Plenary Keynotes Wednesday 22 June 9am-10.30am
Dr Dave Choquenot manages biological science for Landcare Research in New Zealand. He is also co-appointed with the University of Auckland as a Professor in the Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity; a University-Landcare Research Graduate School. Prior to moving into these roles, Dave has held a number of science leadership positions with Government agencies in New Zealand and Australia, and has undertaken research on vertebrates (introduced and indigenous) in both of these countries, and in other parts of the world. Dave’s research interests focus on trophic interaction, conservation pest management, and the interface between science and policy. Dave also holds the difficult role of belligerent Wallabies supporter in Auckland, for which he anticipates ample pay-off toward the end of this year!
Dr Grant Singleton is a Senior Scientist with the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. Since 2005 he has been the coordinator of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC); a consortium that currently has activities in ten countries in Asia. Previously he was at CSIRO, Australia, for 23 years. The IRRC focuses on natural resource management of rice production in the agricultural lowlands. Grant is an ecologist and an international leader on ecologically-based rodent management, a concept he developed in the late 1990s and is now adopted in 25 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. He is associate editor of “Wildlife Research”, and “Human Wildlife Interactions”. He is a lead author/editor of 7 books including two published in November 2010 – “Rodent outbreaks: Ecology and Impacts” and “Research to impact: Case studies for natural resources management of irrigated rice in Asia”.
Prof Chris Dickman has long been fascinated by patterns in the distribution of living things, and by factors such as invasive pest species that affect biological diversity. His current work focuses on populations and communities of small vertebrates in arid environments, and on a range of projects in applied conservation and management. As part of his ‘day job’ as an ARC Professorial Fellow, Chris has been a prolific trainer of postgraduates, supervising 41 Honours, 31 Masters and 51 PhD students over the last 25 years. He has written or edited 20 books and monographs and authored a further 290 journal articles and book chapters. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Troughton Medal from the Australian Mammal Society and the Merriam Medal from the American Society of Mammalogists. He was the inaugural chair of the NSW Government Scientific Committee from 1996 – 2002.
Andreas Glanznig is the CEO of the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre – Australia’s largest integrated pest animal program – and is currently leading its bid to be extended for another five years. His career transverses science management, policy advocacy and development, and strategic communications. Former roles include leading the World Wildlife Fund’s biodiversity policy program, which put national NGO focus on invasive species and played a driving role in biosecurity policy reform such as closing loopholes in Commonwealth quarantine laws, and securing new funding and a policy focus on island eradications. His keen interest in the role of social marketing and communications was accompanied by positions on UN and World Conservation Union expert groups, and was partly a reaction to working in the Commonwealth environment department on Australia’s biodiversity strategy and the challenges of mainstreaming a national policy program.