; American Mosquito Control Association. Journal
A review of approaches to monitoring smoke from vegetation fires for public health ; Air Quality and Climate Change
A transdisciplinary approach to understanding the health effects of wildfire and prescribed fire smoke regimes; Environmental Research Letters
A warmer world will reduce tree growth in evergreen broadleaf forests: evidence from Australian temperate and subtropical eucalypt forests; Global Ecology and Biogeography
Abrupt fire regime change may cause landscape-wide loss of mature obligate seeder forests; Global Change Biology
AirRater Tasmania: Using smartphone technology to understand local environmental drivers of symptoms in people with asthma and allergic rhinitis; Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Ambient particulate matter and paramedic assessments of acute diabetic, cardiovascular, and respiratory conditions; Epidemiology
Ambulance dispatches and heatwaves in Tasmania, Australia: A case-crossover analysis; Environmental Research
Analysis of seasonal and interannual river flows affecting whitewater rafting on the Franklin River in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area; Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism
AQVx - an interactive visual display system for air pollution and public health; Frontiers in Public Health
Associations between respiratory and vascular function in early childhood; Respirology
Associations between respiratory health outcomes and coal mine fire PM_2.5 smoke exposure: a cross- sectional study; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Australian forests, megafires and the risk of dwindling carbon stocks; Plant Cell and Environment
Bioclimatic drivers of fire severity across the Australian geographical range of giant Eucalyptus forests; Journal of Ecology
Biological responses to the press and pulse of climate trends and extreme events; Nature Climate Change
Biomass consumption by surface fires across Earth's most fire prone continent; Global Change Biology
Blending multiple nitrogen dioxide data sources for neighborhood estimates of long-term exposure for health research; Environmental Science and Technology
Bushfire in Tasmania: a new approach to reducing our Statewide relative risk
Bushfire Preparedness and Risk Reduction in Hobart Pilot Study 2019 Final Report
Bushfires in Tasmania, Australia: An Introduction; Fire
Can air quality management drive sustainable fuels management at the temperate wildland–urban interface?; Fire
Can public spaces effectively be used as cleaner indoor air shelters during extreme smoke events?; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Can smartphone data identify the local environmental drivers of respiratory disease?; Environmental Research
Can trophic rewilding reduce the impact of fire in a more flammable world?; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences
Carbon dioxide and particulate emissions from the 2013 Tasmanian firestorm: implications for Australian carbon accounting; Carbon Balance and Management
Cattle grazing does not reduce fire severity in eucalypt forests and woodlands of the Australian Alps; Austral Ecology
Cause and effects of a megafire in sedge-heathland in the Tasmanian temperate wilderness; Australian Journal of Botany
Characterising non-linear associations between airborne pollen counts and respiratory symptoms from the AirRater smartphone app in Tasmania, Australia: A case time series approach; Environmental Research
Climate change amplifications of climate-fire teleconnections in the Southern Hemisphere; Geophysical Research Letters
Climate-induced variations in global wildfire danger from 1979 to 2013; Nature Communications
Climate-vegetation-fire interactions and feedbacks: trivial detail or major barrier to projecting the future of the Earth system?; Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
Coal-mine fire-related fine particulate matter and medical-service utilization in Australia: a time-series analysis from the Hazelwood Health Study; International Journal of Epidemiology
Cohort Profile: The Hazelwood Health Study Latrobe Early Life Follow-Up (ELF) Study; International Journal of Epidemiology
Community-wide distribution of a catalytic device to reduce winter ambient fine particulate matter from residential wood combustion: a field study; PLoS One
Comparing the height and area of wild and prescribed fire particle plumes in south-east Australia using weather radar; International Journal of Wildland Fire
Creating an Integrated Historical Record of Extreme Particulate Air Pollution Events in Australian Cities from 1994 to 2007 ; Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association
Did central Australian megafaunal extinction coincide with abrupt ecosystem collapse or gradual climate change?; Global Ecology and Biogeography
Did fine particulate matter from the summer 2016 landscape fires in Tasmania increase emergency ambulance dispatches? a case crossover analysis; Fire
Does inherent flammability of grass and litter fuels contribute to continental patterns of landscape fire activity?; Journal of Biogeography
Double-differenced dNBR: combining MODIS and Landsat imagery to map fine-grained fire MOSAICS in lowland Eucalyptus savanna in Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia; Fire
