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

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

Australians are now being urged to embrace the native bird just as we do with our koalas and kangaroos. Urban ecologist and ibis expert Matthew Chard told The Morning Show that he hopes perspectives on the Aussie icon change when people learn more about the birds.

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As a climate scientist watching the most destructive bushfires in Australian history unfold, Joelle Gergis feels like she is witnessing the collapse of the biosphere.

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Charles Massy

Fenner School PhD Charles Massy was featured in Australian Story (ABC) with a biopic about his life as farmer and researcher a regenerative agriculture.

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Professor Peter Kanowski, Professor David Lindenmayer, and Dr John Dargavel from the Fenner School spoke with Radio National's Rear Vision on ABC Radio National about Australia's forest wars.

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A new booklet from Sustainable Farms highlights ten projects that farmers can undertake to improve the health of natural assets on farms – such as dams, shelterbelts or riparian areas.

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There are now attempts to manage the rangeland goat to become a major commodity, but can these wily creatures be managed and harvested in Australia?

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Events

A serene rural dam with still, dark water reflecting a blue sky and scattered white clouds. The bank in the foreground is edged with dry grasses and reeds, and contains a plastic crate holding a yellow portable pump hooked up by hoses to a floating sampling device resting on the water. On the opposite shore, gently sloping pasture is dotted with eucalyptus and other native trees under a partly cloudy sky
Friday, 22 Aug 2025, 12 - 1pm

Teal carbon ecosystems are freshwater wetlands, like lakes, ponds, farm dams and reservoirs. Equivalent to blue carbon (coastal wetlands), they can regulate greenhouse gases and mitigate the effects of climate change.

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