I am a Kiwi-Canadian ecologist who seeks to contribute to research which conserves threatened species and ecosystems. I spend as much time as I can in the field in New Zealand, Africa and now Australia.
Currently, I am a PhD candidate with the University of Melbourne in the Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group. My research is part of the National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) and is focused on improving the methods and metrics used in biodiversity offsetting. The aim of my project is to improve our ability to cope with necessary or inevitable development projects by analyzing the metrics being used in offsetting, ultimately to increase the use of those metrics which best promote biodiversity persistence. My supervisors for this project are Brendan Wintle and Heini Kujala. Our project will contribute to the growing global effort to slow the rate of biodiversity lost to development and hopefully contribute to local management efforts.
In 2015 I completed my honours degree at the University of Auckland. My research was focused on the native, and iconic Blue Duck or whio in Maori. This project was focused on integrating juvenile dispersal behavior of this species with local management decisions regarding spatial prioritization of predator control. My supervisor for this project was Todd Dennis.
I just moved to Australia from New Zealand so stay tuned for more on what I get up to in this beautiful country……
Here is me hanging with a sugar glider until then!
Erica Marshall's Research 