Mark Kennard
Griffith University

Professor Mark Kennard

Eastern node leader

Professor, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University

Deputy Dean (Research), Griffith Sciences

See Professor Kennard’s full research profile here.

E: m.kennard@griffith.edu.au

Research outputs linked to policy change and decision-making

• Professor Kennard recently led a large collaborative research project for the Office of Water Science (Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment) which delivered fundamental knowledge and new monitoring tools to improve assessment of ecohydrological responses to groundwater drawdown. This research has informed decision-making by the independent expert scientific committee on coal seam gas and large coal mining in eastern Australia, improved knowledge of cumulative risks to threatened species and ecological communities in the Great Artesian Basin and contributed to the bioregional assessment program.
• Professor Kennard’s research on freshwater biodiversity in northern Australia is contributing to more effective conservation management in the region. He has led projects through the Northern Australia water futures assessment, provided expert advice to the Northern Australian Land & Water Taskforce, contributed to the development and implementation of the High conservation value aquatic ecosystems toolkit for the former Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities and the National Water Commission, and contributed to scientific panel assessment of the International and National Heritage values of Cape York Peninsula and the Kimberley for the Heritage Branch.
• Professor Kennard’s pioneering research to develop ecosystem health indicators using freshwater fish and other biota now underpins the Healthy Waterways Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program in South-East Queensland. This is successfully being used to report on trends in ecosystem health, identify priority areas for investment in on-ground management actions and to assess the effectiveness of management actions and progress towards targets.
• National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub (NAERH) projects: Environmental water needs for the Mitchell River, Applying knowledge of river flow–ecology links, Prioritising threatened species in northern Australia, and Multi-objective planning in northern Australia.

Current academic employment and positions

• 2021–present: professor, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University
• 2019–present: Deputy Dean (Research) –Sciences Group, Griffith University
• 2020–2021: project leader, Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program. ‘GA-2000150 – Threatened species assessment and recovery in burnt coastal wallum wetlands’
• 2021–2024: research theme leader, Murray–Darling Basin Authority, Murray–Darling water & environment research program theme 3: environmental outcomes
• 2020–2021: project leader, Australian Department of the Environment and Energy. ‘Beetaloo Geological and Bioregional Assessment region baseline survey program’
• 2020–2021: project leader, Queensland Department of Environment and Science: Research, Development and Innovation Priorities for the Queensland Water Modelling Network. ‘Modelling surface water availability to inform water security for freshwater biodiversity and human society in a changing climate’
• 2018–2020: project leader: NESP NAERH.

Highest qualification

• 2005: PhD, Griffith University, Queensland.

Major prizes, medals and honours

• Whitley Medal from the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales for the book ‘Ecology of Australian Freshwater Fishes’ (Eds) P. Humphries & K. Walker, CSIRO Publishing. The Whitley Medal is the most sought-after prize in zoological publishing in Australia
• Griffith University Post-doctoral Fellowship (funding for 3 years)
• Whitley Medal (with co-authors Brad Pusey and Angela Arthington) from the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales for the book ‘Freshwater Fishes of North-Eastern Australia’, CSIRO Publishing
• PhD Thesis Academic Excellence award, Office of Graduate Studies, Griffith University.

Roles on government or regional organisation committees

• 2020: expert panel member, Queensland Department of Environment and Science – analysis of 2019/2020 bushfire impacts on conservation values in Queensland
• 2020: expert panel member, Queensland Department of Environment and Science risk specialist group informing review of environmental regulation of resource activities in Queensland
• 2012–2013: technical advisory group member, Murray–Darling Basin aquatic ecosystem classification project, Commonwealth Environmental Water Office
• 2012–2013: scientific panel member, Cape York Peninsula World Heritage nomination, Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
• 2012: science review panel member, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment
• 2009: science review panel member, Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce
• 2000–2006: technical advisory panel member, Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water ‘Water Resource Plans for the Mary, Logan and Burnett River Basins’
• 1999–present: Mary River Cod recovery team member, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

Links with non-government groups or networks

• Professor Kennard maintains strong collaborative links with many natural resource management groups, Indigenous groups, and professional societies.

My Projects

Current projectCompleted project

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  Planning for catchment resilience and threatened species recovery from extreme events in Queensland’s Moonaboola (Mary River)

  Keywords: Threatened species, Monitoring, Queensland, prioritisationwetlandsrehabilitation

  
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  Guiding the strategic management of freshwater fish

  Keywords: Rivers, Threatened species, prioritisation, freshwaterfishclimate changeVictoriafreshwater fish

  
• 

  National overview of monitoring frameworks and tools for Ramsar sites

  Keywords: Monitoring, Ramsar, wetland, MERIecological condition

  
• 

  Water planning in north Queensland

  Keywords: Biodiversity, agricultural development, cultural values, risk assessmentwater resources

  
• 

  Using integrated data analysis to assess regional transferability

  Keywords: Regional planning, integrated regional data analysis, regional assessments, scalabilitytransferability

  
• 

  Restoring and recovering landscape resilience

  Keywords: Landscape restoration, Species recovery interventions

  
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  Strengthening resilience to threatening processes and extreme events

  Keywords: Strengthening resilience, Extreme events, Weeds, Feral animals

  
• 

  Cross-cutting initiative research

  Keywords: Threatened species, Migratory species, Protected areas

  
• 

  Applying knowledge of river flow–ecology links

  Keywords: environmental flows, rivers & waterholes

  
• 

  Prioritising threatened species in northern Australia

  Keywords: Threatened species, mapping, weeds & ferals, integrated planning

  
• 

  Environmental-economic accounting for the Mitchell River

  Keywords: rivers & waterholes, mapping, social & cultural values, socio-economics

  
• 

  Environmental water needs for the Mitchell River

  Keywords: Floodplains, environmental flows, rivers & waterholes, mapping

  
• 

  Multi-objective planning in northern Australia

  Keywords: mapping, social & cultural values, scenarios, socio-economics

  
• 

  Improved detection of non-native freshwater fish species in northern Australia

  Keywords: eDNA, invasive pest fish, non-native fish, northern Australiaaquatic monitoring

  
• 

  Restoration by design: improving biodiversity outcomes from Australia’s restoration investments  

  Keywords: Threatened species, restoration, socioeconomic insights, monitoring and evaluationimpact evaluation

  
• 

  Assessing fish species composition in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, and links with cultural knowledge

  Keywords: wetlands, fish species, waterholes, water development