ABSTRACT
It’s 5 o’clock in the morning and the world is slowly waking up. The faint echo of early morning traffic can be heard: the squeal of trains and rumble of cars pepper the soundscape as early commuters pass through the urban matrix. The neighbours’ kitchen lights turn on, dogs are walking their owners, and rubbish trucks are completing their routes. It is also the time of day when birds are beginning their dawn chorus, possums are crawling back to roofs to settle in for their day’s rest, kangaroos are discreetly mowing lawns around the edges of towns and bats are returning to their roosts in the city parks. Once pristine, animals’ homes have now transformed into concrete jungles, rolling suburbs and seas of farmland sprinkled with small, fragmented patches of remnant native vegetation or human-engineered parks. Thriving in these new urban environments is no easy feat. Yet, hidden in plain sight and often going unnoticed, animals are undergoing changes in their behaviour, physiology, and morphology to survive an urban life. In this seminar, I will focus what my work on eastern water dragons has taught us about urban evolution. 

BIOGRAPHY 
I am an ARC Future Fellow based at the University of Queensland. I received my PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of New South Wales and have previously held a lectureship at the University of Exeter UK and Research Fellowship at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

My research group focusses on how animals respond to rapid environmental change (koalas, water dragons, crocodiles, dolphins, etc). In particular, we aim to identify the genetic, physiological and behavioural consequences of anthropogenic pressures on animals (including disease).

I have a significant applied focus and have delivered applied research for state and local governments.