Matthew McDowell

Dr Matthew McDowell researches the palaeontology and palaeoecology of late Quaternary Australian native vertebrates He has studied fossil assemblages collected from Eyre, Yorke and Fleurieu Peninsulas, the Naracoorte caves, Strzelecki desert and Kangaroo Island regions of South Australia and the Kimberley, Pilbara, Great Victoria Desert and Gibson Desert regions of Western Australia. Dr McDowell's PhD focused on the effects of climate change and isolation on the fauna of Kangaroo Island over the last 50,000 years, a time during which sea-level rose ~125 m, isolating KI from the mainland. Matt's research provides insight into the pre-European distribution of native mammals and is used by natural resource managers to better protect threatened species, determine which animals can be reintroduced to an area and which animals are invasive (even if they're native).