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

Geoengineering aims to intervene in Earth’s climate to fight global warming.

Geoengineering could pose grave dangers, potentially worse than the warming it seeks to remedy. To understand the risks, we’ve undertaken a risk assessment of this controversial technology.

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Photo of a Regent Honeyeater bird

Less than 80 years ago, regent honeyeaters ruled Australia’s flowering gum forests, with huge raucous flocks roaming from Adelaide to Rockhampton. Now, there are less than 300 birds left in the wild. Habitat loss has pushed the survivors into little pockets across their once vast range.

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An ecologist holds her dog, Zorro.

From tracking down hard-to-find owls to protecting bats, there’s nothing Zorro the detection dog can’t do.

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If a river could speak, what would it tell you? Climb aboard and be prepared to get wet.

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Picture of a Kangaroo

Australia needs to overhaul how overabundant kangaroos are managed, rather than letting them starve or be culled as pests, according to an expert from The Australian National University (ANU).

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