Bats have symbolised everything from insanity to good luck. A new book explores their place in our collective imagination.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University
I’ve had the privilege of getting a sneak preview of a movie called The Gateway Bug, which is a documentary about feeding humanity in an uncertain age. It will be shown in Melbourne next weekend as part…
A couple of days ago I published an article with Peter Green about the imminent release of a tiny wasp that will be used for biological control of a bug that feeds the crazy ants that kill red crabs on…
In the coming weeks, Parks Australia will release a 2mm wasp on Christmas Island to control the island’s yellow crazy ant infestation.
There is big news in the world of lichens. These slow growing organisms have long been known to be a collaboration between a fungus and a photosynthetic algae or cyanobacteria. A recent publication in…
I am so proud of our recent publication, mostly because it has been a long time coming. We received an Australian Research Council grant in the year 2000 to work on this so it has taken us some time to…
Yesterday’s announcement of funding for a National Carp Control Plan – including the release of the carp herpes virus – has generated a lot of interest in the media. I welcome plans to release the virus…
An article published this week in Nature Biotechnology may require me to make a few changes to next week’s lectures on Mendelian genetics. An international group of geneticists have found people who have…
I recently wrote about how important it is to be able to identify plants and animals. Knowing the names of species that live around us helps us to connect to nature. Yes, you can enjoy greenery and birdsong…
You might think that scientists are rational, logical creatures, but it turns out we are biased and lazy. A recent publication by Trish Fleming and Phil Bateman in Mammal Review has analysed how research…
I have recently been made abundantly aware of the lack of field skills among biology students, even those who major in ecology. By field skills we mean the ability to identify plants and animals, to recognise…
Last October, I attended a symposium about managing biodiversity in Victoria under climate change. One of the outcomes of that conference is a new website called VicNature 2050, which provides a list of…
Everyone wants to give Australian carp the herpes virus. That’s right, introduced carp are a serious pest species and research suggests that a viral control agent may be the most effective solution. I…
If you haven’t heard of the Lord Howe Island stick insect, you have missed out on one of the most remarkable conservation stories of the decade. This week’s news is that breeding colonies of Australia’s…
Last night I was watering the garden with a hose. It is easy to see how stressed the plants are on a 38 degree day, but then I remembered that the animals in my garden need water too. So I filled some…
I have had cause recently to look up the meaning of the word “aggrieved”, in response to my own discontent about the Australian Federal Government’s proposal to change environmental laws. The result has…
The top 10 new species for 2015 include a crop-circling fish, a murderous wasp, and an animal that’s got scientists confounded.
If we want to use scientific thinking to solve problems, we need people to appreciate evidence and heed expert advice. But the Australian suspicion of authority extends to experts, and this public cynicism…
The top ten species of 2014 have been released by the International Institute for Species Exploration. They include a snapshot of diversity on our planet, provide an insight into the process of science…
Scientists at La Trobe University published a study this week about a protein found in the flowers of ornamental tobacco plant that targets human cancer cells and destroys them. This raises the prospect…
An article published last month in the Animal Studies Journal presents a nuanced view of animal research from the perspective of a scientist whose research sought a humane method for killing feral cats…
The good news just keeps on coming for the mountain pygmy-possum population at Mt. Buller. A recent article in Wildlife Australia by Ian Mansergh, Dean Heinze, Andrew Weeks and Louise Perrin as well as…
Over a year ago I wrote an article in this column saying that the marine parks were good news, even for recreational fishers and the fishing industry. Last Friday, the Abbott government announced that…
Most of us have never heard of Ctenophores, or comb jellies, but this is about to change. In a publication out today in Science, a team of researchers in the computational genomics unit at the National…
I have written about the freshwater crayfish of Australia before in this column, but I have not told you that one of the special things about them is the animals that rely on crayfish. There are two ways…
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