ProfessorCatherine Herbert

Project Opportunities

Title: Developing an evidence-base to inform post-fire wildlife provisioning of food, water, and shelter

Summary of opportunity:

The Wildlife Assist project will experimentally assess post-fire provisioning of food, water, and/or shelter for native species. This data aims to provide a scientific evidence-base to inform on-ground actions following natural disasters across Australia. A key outcome of this research will be greater national preparedness to respond to disasters and a greater understanding of appropriate and meaningful on-ground actions. Supporting the regeneration of ecosystems, especially threatened species, following natural disasters is an evolving field of research. The results of this project will provide new understanding in the fields of conservation, animal health, and ecology; informing government policy, and improving animal and ecological welfare in Australia.

Opportunity synopsis:

The Wildlife Assist project will experimentally assess post-fire provisioning of food, water, and/or shelter for native species. This data aims to provide a scientific evidence-base to inform on-ground actions following natural disasters across Australia. A key outcome of this research will be greater national preparedness to respond to disasters and a greater understanding of appropriate and meaningful on-ground actions. Supporting the regeneration of ecosystems, especially threatened species, following natural disasters is an evolving field of research. The results of this project will provide new understanding in the fields of conservation, animal health, and ecology; informing government policy, and improving animal and ecological welfare in Australia.

Wildlife Assist is a collaborative project led by A/Professor Cathy Herbert at The University of Sydney. Partners include the University of New England, RSPCA Australia, and Taronga Conservation Society Australia. This ecology PhD project will be supervised by A/Prof. Herbert and Dr John Martin (Taronga), with input from the collaborative team. The candidate will have to apply for a PhD scholarship through The University of Sydney. In parallel, a social ecological postdoc position (funded part-time) and a social science PhD position will be advertised.

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Project Opportunities

Title: After the bushfire catastrophe: Recovering our missing marsupial species

Summary of opportunity:

Many of us watched in horror as the Black Summer fires caused devastation for people and wildlife alike. Here is your opportunity to help direct future wildlife rescue efforts! This project aims to assess the outcomes of wildlife rehabilitation practices through monitoring rehabilitated animals after release into the wild and comparing survival outcomes to those of control animals at the release sites.

Opportunity synopsis:

The research project, funded by the Morris Animal Foundation, will determine the survival of marsupials rehabilitated following bushfire induced injury or ill-health. Working collaboratively with wildlife carers, the successful candidate will determine if post-release survival outcomes are correlated with specific intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including severity/type of injury, time in care, degree of habituation to humans, individual personality, sex and release habitat, for at least two common marsupial species. By identifying the factors correlated with successful release outcomes, this research will help wildlife carers to develop an evidence-based framework for marsupial rehabilitation in Australia.

Internal collaborators and potential co-supervisors at the University of Sydney include: Prof. Chris Dickman, Prof. Clare McArthur, Dr Tom Newsome and Dr Rachael Gray. 

----------Current Research Projects----------

Ecology and Management of Peri-urban Kangaroo Populations, including:

• Non-lethal Management of Coffs Harbour Kangaroos by Fertility Control (in collaboration with Coffs Harbour City Council and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service)
• Ecology and Management of Kangaroos at Nelson Bay Golf Course (in collaboration with Nelson Bay Golf Club)

Providing a scientific evidence base to support volunteer wildlife carers (in collaboration with WIRES, NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Inc.)

Reproductive management of Tasmanian devils within the DPIPWE-ZAA Insurance Population: Implementing a new approach (in collaboration with the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment and the Zoo and Aquarium Association)