The Australasian Chapter Advisory Board – formed June 2016

From left to right: Prof Paul Roe, Dr Susan Fuller, Dr Simon Linke, Jo Wood, Dr Toby Gifford, Michael Maggs, Dr Michael Towsey, Mark Calder (missing Dr Leah Barclay).

President – Jo Wood – Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority

Jo is a Wetland and Environmental Water Project Officer with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority in Shepparton, Victoria. Jo has conducted ecoacoustic monitoring since 2008 within wetlands in the Goulburn Broken Catchment. Jo began acoustic monitoring after attending a seminar that Prof. Stuart Gage gave at the Department of Primary Industries. She monitors the response of wetlands to environmental watering, after fire and flood and is now delving into the world of freshwater acoustics.

Vice President – Prof. Paul Roe – Queensland University of Technology

Professor Paul Roe received his MEng from the University of York in 1987 and his PhD from the University of Glasgow in 1991. He is currently a full professor in the Science and Engineering Faculty at QUT, in Brisbane Australia. At QUT, he founded and led the Microsoft-QUT eResearch Centre, a collaboration between the Queensland State Government, Microsoft Research and QUT which investigated smart tools for eResearch.

Professor Roe has published over 100 papers, received over $7M in competitive research funding (50% in category one research) and graduated more than 21 research students. He has organised numerous conferences and is an editor for Future Generation Computer Systems. He undertakes novel interdisciplinary research, including ecological acoustic monitoring systems which enable new scales of environmental monitoring through big data collection and analysis, and novel computer systems supporting communication and collaboration in remote Aboriginal communities.

Secretary – Dr Toby Gifford – Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University

Dr. Toby Gifford is an acoustic ecologist, audio technologist and sound designer, currently employed as Research Fellow at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. His research focusses on ‘Aural Embodiment’ – the notion that much more of our lived experience is mediated through sound than is typically understood. His research in Ecoacoustics specialises in soundscape analysis for freshwater ecosystems.

Councillor – Dr Susan Fuller – Queensland University of Technology

Dr Susan Fuller is passionate environmental scientist and her aspiration as an academic is to transfer this passion for applied ecosystems science to students. Susan’s aim is to be a world leader in the research field of environmental monitoring and restoration and to play an integral role in managing Australia’s sustainable resource use. Susan undertakes high impact, interdisciplinary research involving elements of biodiversity monitoring and ecosystem restoration and wildlife management (conservation biology and biosecurity), which fits squarely within the ‘Healthy Ecosystems & Environmental Monitoring’ theme of the Institute for Future Environments at QUT. These research areas also relate directly to two of Australia’s National Research Priorities; An Environmentally Sustainable Australia (sustainable use of Australia’s biodiversity) and Safeguarding Australia (Protecting Australia from invasive diseases and pests).

Councillor – Dr Simon Linke – Griffith University

Dr Simon Linke is a Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University. Simons research expertise includes systematic conservation planning in riverine landscapes, spatial prioritisation of resource allocations, predictive models in ecology, multivariate statistics and freshwater bioassessment.

Councillor – Michael Maggs – Frontier Labs

Michael Maggs is the Director and Principal Engineer at Frontier Labs, an Australian based electronics engineering company that designs scientific field equipment specialising in low-noise bioacoustic recorders, remote area instrumentation and data acquisition.

Councillor – Dr Michael Towsey – Queensland University of Technology

Dr. Michael Towsey has held research positions at QUT since 1997. He uses machine learning methods to solve biological problems. These have ranged from the sublime (analysis of bird song) to the ridiculous (analysis of milk yield in cow herds) with some bioinformatics in between. Michael is currently in the Bioacoustics Research Group within the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at QUT. He works on the ‘big data’ problems associated with long duration recordings of the environment, in particular, building recognizers for species of interest, extracting acoustic indices to aid navigation and visualisation

Councillor – Mark Calder -Director  Frontier Labs

Mark is the director and engineer at Frontier Labs in Brisbane. Frontier Labs is an electronic design consultancy that specializes in instrumentation for ecologists. We have sound recorders for birds & frogs and a unique wireless and Iridium satellite trap alert system. We design custom equipment also. We’ve got experience in bioacoustics, ultrasound, night vision camera systems, remote data acquisition via satellite or mobile phone networks and radio

Councillor – Dr Leah Barclay

Dr Leah Barclay is a multi-award winning Australian sound artist, composer and researcher working at the intersection of art, science and technology. She specialises in electroacoustic music, acoustic ecology and emerging fields of biology exploring environmental patterns and changes through sound. Her work has been commissioned, performed and exhibited to wide acclaim internationally by organisations including UNESCO, Ear to the Earth, Al Gore’s Climate Reality and the IUCN. Leah composes complex sonic environments, immersive live performances and interactive installations that draw attention to changing climates and fragile ecosystems. She is currently the director of Biosphere Soundscapes (mapping the changing soundscapes of UNESCO biosphere reserves) and a research fellow at Griffith University where she is leading a portfolio of research in acoustic ecology and climate change. Barclay is the President of the Australia Forum for Acoustic Ecology and Vice President of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology.