The full conference program is now available.
Click here to download the program PDF
Please note that the program is subject to change without notice
To view presenter abstracts and biographies, click on the link below
ESA 2024 ProgramProgram at a Glance
Thursday 5 December – Sunday December 8
| 1000-2100 | Field Trip: Wilsons Promontory National Park (4-day pre-conference Field Trip) |
Sunday 8 December
| 0900-1700 | Postgraduate Day |
| 1030-1630 | Workshop: A horizon scan of future priorities to support the sustainability of plant-soil ecosystems in Australia |
| 1100-1600 | ESA Planning Day ESA Board of Directors only are invited to participate in this meeting. <.i> |
| 1100-1700 | Workshop / Working Group: Future ecosystems |
| 1200-1700 | Workshop: How to ensure Indigenous research priorities are effectively included in environmental research |
| 1730-1830 | Registration and Welcome Drinks |
Monday 9 December
| 0730-1800 | ESA 2024 Registration Desk open | ||||||||
| 0900 | OPENING PLENARY SESSION | ||||||||
| 0900-0930 | Welcome to Country and Conference Opening: Welcome to Country Conference Opening - ESA 2024 Organising Committee Chair, John Morgan Conference Welcome |
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| 0930-1000 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - Professor Emily Nicholson, The University of Melbourne | ||||||||
| 1000-1030 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - Indigenous-led initiatives can transform the nature repair market Joe Morrisson, CEO, Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation |
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| 1030-1100 | Morning tea | ||||||||
| 1100 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | ||||||||
| 1100-1300 | SYMPOSIUM (1): From risk to recovery: measuring the status of ecosystems | SYMPOSIUM: Designing for Nature in Cities | SYMPOSIUM: Indigenous ecological knowledge | SYMPOSIUM: Plant-soil microbial interactions in an era of rapid change: challenges and opportunities | SYMPOSIUM: From Antarctica and Southern Ocean to Australia: Current Ecological Research and Conservation Challenges | OPEN FORUM: Community Ecology | OPEN FORUM: Animal Ecology | SYMPOSIUM (1): Wind energy and wildlife – achieving conservation outcomes in Australia’s era of energy transition | SYMPOSIUM: Forgotten Species: Current Knowledge and Future Directions |
| 1300-1400 | Lunch | ||||||||
| 1400 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | ||||||||
| 1400-1530 | SYMPOSIUM (2): From risk to recovery: measuring the status of ecosystems | SYMPOSIUM: Nature in Cities (1) | SYMPOSIUM (1): Ecology and policy in the Murray-Darling Basin | SYMPOSIUM: Fundamental and applied mycology: a global nexus | OPEN FORUM: Cool Threatened Species | OPEN FORUM: Methods in Ecology (1) | OPEN FORUM: Restoration Ecology (1) | SYMPOSIUM (2): Wind energy and wildlife – achieving conservation outcomes in Australia’s era of energy transition | SYMPOSIUM (1): Introducing the Resist-Accept-Direct adaptive-management framework and exploring its applications |
| 1530-1600 | Afternoon tea | ||||||||
| 1600 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | ||||||||
| 1600-1745 | SYMPOSIUM (1): Nature Positive 1: the importance of robust ecological evidence and rigorous science | SYMPOSIUM: Nature in Cities (2) | SYMPOSIUM (2): Ecology and policy in the Murray-Darling Basin | SYMPOSIUM: Phytophthora Dieback: Beyond immediate impacts Convenor: Mia Townsend, Dieback Working Group Inc. | OPEN FORUM: Conservation Planning (1) | OPEN FORUM: Methods in Ecology (2) | OPEN FORUM: Restoration Ecology (2) | OPEN FORUM: Invasive Species | SYMPOSIUM (2): Exploring Resist-Accept-Direct-type case studies for conservation intervention, planning, and action |
| 1745-1945 | Barbara Rice Memorial Poster Session | ||||||||
| 1930-2100 | Movie - "Follow the Rain" | ||||||||
Tuesday 10 December
| 0730-1800 | ESA 2024 Registration Desk open | ||||||||
| 0900 | TUESDAY MORNING PLENARY SESSION | ||||||||
| 0900-0930 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - Creative conservation for nature in cities: supporting the leap from ambition to action Dr Kylie Soanes, The University of Melbourne |
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| 0930-1000 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - ESA ECOLOGICAL IMPACT AWARD PRESENTATION | ||||||||
| 1000-1030 | Morning tea | ||||||||
