George Olah
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About
George Olah is a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow at the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society.
During his research career, Dr Olah has focused on tropical ecology, conservation genetics, and used cutting-edge next-generation sequencing technology to study modern and museum samples of birds for their conservation management.
His research has allowed him to advance knowledge about conservation genetics in the context of the interacting environmental and anthropogenic threats. In order to transform this generated scientific knowledge into conservation action, he believes it is essential to communicate with a broader audience via publicly accessible sources and directly with decision makers.
At the wider community level, Dr Olah is a very passionate science communicator and wildlife documentary filmmaker at Wildlife Messengers and the BBC Natural History Unit.
Affiliations
- Difficult Birds Research Group, Researcher
Research interests
I am a conservation ecologist and DECRA fellow with a strongly interdisciplinary research profile. My work integrates conservation genetics, tropical ecology, and archaeology to study both past and present ecosystems. I specialize in the molecular ecology of parrots (Psittaciformes), applying next-generation sequencing to modern, museum, and ancient specimens. My current research utilizes forensic genomic techniques to study the illegal wildlife trade and ancient DNA (aDNA) to reconstruct historical human-wildlife interactions. Drawing on my background in wildlife documentary filmmaking for blue-chip natural history series, I am also deeply committed to translating complex scientific discoveries into compelling visual narratives for global audiences.