Early life exposure to coal mine fire and tobacco smoke affect subclinical vascular function; Archives of Disease in Childhood
Early life exposure to coal mine fire smoke emissions and altered lung function in young children; Respirology
Environmental hazards and behavior change: User perspectives on the usability and effectiveness of the AirRater Smartphone App; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Environmental niche modelling fails to predict Last Glacial Maximum refugia: niche shifts, microrefugia or incorrect palaeoclimate estimates?; Global Ecology and Biogeography
Evaluating user preferences, comprehension, and trust in Apps for environmental health hazards: Qualitative case study; JMIR Formative Research
Evolution of a pyrocumulonimbus event associated with an extreme wildfire in Tasmania, Australia; Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
Experimental comparison of aerial larvicides and habitat modification for controlling disease-carrying Aedes vigilax mosquitoes; Pest Management Science
Exposure to air pollution during the first 1000 days of life and subsequent health service and medication usage in children; Environmental Pollution
Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during landscape fire events and the risk of cardiorespiratory emergency department attendances: a time-series study in Perth, Western Australia; Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Extensible database of validated biomass smoke events for health research; Fire
Fertility partially drives the relative success of two introduced bovines (Bubalus bubalis and Bos javanicus) in the Australian tropics; Wildlife Research
Fine particulate matter exposure and medication dispensing during and after a coal mine fire: a time series analysis from the Hazelwood Health Study; Environmental Pollution
Fire is a major driver of patterns of genetic diversity in two co-occurring Tasmanian palaeoendemic conifers; Journal of Biogeography
Fire regimes of Australia: a pyrogeographic model system; Journal of Biogeography
Fire regimes: moving from a fuzzy concept to geographic entity
Fire risk and severity decline with stand development in Tasmanian giant Eucalyptus forest; Forest Ecology and Management
Fire weather risk differs across rain forest–savanna boundaries in the humid tropics of north-eastern Australia; Austral Ecology
Fire, herbivores and the management of temperate Eucalyptus savanna in Tasmania: introducing the Beaufront fire – mammalian herbivore field experiment; Ecological Management & Restoration
Geographic patterns of fire severity following an extreme Eucalyptus forest fire in Southern Australia: 2013 Forcett-Dunalley fire; Fire
Giant Eucalypt forests - A globally unique fire-adapted rain forest
Giant eucalypts – globally unique fire-adapted rain-forest trees?; New Phytologist
Global combustion: the connection between fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions (1997-2010); Royal Society of London. Philosophical Transactions. Biological Sciences
Global increase in wildfire risk due to climate-driven declines in fuel moisture; Global Change Biology
Health impacts of ambient biomass smoke in Tasmania, Australia; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Human exposure and sensitivity to globally extreme wildfire events; Nature Ecology & Evolution
Human-environmental drivers and impacts of the globally extreme 2017 Chilean fires; Ambio
Humid tropical rain forest has expanded into eucalypt forest and savanna over the last 50 years; Ecology and Evolution
Impact of high-severity fire in a Tasmanian dry eucalypt forest; Australian Journal of Botany
Impact of vertical atmospheric structure on an atypical fire in a mountain valley; Fire
Is anthropogenic pyrodiversity invisible in paleofire records?; Fire
IVG Forest Conservation Report 3B
Late 20th century mangrove encroachment in the coastal Australian monsoon tropics parallels the regional increase in woody biomass ; Regional Environmental Change
Local and global pyrogeographic evidence that indigenous fire management creates pyrodiversity; Ecology and Evolution
Mapping Tasmania's cultural landscapes: using habitat suitability modelling of archaeological sites as a landscape history tool; Journal of Biogeography
Measurement of inter- and intra-annual variability of landscape fire activity at a continental scale: the Australian case; Environmental Research Letters
Megafire-induced interval squeeze threatens vegetation at landscape scales; Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Modelling smoke distribution in the vicinity of a large and prolonged fire from an open-cut coal mine; Atmospheric Environment
Monitoring contrasting land management in the savanna landscapes of northern Australia; Environmental Management
Multi-decadal stability of woody cover in a mesic eucalypt savanna in the Australian monsoon tropics; Austral Ecology
Neighbourhood bushfire hazard, community risk perception and preparedness in peri-urban Hobart, Australia; International Journal of Wildland Fire
Palaeoendemic plants provide evidence for persistence of open, well-watered vegetation since the Cretaceous; Global Ecology and Biogeography
Particulate matter modelling techniques for epidemiological studies of open biomass fire smoke exposure: a review; Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health