| 1030 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | ||||||||
| 1030-1230 | SYMPOSIUM (2): Nature Positive 1: the importance of robust ecological evidence and rigorous science | SYMPOSIUM: Planning for Nature in Cities | SYMPOSIUM (1): Practitioner Engagement: Ecological Connections between Practitioners and Researchers | SYMPOSIUM: Forests against the Machine: facilitating persistence and conservation in dieback-affected native forests and woodlands | OPEN FORUM: Plant Ecology | OPEN FORUM: Fire ecology + indigenous wetland restoration | OPEN FORUM: Plant Traits | SYMPOSIUM (part 1): Conservation management of wildlife populations guided by genetics | SYMPOSIUM: Trends in invasion ecology and biosecurity measures |
| 1230-1330 | Lunch | ||||||||
| 1240-1320 | Field Trip: Birrarung Trial Floating Wetlands Lunchtime walking tour during Conference. |
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| 1240-1320 | Austral Ecology Meetup | ||||||||
| 1330 | TUESDAY AFTERNOON PLENARY SESSION and STUDENT AWARDS | ||||||||
| 1330-1350 | ESA President's address | ||||||||
| 1350-1405 | Jill Landsberg Applied Ecology Scholarship 2023 Presentation - Sara Cavalcanti Marques, Murdoch University | ||||||||
| 1405-1410 | Jill Landsberg Applied Ecology Scholarship 2024 - Edwin Wiedemeyer | ||||||||
| 1410-1425 | ESA 2024 Applied Forest Ecology Scholarship presentation | ||||||||
| 1425-1440 | ESA 2023 Fundamental Ecology Award Presentation - Joshua Lee, Western Sydney University | ||||||||
| 1440-1510 | AERA AWARD WINNER PRESENTATION | ||||||||
| 1510-1530 | Afternoon tea | ||||||||
| 1530 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | ||||||||
| 1530-1730 | SYMPOSIUM: Nature Positive 2: the strengths and weaknesses of emerging policy tools in delivering positive biodiversity outcomes | SYMPOSIUM: Carbon dynamics from leaf to landscape under climate change: life in a warmer, drier world | SYMPOSIUM (part 2): Practitioner Engagement: Ecological Connections between Practitioners and Researchers | SYMPOSIUM: Using detection dogs in ecological research and monitoring | SYMPOSIUM: Advancing ecological theory and management with near-term forecasts: an Australasian synthesis | OPEN FORUM: Fire Ecology | OPEN FORUM: Climate change | SYMPOSIUM (part 2): Conservation management of wildlife populations guided by genetics | SYMPOSIUM: Australian Peatlands - Undiscovered and Unique Ecosystems |
| 1745-1815 | Holsworth Alumni Networking Drinks | ||||||||
| 1800-1830 | ESA 2024 Queer Mixer | ||||||||
Wednesday 11 December
| 0730-1800 | ESA 2024 Registration Desk open | ||||||||
| 0900 | WEDNESDAY MORNING PLENARY SESSION | ||||||||
| 0900-0930 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - Dr Phil Zylstra, Adjunct Associate Professor, Curtin University; Visiting Fellow, Australian National University | ||||||||
| 0930-1000 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - Seeing the forest for the trees: quantifying variation in eucalypt responses to fire Dr Rachael Nolan, Western Sydney University |
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| 1000-1030 | Morning tea | ||||||||
| 1030 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | ||||||||
| 1030-1230 | SYMPOSIUM (1): Getting it right in a changing climate: Climate sensitivity informing plant conservation | SYMPOSIUM (1): Advances in Fire Ecology Science: Species and Community Responses | SYMPOSIUM (1): Beyond Boundaries: Technological Innovations and Advancements in Ecological Monitoring and Conservation | SYMPOSIUM: Nature market mechanisms - one year on | SYMPOSIUM (1): Completing the adaptive learning cycle: linking monitoring to management for improved conservation outcomes | OPEN FORUM: Animal Behaviour | SYMPOSIUM: Getting your start: understanding plant establishment to predict vegetation change and the success of restoration and conservation interventions | OPEN FORUM: Ecological disturbance, Wetland birds | SYMPOSIUM (1): Functional traits, physiology and future climates |
| 1230-1330 | Lunch | ||||||||
| 1235-1325 | Field Trip: Birrarung Trial Floating Wetlands Lunchtime walking tour during Conference. |
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| 1330 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | ||||||||
