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

Affiliate

Libby Robin holding her book.

Emeritus Professor

Honorary Senior Lecturer

Richard Thackway

Honorary Associate Professor

Brian Walker looks at camera

Honorary Professor

Honorary Professor

Image of Ian White

Emeritus Professor

George Wilson

Honorary Professor

Academic staff

Senior Research Fellow

A researcher holds a superb parrot chick on his finger and smiles. He is wearing a red safety helmet.

Research Fellow
Co-Chair Fenner IDEA Committee

Albert stands in a woodland.

Professor

Research support

Picture of Kiarrah Smith

Researcher

Executive committee

A researcher holds a superb parrot chick on his finger and smiles. He is wearing a red safety helmet.

Research Fellow
Co-Chair Fenner IDEA Committee

News

An aerial image of a logged forest area in Victoria.

Fenner researchers, Maldwyn John Evans, Chris Taylor and Prof David Lindenmayer explain what needs to be done to restore Victoria’s forest after logging.

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A bush stone-curlew hiding behind a tree with a radio transmitter on its back.

Twenty-four bush stone-curlews will be reintroduced to the wild on Phillip Island to help the species regain a foothold in Victoria, where it is critically endangered.

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A regent honeyeater on a branch in the bush.

A hidden threat facing one of Australia’s most iconic birds has been uncovered in a new study led by researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Dr Ross Crates from Fenner.

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We are all about wicked problems.

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A patchwork of spinnifex grass in a red desert environment.

Since colonisation, cultural burning in the Great Sandy Desert ended. Now the work of caring for desert country (pirra) with fire (jungku, or warlu) has begun again.

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roo

Two PhD opportunities are available to examine kangaroo populations, management practices, and their impact on biodiversity and rangeland ecosystems

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