I’m a postdoctoral researcher in the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne. My research focuses on how natural and human-caused disturbances affect the ecological dynamics of species, communities and landscapes; and using this knowledge to support management and conservation decisions.
I have a particular interest in fire and invasive species: two key threatening processes for biodiversity conservation. Managing fire to reduce risks to human life and property, while supporting biodiversity, poses a major challenge for land management. Invasive species commonly interact with and or benefit from changing disturbance regimes, thus the efficient prioritization of control effort is an issue of increasing importance.
My current position is funded by an ARC Linkage Project, Spatial solutions fire ecology project (led by Dr Luke Kelly), where I’m linking participatory scenario planning with simulation modelling of fire and biodiversity change in two real-world landscapes. The project is a collaboration between Melbourne University, La Trobe University and the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. In the fire simulation modelling I’m collaborating with Assoc. Prof. Trent Penman.
I’m also a Chief Investigator on ARC Linkage project Integrating fire and predator management to conserve threatened species (led by Prof. Brendan Wintle). And co-supervise Vishnu Ramachandran Menon.
I completed my PhD in 2017 at the University of Melbourne, where I investigated how to optimally manage fire to conserve animal communities and plant populations in the mallee of south-eastern Australia.
If you’re interested in my research or in collaborating please contact me at:
kmgi@unimelb.edu.au or k.giljohann@gmail.com
+61 3 9035 7852
Kate Giljohann 