A/Prof Linterman's key research area is the Environment, with particular emphasis on fish, conservation, threatened species, pest fish and aquatic management.
He has previously been President of Australian Society for Fish Biology (2005-2007), and is a former convenor of the Threatened Fishes Committee and the Alien Fishes Committee in the same society. He is a past chair of the IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group, Oceania Region.