Dr Norman Duke, Senior Research Scientist
See Norm’s full research profile here.
What are your research interests as they relate to northern Australia?
My research interests are just about anything to do with mangrove tidal wetlands – their biodiversity, the taxonomy of the plants, their unique ecology, their biogeography, and their distribution. I also like finding habitat relationships/dependencies between plants and animals that makeup mangrove ecosystems.
What do you love about working in northern Australia?
The people, the remoteness, and the rare environmental conditions largely unaffected by human development. I have two great interests: a) there are undescribed species of tree species still to be found and described; and b) the remoteness means that the mangroves growing in these places are the most natural in the world so it is possible to reveal and isolate the dominant natural drivers of change without the immediate human pressures found in most other places. I don’t have just one favourite place. But, my common theme is that I like visiting mangroves in all sorts of places. I like to see how they differ in diversity, size and abundance. I have a huge interest in northern Australia because it holds multiple situations determined by the diverse set of topographic, environmental and climatic conditions.
Current project
Completed project
