Biodiversity & conservation
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
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.
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.
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.
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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Academic staff
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Honorary Senior Lecturer
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News
The first aerial survey since the catastrophic 2019 bushfires has found that the number of wild horses in the Kosciuszko National Park has fallen by more than a quarter. But Professor Jamie Pittock says scientifically they are not statistically significantly different from the 2019 pre-fire survey.
In 2020 - the year of shutdowns and lockdowns - Fenner School Director Dr Saul Cunningham decided to pursue developing genetic labs at the School, and sought out an expert to invite into the School’s scientific community. He found Dr Linda Neaves.
NSW will triple the size of its feral-free sanctuaries as it steps up efforts to bring back marsupials previously wiped out by threats such as cats and preserve other endangered creatures.
Australia's beautiful and elusive palm cockatoos, are expected to more than halve in number in the next 50 years, according to new research from the ANU.
Researchers at The Australian National University found quolls can hunt small mammals, invertebrates, birds, reptiles, frogs and fish in a new study.
When Fenner Masters graduate Yiwen Chen led a review of irrigation in the Murray Darling with Prof. Jamie Pittock, Dr. Matthew Colloff and Dr Anna Lukasiewicz, she didn’t expect her findings to become a national news headline.
Events
Managing farm dams, freshwater wetlands, and wastewater lagoons for carbon and biodiversity benefits
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.