Kerrie A. Wilson

Kerrie A. Wilson

"I am a conservation ecologist with a particular interest in applied conservation resource allocation problems, such as where to invest limited resources to protect biodiversity, to restore habitat, or the manage systems. My research program requires an understanding of both the ecological and socio-economic context and has lead to the development of frameworks and decision support tools to inform how funds should be allocated between different activities to maximise conservation outcomes. My research program also focuses on the analysis of uncertainty (with a particular focus on the impact of climate change and other institutional and socio-political factors that influence the likelihood of investment success), landscape dynamics (e.g. the evaluation of land use scenarios and threatening processes), and biodiversity benefit (e.g. how to maximise resilience in restoration and ways to account for multiple benefits such as ecosystem service delivery)."

"Previously in my role as Director of Conservation for The Nature Conservancy-Australia program, I worked with a diverse array of organizations and individuals to develop and implement broad-scale conservation strategies, focusing primarily on Mediterranean systems, the northern savannahs, and the arid zone region of central Australia. Currently Hugh, Atte Moilanen, and I are co-editing a book on spatial conservation prioritization, which will be published by Oxford University Press during 2009. In 2003 I submitted my PhD thesis titled "Incorporating data uncertainty and vulnerability into the selection of protected areas" through The University of Melbourne. My PhD research was focused on developing procedures to incorporate uncertainty and vulnerability into forest conservation planning through assessment of two case studies, one in the temperate forests of the Valdivian ecoregion of south central Chile and one in the Box-Ironbark region of Victoria. I completed my undergraduate studies at The University of Queensland where I did a Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Science (Honors)."