Dr. Shaun Coutts
Post-doctoral Researcher
I use spatially explicit models of spread to explore how localised initial plant populations become large, widespread, invasive populations. I investigate the phenomenon of plant spread on both homogeneous and heterogeneous landscapes. I am also interested in complex dynamic landscapes where the weed and the landscape interact with each other as the invasion progresses.
I am currently a project member of RIRDC ‘Multiple Land Managers’ project and postdoctoral researcher with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED).
Email: s.raymond@uq.edu.au
Location: Room 262, Goddard Building 8
Dr. Rob Salguero-Gomez
Post-doctoral Researcher
My work explores diverse evolutionary/ecological questions using a wide array of biological disciplines: anatomy, ecophysiology, demography and comparative biology. These are some of the questions that motivate my research (i) What strategies allow desert plants to cope with extreme stochastic conditions and how will climate change affect their future performance? (ii) do modular organisms senesce or not and, if so, under what phylogenetic, architectural and environmental conditions? (iii) what are the main axes of demographic variation across the plant kingdom? (iv) are ecological trade-offs (e.g. survival and reproduction) weaker in modular organisms compared to unitary species? (v) do anatomical constraints and physiological mechanisms modulate population dynamics?
In addition to my current position as a postdoc at UQ, I am a visiting scholar of the Max Planck Society (Germany), where I am the supervisor of two sister databases containing taxonomic, phylogenetic, biogeographic, ecological and demographic information (i.e. projection matrices and integral projection models): the ComPADRe III & ComADRe databases currently contain ca. 900 plants and over 1000 animal species, respectively. See [link] for more information.
Email: r.salguero@uq.edu.au or salguero@demogr.mpg.de
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/robresearchsite/
Fleur Maseyk
PhD Student (Supervision)
In recent years, I have been involved in strategic terrestrial biodiversity management within local government in New Zealand. Key projects of mine include: regional biodiversity policy development, the development and implementation of a prioritisation and site selection process to optimise biodiversity outcomes using public money, and strategic pest management. I am currently the practice leader – ecology with The Catalyst Group (www.thecatalystgroup.co.nz).
My PhD research is concerned with the ecosystem services provided by ecological interactions between soils and woody vegetation within farming landscapes. I am interested in how the provision of these services can be quantified and evaluated, what externalities change that provision and how, and how this information can be used to inform policy and land management decisions.
Email: f.maseyk@uq.edu.au
Yi Han
PhD Student (Supervision)
I completed my Master of Science degree in the field of Conservation Biology at the University of Queensland, and am now embarking on my PhD with Assoc. Prof. Yvonne Buckley.
My PhD research aims to investigate the possible consequences of the eradication of non-indigenous species which are part of an ecosystem with multi-species interactions. Hopefully, my work will help conservation agencies to conduct more effective eradication methods suitable for complex situations.
Email: y.han2@uq.edu.au
Location: Room 401, Goddard Building 8
Hao Ran Lai
Research Assistant
I assist Assoc. Prof. Yvonne Buckley with her research projects and the day-to-day management of the lab. I am also a BSc (Hons I) Ecology major graduate. My research project, which I am still actively working on, investigates the impact of land use changes on the natural regeneration of Australian rainforest along the east coast climatic gradient (from north QLD to NSW). I am generally interested in land rehabilitation and conversation ecology.
Email: hao.lai@uqconnect.edu.au
Location: Room 258, Goddard Building 8
Danielle Sisson
Honours Student (Supervision)
I finished my undergraduate degree at UQ in 2012, with a major in Zoology. I have an interest in conservation and in learning new ways to better manage the environment. I’ll be doing an Honours year with the Buckley Lab. I will look at microscopic algae, called diatoms, being used as an environmental indicator, and the level to which they need to be identified in order to make environmental management decisions about different habitats.
Email: danielle.sisson@uqconnect.edu.au
Location: Room 260, Goddard Building 8
Rebecca Harris
Honours Student (Supervision)
I am an honours student in The University of Queensland’s Bachelor of Environmental Science (Natural Resources) under the supervision of Yvonne Buckley and Jennifer Firn (QUT). My research will involve setting up a new Nutrient Network observational and experimental site. This will involve determining the effects of site productivity on invasion and plant diversity and analysing other Australian NutNet site data. I also previously completed a UQ Summer Research Scholarship with the Buckley Plant Ecology Lab in the summer of 2011-2012 under the supervision of Shaun Coutts and Yvonne Buckley.
Email: rebecca.harris2@uqconnect.edu.au
Location: Room 260, Goddard Building 8
Kristylee Marr
Honours Student (Supervision)
I am an honours student in The University of Queensland’s Bachelor of Environmental Science (Ecology). My interests are population ecology and conservation. This year my research will involve building a species distribution model for the Australian native Senecio pinnatifolius. This species shows various morphology depending on the habitat it occupies. A species distribution model will allow us to explore the relationship between probability of occurrence and abiotic factors, and whether the relationship varies with habitat type. This project is a collaboration between Assoc. Prof. Yvonne Buckley and Dr. Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos.
Email: kristylee.marr@uqconnect.edu.au
Location: Room 260, Goddard Building 8
Claire Wainwright
PhD Student (Associate Supervision)
I recently completed my M. Sci degree at UC San Diego, and am now embarking on my PhD in the Mayfield Plant Ecology Lab at the University of Queensland.
My PhD research examines the impacts of synergistic environmental changes on the formation of novel species assemblages, focusing on annual wildflower communities found in fragmented landscapes in Western Australia’s agricultural wheatbelt. In particular, I hope to determine the extent to which biotic interactions such as competition and facilitation interact with environmental factors to influence abundance patterns in these diverse plant assemblages.
Email: claire.wainwright@uq.net.au
Location: Room 260, Goddard Building 8
Vuong Nguyen
PhD Student (Associate Supervision)
My project will evaluate the Multivariate Auto-Regressive(1) State-Space (MARSS) framework for use in plant population viability analysis. This framework attempts to address two issues with using time series of population abundances: 1) Logistical/funding constraints often lead to unequal time intervals; 2) Count data often have an unknown observation error. I am using toy datasets based on data from the Simpson Desert to determine the appropriateness of the MARSS model in handling missing values, short time series lengths, stochastic extremities, environmental covariates and the inclusion of a seed stage as a separate time series of abundances before applying the model to real data to estimate population trends.
Email: pngu4751@uni.sydney.edu.au
Location: University of Sydney
Kristin ‘Bluey’ Donaldson
PhD Student (Associate Supervision)
My PhD project looks at the effects of vegetation change and management on the ecology and health of the endangered bridled nailtail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata).
Email: blueydonaldson@gmail.com
Oliver Robertson
PhD Student (Associate Supervision)
Email: o.roberston@uq.edu.au
Buckley Ecology Lab 