Population collapse of a Gondwanan conifer follows the loss of Indigenous fire regimes in a northern Australian savanna; Scientific Reports
Post-fire restoration of Sphagnum bogs in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Australia; Restoration Ecology
Predicting the future range and abundance of fallow deer in Tasmania, Australia; Wildlife Research
Predicting the minimum height of forest fire smoke within the atmosphere using machine learning and data from the CALIPSO satellite; Remote Sensing of Environment
Preface: special issue on wildland fires; Land
Productivity and biomass of Australia's rangelands: towards a national database; Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland
Projecting canopy cover change in Tasmanian eucalypt forests using dynamically downscaled regional climate models; Regional Environmental Change
Pyrogeographic models, feedbacks and the future of global fire regimes; Global Ecology and Biogeography
Radial growth response to climate change along the latitudinal range of the world's southernmost conifer in southern South America; Journal of Biogeography
Report for the Independent Verification Group of the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement on Tasmania's eucalypt diversity
River flows are a reliable index of forest fire risk in the temperate Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Australia; Fire
Roof cavity dust as an exposure proxy for extreme air pollution events; Chemosphere
Satellite-based comparison of fire intensity and smoke plumes from prescribed fires and wildfires in south-eastern Australia; International Journal of Wildland Fire
Save the world’s forest giants from infernos; Nature
Shifts in macropod home ranges in response to wildlife management interventions; Wildlife Research
Simulating the effectiveness of prescribed burning at altering wildfire behaviour in Tasmania, Australia; International Journal of Wildland Fire
Smoke pollution must be part of the savanna fire management equation: a case study from Darwin, Australia; Ambio
Smoke pollution must be part of the savanna fire management equation: A case study from Darwin, Australia; Ambio
Soil moisture thresholds for combustion of organic soils in western Tasmania; International Journal of Wildland Fire
Southern Annular Mode drives multicentury wildfire activity in southern South America; National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America. Proceedings
Spatial and temporal variation in precipitation at the start of the rainy season in tropical Australia; Rangeland Journal
Tasmanian heat wave history and forecasting
Tasmanian Heat Wave History and Forecasting
The fuel moisture index based on understorey Hygrochron iButton humidity and temperature measurements reliably predicts fine fuel moisture content in Tasmanian Eucalyptus forests; Fire
The macroecology of airborne pollen in Australian and New Zealand urban areas; PLoS One
The potential for gene flow from exotic eucalypt plantations into Australia's rare native eucalypts; Forest Ecology and Management
The relationship between particulate pollution levels in Australian cities, meteorology, and landscape fire activity detected from MODIS hotspots; PL o S One
The relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the decline of obligate seeder forests; Global Ecology and Biogeography
The roles of statistical inference and historical sources in understanding landscape change: the case of feral buffalo in the freshwater floodplains of Kakadu National Park; Journal of Biogeography
The severity and extent of the Australia 2019-20 Eucalyptus forest fires are not the legacy of forest management; Nature Ecology & Evolution
The use of Australian bioregions as spatial units of analysis to explore relationships between climate and songbird diversity; Pacific Conservation Biology
The value of local heatwave impact assessment: a case-crossover analysis of hospital emergency department presentations in Tasmania, Australia; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Trajectory of change in land cover and carbon stocks following European settlement in Tasmania, Australia; Anthropocene
Unprecedented health costs of smoke-related PM_2.5 from the 2019–20 Australian megafires; Nature Sustainability
Using digital technology to protect health in prolonged poor air quality episodes: a case study of the AirRater App during the Australian 2019–20 fires; Fire
Using multi-decadal satellite records to identify environmental drivers of fire severity across vegetation types; Remote Sensing in Earth Systems Sciences
Using permanent forest plots to evaluate the resilience to fire of Tasmania’s tall wet eucalypt forests; Forest Ecology and Management
Using permanent forestry plots to understand the possible effects of climate change on Australia's production forest estate
Using smartphone technology to reduce health impacts from atmospheric environmental hazards; Environmental Research Letters
Using the Spatial Population Abundance Dynamics Engine for conservation management; Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Victorian Wood Heater Inventory Report
Water, land, fire, and forest: Multi-scale determinants of rainforests in the Australian monsoon tropics; Ecology and Evolution
What do the Australian black summer fires signify for the global fire crisis?; Fire
