Rob Whelan
|
|
 |
Research Interests
Fire ecology
Plant-animal interactions - herbivory and pollination ecology
Conservation biology
Restoration ecology
Representative Publications
BOOKS
Whelan, R.J. (1995) The Ecology of Fire. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. (Reprinted 1997, 1998, 2001). 346 pp.
Ellis, S., Kanowski, P. & Whelan, R.J. (2004) COAG National Inquiry into Bushfire Mitigation and Management. Australian Government, Canberra. 415 pp.
SELECTED RECENT REFEREED ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS
Whelan, R.J. (2002) Don’t fight fire with fire. Nature 416, 15 [March 7]
Whelan, R.J., Rodgerson, L., Dickman, C.R. & Sutherland, E.F. (2002) Critical life cycles of plants and animals: developing a process-based understanding of population changes in fire-prone landscapes. pp. 94-124 in: Bradstock, R.A., Williams, J. and Gill, A.M. (eds) Flammable Australia: The Fire Regimes and Biodiversity of a Continent. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Whelan, R.J. (2003). Adaptive Management: What does it mean and how can it be used in fire management? In: Bushfire: Managing the Risk. NSW Nature Conservation Council, Sydney.
Whelan, R.J., Brown, C.L. & Farrier, D. (2004) The precautionary principle: what is it and how might it be applied in threatened species conservation? In: Hutchings, P., Lunney, D. and Dickman, C. (eds) Threatened Species Legislation: Is it Just and Act? Royal Zoological Society of NSW, Sydney.
Llorens, T.M., Ayre, D.J. & Whelan, R.J. (2004) Evidence for ancient genetic subdivision among currently fragmented populations of the endangered shrub Grevillea caleyi (Proteaceae). Heredity 94, 519-526.
Roberts, D.G., Ayre, D.J. & Whelan, R.J. (2005) Are Urban Plants Genetic Reservoirs or Threats to the Integrity of Bushland Populations? In press Conservation Biology
Whelan, R.J., Roberts, D.G. & Ayre, D.J. (2006) Interactions between native plants in urban gardens and surrounding bushland populations: potential for contamination? Biological Conservation 128, 493-500.
Searchable Publication List
Expanded Publication List (HTML)
Full list in Current CV (PDF 363k)
Current Students
PhD and Masters Research Students
Simon Heemstra
Measurement and long-term nature of patchiness in bushfires.
Dave McKenna
Demography and PVA of threatened Persoonia species. (co-supervised by David Ayre)
Mark Ooi
Ecological factors affecting conservation of endangered Leucopogon species.
Tanya Strevens
Powerline easements – measuring their ecological effects and predicting the magnitude of their impacts.
Andrew Denham
Processes affecting post-fire recruitment in shrub species.
Honours candidates 2006
Victoria Bennett
Effects of powerline easements on movements and behaviour of Antechinus stuartii
Kate Grarock
Yellow-bellied gliders and urban subdivision in the Shoalhaven region.
Suggested Topics for Future Students
Fire ecology – impact of various aspects of fire regime on plant populations
Conservation biology – the responses of pollination effectiveness, plant reproductive success and fitness to disruption of plant populations by various factors associated with habitat fragmentation: reduced population size, increased isolation, disruption to pollination guilds.
Abbreviated CV
1973, BSc (Hons) - Flinders University of South Australia
1974, Research Officer, Elder Smith-Goldsbrough Mort
1974-78, PhD - University of Western Australia
1978-79, Postdoctoral - Uni. College of North Wales, Bangor.
1980-81, Archie Carr Research Fellow, Dept of Zoology, Uni. of Florida, Gainesville, USA.
1982-93, Lecturer to Associate Professor - Biology Department, University of Wollongong
1989, Fulbright Senior Award, Fire Ecology. San Diego State University, California
1993-2000, Professor and Head of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong
2001-2002 Director of Institute of Conservation Biology and Law - Uni. of Wollongong
2002 - Present, Dean of Science Faculty, Uni. of Wollongong
1996-2000, NSW Govt. Forest Advisory Council
1996-2004, NSW Govt. National Parks Advisory Council
2003-2004, Panel member, COAG National Inquiry into Bushfire Mitigation and Management
Involvement in Professional Societies
Ecological Society of Australia
[1984-'95 Editor and Editorial Board member, Australian Journal of Ecology; 1993-'99 Vice-President]
Ecological Society of America
Society for Conservation Biology
Australian Institute of Biologists
Australasian Pollination Ecologists' Society
Linnean Society of New South Wales
|
