Dean of Science

Professor Rob Whelan

Professor Whelan took up his appointment as Dean of Science at the University of Wollongong from 29 July 2002.

Professor Whelan was the Head of Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Wollongong from 1993 to 2000. In 2001, he was appointed Director of the newly established Institute for Conservation Biology at the University.

Rob joined the University in 1982 as a lecturer in Biology, having completed a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences at the Flinders University of South Australia (1970-'73), a PhD in Ecology at the University of Western Australia (1974-'78), and postdoctoral work at the University College of North Wales, Bangor (1978-'79) and the University of Florida, USA (1980-'81). In 1989, he was awarded a Fulbright Senior Fellowship to work in the United States.

At the University of Wollongong, Rob Whelan developed a large research group focussing on two main research programs - fire ecology and conservation biology. In each of these areas, he has been supported strongly by external funding from the Australian Research Council ($1.5 million) and other agencies ($370,000). He has worked in these research areas in eastern and western Australia, North America, the UK and Brazil.

By 2002, Rob Whelan had published 65 refereed articles and book chapters, numerous unrefereed articles and reports, and his research students and postdoctoral fellows have independently published 38 refereed papers, based on work in his research group. In 1995, he published a research monograph The Ecology of Fire (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge), reviewing the ecological effects of fire in ecosystems across the world.

Rob was a Council member of the Ecological Society of Australia and editor of its journal (The Australian Journal of Ecology) from 1984-'89, and then Vice President of the Society from 1996-'99. He served on the Editorial Board of Ecological Abstracts (Elsevier) from 1990-2000. He has had several responsibilities for the Australian Research Council, including the Research Training and Careers Committee (1995-'97), the Discipline Review of the Biological Sciences (1997-'98) and the Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Expert Advisory Committee (2001-03).

He has served on a number of government advisory committees including the NSW Govt. Forest Advisory Council (1996-2000) and the National Parks Advisory Council (1997-current).

Phone: 02 42213530
E-mail: rob_whelan@uow.edu.au