| 1330-1500 | SYMPOSIUM (2): Getting it right in a changing climate: Climate sensitivity informing animal conservation | SYMPOSIUM (2): Advances in Fire Ecology Science: Management and Planning | SYMPOSIUM (2): Beyond Boundaries: Technological Innovations and Advancements in Ecological Monitoring and Conservation | SYMPOSIUM: Advances and applications of Bayesian Network analyses in ecology | SYMPOSIUM (2): Completing the adaptive learning cycle: linking monitoring to management for improved conservation outcomes | SYMPOSIUM: Spanners, connectors, catalysts, and levers for biodiversity: Tensions and opportunities for transformational systems change | OPEN FORUM: Conservation Practice | OPEN FORUM: Eat, be eaten or infected and stress out about it | SYMPOSIUM (2): Functional traits, physiology and future climates |
| 1500-1530 | Afternoon tea | ||||||||
| 1530 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | ||||||||
| 1530-1730 | SYMPOSIUM 3): Getting it right in a changing climate: Adaptation interventions for ecosystem restoration | SYMPOSIUM (3): Advances in Fire Ecology Science: Determining and Achieving Desirable States | SYMPOSIUM (3): Beyond Boundaries: Technological Innovations and Advancements in Ecological Monitoring and Conservation | OPEN FORUM: Conservation Planning (2) | ECE Careers Forum | SYMPOSIUM: Understanding and predicting the impacts of global and local economic activity on nature using Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) | SYMPOSIUM: The value of benchtop ecology: Diverse uses of omic-based techniques that explore ecological responses to extreme events | OPEN FORUM: Hot threatened species | SYMPOSIUM (3): Functional traits, physiology and future climates |
| 1900-2230 | Conference Dinner | ||||||||
Thursday 12 December
| 0730-1800 | ESA 2024 Registration Desk open | |||||||||
| 0900 | THURSDAY MORNING PLENARY SESSION | |||||||||
| 0900-0930 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - ESA NEXT GENERATION AWARD PRESENTATION | |||||||||
| 0930-1000 | KEYOTE PRESENTATION - Using the best available science in ecology and conservation: an end to the ‘genetics’ vs ‘ecology’ false dichotomy Dr Paul Sunnucks, Monash University |
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| 1000-1030 | Morning tea | |||||||||
| 1030 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | |||||||||
| 1030-1230 | SYMPOSIUM (1): Pathways to biodiversity-friendly farmlands: knowledge, barriers and opportunities | SYMPOSIUM (1): Advancing Theory in Community Ecology | SYMPOSIUM (4): Beyond Boundaries: Technological Innovations and Advancements in Ecological Monitoring and Conservation | SYMPOSIUM: Integrated Species Distribution Models (ISDMs): From data collection through to Inference / Prediction | SYMPOSIUM (1): Habitat by Design: Artificial Habitat for Recovery, Restoration, and Rewilding | SYMPOSIUM: Towards powerful, generalised trait-based models of fundamental and realised niches | OPEN FORUM: Movement Ecology | SYMPOSIUM: Connecting pyrodiversity, biodiversity and people in Australian landscapes | Workshop: Children's ecological stories: Engaging eager minds | |
| 1230-1330 | Lunch | |||||||||
| 1235-1325 | Field Trip: Birrarung Trial Floating Wetlands Lunchtime walking tour during Conference. |
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| 1330 | CONCURRENT SESSIONS | |||||||||
| 1330-1530 | SYMPOSIUM (2): Pathways to biodiversity-friendly farmlands: knowledge, barriers and opportunities | SYMPOSIUM (2): Advancing Theory in Community Ecology | SYMPOSIUM: Nature-dependent ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes | SYMPOSIUM: Wildfire Futures - Interdisciplinary challenges and opportunities in understanding and exploring future fire regimes | SYMPOSIUM (2): Habitat by Design: Artificial Habitat for Recovery, Restoration, and Rewilding | OPEN FORUM | OPEN FORUM: Landscape Ecology, Urban Ecology | OPEN FORUM: Pollination | DISCUSSION / THINKTANK: Creating authentic learning experiences in the ecology classroom using Artificial Intelligence | Workshop: Children's ecological stories: Engaging eager minds (repeat of 10.30-12.30 session) |
| 1530-1600 | Afternoon tea | |||||||||
| 1600 | ESA 2024 CLOSING SESSION | |||||||||
| 1600-1620 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION - ESA GOLD MEDAL WINNER | |||||||||
| 1620-1650 | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: NZ ES TE TOHU TAIAO AWARD WINNER - A 30-year perspective on ecological infrastructure in New Zealand Susan Wiser, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research | |||||||||
| 1650-1730 | Announcement of Prizes and Awards plus Closing Remarks | |||||||||