Two swift parrot chicks sit in the hands of an ecologist.

Biodiversity & conservation

The Fenner School is a world-leading centre for interdisciplinary research on the conservation and management of Australia’s distinctive biodiversity.

About

The Fenner School is a world-leading centre for interdisciplinary research on the conservation and management of Australia’s distinctive biodiversity.

Our innovative research is helping to stem the rate of species endangerment and extinction by informing best practice management and policy for long-term biodiversity conservation.

Groups

An eastern bettong.

We are a lab group at the Fenner School of Environment and Society researching conservation in the context of rewilding, genetics, translocations, and species coexistence. Led by Professor Adrian Manning, we aim to understand and restore ecosystems, prioritising species that shape landscapes and promote biodiversity.

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Two researchers doing field work on a forest floor in Tasmania.

The Difficult Bird Research Group (DBRG), led by Prof. Rob Heinsohn at the Fenner School, ANU, seeks to promote understanding of the ecology and conservation of Australia’s rarest and most elusive threatened bird species. Such species are often hard to find, occur in wild and rugged terrain, and move around the landscape, and are consequently put in the ‘too hard basket”; however the DBRG develop new cutting edge techniques that address the challenges posed by these species, and apply the knowledge gained to manage them more effectively.

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A researcher kayaks down a river in a yellow inflatable raft.

It's crucial that we as a society communicate the huge importance of this system, celebrate its majestic wonder - and continue efforts to preserve and encourage river stewardship for future generations.

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A student takes notes at the edge of a dam with eucalyptus trees and kangaroos in the distance.

Sustainable Farms draws upon research programs across the Australian National University, focussing on three key research topics: Healthy Farms, Healthy Farmers, and Healthy Profits.

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Projects

A PhD project is available to conduct research on insect biodiversity in the temperate grassy woodlands of New South Wales.

Student intake

Open for PhD students

Researchers at the Fenner School have been working in the Tumut and nearby Nanangroe regions west of Canberra for 25 year. The work is exploring the impacts on biodiversity of plantation establishment on semi-cleared farmland.

Student intake

Open for Bachelor, Honours, Masters, PhD students

People

This research looks at the identifying the costs and benefits of different trade off options so that governments in particular, and societies more broadly, can take better informed decisions around water use in China & SE Asia.

People

  • David Dumaresq

Members

Academic staff

Dr Fernanda Alves de Amorim

Postdoctoral Fellow

A picture of Dr Elle Bowd. She wears framed glasses, and has long gold-blonde hair. Behind her head and shoulders is a blurred bushland landscape.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

John Evans looks at the camera. He wears a black polo shirt.

Research Fellow

Photo of Claire Foster

Research Fellow

Affiliate

Honorary Senior Lecturer

Suzi Bond cups a butterfly in her hands

Honorary Senior Lecturer

Honorary Professor

Honorary Senior Lecturer

Honorary Associate Professor

Honorary Associate Professor

Honorary Senior Lecturer

Student

News

To any informed reader, the idea of farming cold-ocean seabirds in the Australian desert is mind-numbingly silly. But this hypothetical idea helps us better understand how environmental governance in Australia has gone badly wrong.

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Ecologists fear the widespread loss of native mistletoe due to drought could leave nectar-feeding birds even more vulnerable.

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Campaigners warn of ‘disturbing trend’ of proposed mines falling just below the threshold requiring environmental impact statement

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What does it take to bring an extinct species back from the dead? Well, sometimes — a Woman's Day magazine.

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The Black Summer bushfires devastated greater glider habitat across south-eastern Australia but researchers hope a new nesting box will help aid their recovery.

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Henry Nix was a consummate environmentalist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Australian landscape and an abiding passion for the conservation. He directly enabled the development of world leading researchers and contributed mightily to the awareness of environmental issues across the ANU and the wider community.

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