Postdocs

Debbie Saunders
since 2013

Funded by NSW SOS Grant.

I am an ecologist with a passion for wild creatures and wild places. My most recent project is a collaboration NSW Government to protect the state's Swift Parrot population. The project will take place over a 10-year project to protect threatened species and will focus on the western slopes habitats in the Riverina and drought refuge habitat on the Central Coast. I will conduct research on the swift parrots' changing use of habitats over the past 20 years, as well as the implications for land management in relation to changing climate. My past projects include an Australian Research Council Linkage Project with international partner Loro Parque Fundación, which provide multi-scale insights into the breeding biology and migration ecology of the endangered swift parrot. I shed new light on habitat requirements, reproductive success, mortality, disease prevalence and migratory movements of this small migrant to enable optimal conservation strategies to be developed and more effective land management to be implemented. In order to better understand the movements of small animals that move dynamically through the environment or inhabit rugged or inaccessible terrain, I also worked with the Australian Centre for Field Robotics and Loro Parque Foundacion to adapt cutting-edge drone technologies for robotic aerial-tracking of small, radio-tagged wildlife. By delving into the world of robotic drones, I shed light on the movements of many species that have previously proved elusive due to the challenges of their variable movements across vast landscapes or their habitats that are difficult to access on the ground. Following on from this research I have co-founded Wildlife Drones, a start-up company providing highly efficient and unique animal radio-tracking services using drones.