Keynote speakers

PROF. RUTH WALLACE

Professor Ruth Wallace is the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Arts & Society at Charles Darwin University. Ruth was the first woman to be awarded the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Agriculture and Life Sciences Scholarship. Her research interests relate to the links between identity, marginalised learners, and the development of effective learning and workforce development pathways. This work is situated in regional and remote areas of Northern Australia and Indonesia, with a specific focus in research approaches to improve service delivery and adaptation, undertaken with Aboriginal people in remote and regional areas. Ruth’s research connects to digital systematic learning pedagogies, and approaches to workforce development through remote-based enterprises. Ruth leads the workforce development research theme of the Northern Institute at Charles Darwin University and focuses on collaborative approaches to workforce development and engagement with community, governments and industry that are sustainable and scalable. Ruth has extensive experience in educational practice development and as a teacher at all educational levels.

PROF. HELEN ROY

Professor Helen Roy MBE Hon. FRES, is an ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Her research focuses on the effects of environmental change, particularly biological invasions, on biodiversity and ecosystems. Helen leads many collaborative national and international research projects on biological invasions with a focus on enhancing information flow to inform understanding of the impacts of invasive alien species. She is leading research for the EC on enhancing understanding and awareness of invasive alien species. Helen also enjoys science communication and public engagement with research, which led to her interest in citizen science; an approach that she has implemented in a number of contexts perhaps notably the collaborative studies she has led alongside volunteers to track the spread of the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis. Helen leads a Defra-funded project to produce a comprehensive information portal on non-native species in Great Britain, which also includes annual reports on status and trends of invasive alien species and the development of an alert system for people to report sightings of concern. Over the last few years she has had the privilege of working with the UK Overseas Territories to predict and prioritise invasive non-native species. Her research on invasive non-native species has received international recognition and she is currently leading a global assessment on invasive non-native species for the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

PROF. PHILIP HULME

Proffesor Philip Hulme is the Distinguished Professor of Plant Biosecurity at Lincoln University, New Zealand and Director of the Centre for One-Biosecurity Research, Analysis and Synthesis (COBRAS). His research interests span the biosecurity continuum and addresses pathways of introduction, invasive species risk assessment, dispersal and spread as well as impacts on ecosystems, and designing effective management strategies. He has examined invasions in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems examining the invasion of New Zealand by fungal pathogens, weeds and mammals. He is keen to see a more integrated and transdisciplinary approach to invasion science under the umbrella of One Biosecurity.

DR. KEVIN LAFFERTY

Doctor Kevin Lafferty is a senior scientist with the US Geological Survey and adjunct faculty at the University of California Santa Barbara. He studies marine diseases and has long been interested in the role of species introductions and the ecology of climate change and infectious disease. Kevin’s main research interests lie in how parasites affect ecosystems and, in turn, how ecosystems affect parasites. He is also involved in research on the conservation of marine resources, investigating strategies for protecting endangered shorebirds, fish and abalone. He has also assessed the effects of marine reserves.