Susan Laurance
James Cook University

Professor Susan Laurance

Professor or Tropical Ecology, Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University.

See Professor Laurance’s full research profile here.

E: susan.laurance@jcu.edu.au

Bio

Professor Laurance is a tropical ecologist who studies land use and climate change impacts on rainforest communities and the dynamics of natural forest recovery and how to restore tropical forests. Professor Laurance’s research has advised conservation management in the design of wildlife corridors, forest restoration priorities and new quantitative methods for the classification of vegetation communities for Queensland’s Regional Ecosystem frameworks.

Current academic employment

• Professor in tropical ecology, James Cook University.

Highest qualification

• 2002: PhD, Ecology, University of New England.

Honours, awards and professional appointments

• 2023: Climate Change Leadership Award, Wet Tropics Management Authority.
• 2020-24: European Research Council – Life Science Expert Panelist.
• 2015: Outstanding Service Award, Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.
• 2015: Fellow of the Royal Society of Queensland.
• 2014: President of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.
• 2013-17: ARC Future Fellowship.

Roles on government or regional organisation committees

• 2011-22: Wet Tropics Management Authority-Scientific Advisory Committee.
• 2020-24: Skyrail Rainforest Foundation Board Member.

My Projects

Current projectCompleted project

• 

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

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

  
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  Predicting dangerous heat events for spectacled flying-foxes

  Keywords: Threatened species, Wet Tropics, climate adaptation, heatwavesspectacled flying-fox