What do you mean, 'megafire'?; Global Ecology and Biogeography
What limits the distribution and abundance of the native conifer Callitris glaucophylla (Cupressaceae) in the West MacDonnell Ranges, central Australia?; Australian Journal of Botany
Whole range and regional-based ecological niche models predict differing exposure to 21st century climate change in the key cool temperate rainforest tree southern beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii); Austral Ecology
Wildfires: Australia needs national monitoring agency; Nature
Yes, the Australian bush is recovering from bushfires – but it may never be the same

Research Projects

A TFS app to empower landowners to prepare, act and survive bushfires; Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management [TAS] (DPFEM)
An assessment of the viability of prescribed burning as a management tool under a changing climate - Stage 2; Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management [TAS] (DPFEM)
Assessing inflammatory responses to smoke-derived particles following short term exposure among asthmatics; Centre for Air Quality and Health Research Evaluation (CAR)
Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC Scholarship for Mercy Nelima Ndalila; Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC (BNHCRC)
Can portable air cleaners protect health?; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Characterizing fire behaviour in Tasmanias wet forest types through improved models; Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC (BNHCRC)
Determining moisture thresholds for combustion of organic soils for key vegetation types in western Tasmania; Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management [TAS] (DPFEM)
Developing a pathway for reducing the peri-urban backyard bushfire hazard in Hobart; Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management [TAS] (DPFEM)
EOI 5 Community Impacts of Smoke; Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC (BNHCRC)
Fire risk forecasting in space-time using physics-aware machine learning; Australian Research Council (ARC)
National Environmental Research Program 2: Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub - NESP 2; Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (DAWE)
NESP 2 Sustainable Communities and Waste hub : IP4; Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (DAWE)
The legal, technical and administrative framework for public release of Firewatch; Tasmanian Community Fund (TasCF)
The Social and Biophysical Effects of Alternative Strategies to Reduce Bushfire Danger in Hobart; Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management [TAS] (DPFEM)
The UTAS Smoke Lab: A request for CAR to fund essential equipment for an Australian facility for inter-disciplinary air quality research; Centre for Air Quality and Health Research Evaluation (CAR)
Towards integrated forecasts of pollen and smoke exposure: a Tasmanian pilot of the CSIRO CTM; Centre for Air Quality and Health Research Evaluation (CAR)
Understanding and ameliorating the human health effects of exposure to air pollution: from knowledge to policy and public health practice; National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Understanding the global distribution of the tropical savanna biome; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Understanding the impacts of high-intensity fire on the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (HWRE)
Using pre and post LIDAR to assess the severity of the 2019 Tasmanian Bushfires; Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC (BNHCRC)
Visiting Scholarship for Sarah Henderson, UBC; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
AirRater Darwin app
AirRater in the ACT 2021 to 2023
AirRater in the NT - 2021-2023
AirRater NT Health air quality analysis
Alpine Peatlands Fire Risk Mitigation Planning
AQVx (Air Quality Visualisation)
Assessment of areas of significance for the conservation of Tasmania's eucalypt genetic resources and locations of evolutionary refugia within possible high conservation Tasmanian eucalypt forest
Assessment of fire refugia of possible high conservation Tasmania eucalypt forest and literature review of ecology of gigantic eucalypt forests
Assessment of fuel treatments for bushfire risk reduction in Tasmania
DHHS Tasmania Heatwave Warning System
Evaluation of AirRater
How well can we track population exposure to smoke in southwest WA using the AirRaterSmoke smartphone app?
Nationally integrated air quality forecasting and dissemination - AirRater, AQVx and AQFx
OzAirRater: Evaluation of AirRater as a public health surveillance system
OzAirRater: Evaluation of AirRater as a public health surveillance system
OzAirRater: Investigating smoke, pollen and meteorological hazards in ACT
Peat - Thresholds of Combustion in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
Sense-T Stage 2: AirRater
Statistical identification of the direction, rate and magnitude of tree cover change in the Ranger lease area within Kakadu National Park, NT
Update Victoria's Air Pollution Inventory
Using geographic information systems to apply fire break guidelines in the Hobart City Council area

Research Candidate Supervision

Anthropogenic Transformations of the Eucalyptus C3 Savannahs of the Tasmanian Midlands