Professor Justin Welbergen
View Justin's Researcher Profile
My research is concerned with the ways animals respond adaptively to changes in their social, ecological, and physical environment...
Dr Justin Welbergen is a Professor at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (Western Sydney University), and leader of the LAB OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY.
He has strong interests in evolutionary ecology, climate change biology, and conservation. His work and that of his students mainly focuses on birds and bats, but is not limited to these taxonomic groups.
Justin conducted his PhD in Zoology at the University of Cambridge with Professor Nick Davies FRS, and following various prestigious research fellowships in the UK and Australia, he joined the HIE in 2014.
He has published his work in SCIENCE, Nature Climate Change,Current Biology, and Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, among others; and he has recently contributed to several high-profile reviews in Annual Reviews in Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, Ecology Letters, and Biological Reviews.
Current Teaching
- Biological Adaptations to Climate Change (unit 300909.1)
- Principles of Evolution (unit 300980.1)
- Animal Behaviour (unit 300878.1)
- Conservation Biology (unit 300617.2)
Areas of Research
Evolutionary ecology:
- Movement – proximate causes and ultimate consequences of animal movement across scales
- Animal signals – the functional significance of animal communication
- Social organisation – the ecological and evolutionary interactions within species: social aggregations, mating systems and family dynamics
- Coevolution – the ecological and evolutionary interactions between species: brood parasite-host dynamics and adaptive portfolios
Conservation and climate change:
- Extreme events – the ecological impacts of extreme climate and weather events on biodiversity
- Conservation planning – identifying biodiversity and areas vulnerable to climate change to facilitate adaptation action
- Endangered species biology – ecology and population dynamics of threatened species
- Human-wildlife conflicts – designing evidence-based approaches to mitigating human-wildlife conflicts, particularly in urban environments
Bushfire Research
Our research also includes the role of fire and its effects on global change. Please see here (opens in a new window) for further details on our bushfire research.
Awards and Recognition
- Invited by the Federal Minister for the Environment to join the Grey-Headed Flying Fox Working Group, 2021
- Invited to membership of the ‘Local Government NSW Flying-Fox Habitat Restoration Program Advisory Group’. The advisory group provides expert advice and recommendations on planning, design, operations and partnerships for the Flying-Fox Habitat Restoration Program, 2018
- Accepted an invitation to become a member of the University’s Animal Care and Ethics Committee following a nomination by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Development), 2016
- Elected as President of the Australasian Bat Society, 2016
- Appointed as a Category B member on the Western Sydney University Animal Care and Ethics Committee (ACEC), 2016
- President of the Australasian Bat Society Inc
- Member of the Bat Health Focus Group (Wildlife Health Australia)
- Advisor to the IUCN and Commonwealth & State governments on various conservation & wildlife management issues
- Runner up for the Thomas Henry Huxley Award, Zoological Society of London, 2006
- Research Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge, 2006-2010
- Murray-Edwards College Teaching Associate, 2005-2010
- Newnham College Teaching Associate, 2005-2010
- King's College Teaching Associate, 2004-2010
Grants / Current Projects
-
Resilience in National Parks - Acoustic monitoring in Christmas Island National Park
Partner/Funding Body: Parks Australia NESP Resilience in National Parks Project 3.7
Period: 2023-2028Measuring the impacts of selective harvesting on foliar nutrition and biomass using unoccupied aerial vehicles
Co-Researchers: Ben Moore
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Natural Resources Commission
Period: 2023-2025Ecology and conservation of the Christmas Island goshawk and hawk-owl
Partner/funding body: NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub & Parks Australia
Period: 2023-2027Acoustic monitoring in Christmas Island National Park
Co-Researcher: Paul Roe (QUT) [lead] and Lin Schwartzkopf
Partner/funding body: NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub & Parks Australia
Period: 2023-2027The Macroderma Initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development
Partner/funding body: NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub
Period: 2023-2027Vocal mimicry in songbirds
Co-Researcher: Anastasia Dalziell
Partner/funding body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2024-2026Testing the efficacy of roost microclimate manipulation for mitigating heat stress in flying foxes
Co-Researcher: Chris Turbill
Partner/funding body: NSW Department of Planning and Environment
Period: 2022Cultural evolution in lyrebirds
Partner/funding body: Cornell University
Period: 2022Nocturnal monitoring of the Christmas Island flying-fox
Co-Researcher: Annabel Dorrestein
Partner/Funding Body: Christmas Island National Park
Period: 2022Improving conservation management of the grey-headed flying-fox
Co-Researchers: Jessica Meade, Matthias Boer, James Cook and Christopher Turbill
Partner/Funding Body: Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources
Period: 2021-2022Assessing grey-headed flying fox roosting and foraging resource utilisation post 2019-2020 megafires and ‘Assessing the survival of grey-headed flying-foxes following rehabilitation
Co-Researchers: John Martin and Jessica Meade
Partner/Funding Body: Taronga Conservation Society Australia
Period: 2021Testing the efficacy of roost microclimate manipulation for mitigating heat stress in flying-foxes
Co-Researcher: Christopher Turbill
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
Period: 2020Tempo and modes of cultural evolution in the complex display of the Superb Lyrebird
Partner/Funding Body: National Science Foundation [via Cornell University]
Period: 2018-2022Movement ecology of flying-foxes: integrating mechanisms and patterns across multiple spatiotemporal scales
Co-Researchers: Christopher Turbill and David Westcott
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2017-2019Resolving human-flying fox conflict in the face of environmental change
Co-Researchers: Brendan Wintle, Kathryn Williams, Dave Kendal, Rodney van der Ree and David Westcott
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Linkage
Period: 2017-2019Saving the Christmas Island flying-fox – a species in critical decline
Co-Researchers: Karrie Rose, John Martin, David Phalen, Debashish Mazumder and David Westcott
Partner/Funding Body: Taronga Conservation Society
Period: 2017-2019European red fox ecology and species interactions along an urban land use gradient in Australia
Co-Researcher: John Martin
Partner/Funding Body: Sydney Coastal Councils Group
Period: 2016-2020Fox ecology and species interactions: from Sydney Harbour to the Blue Mountains
Partner/Funding Body: The Royal Botanical Gardens and Domains Trust
Period: 2016Christmas Island flying fox
Partner/Funding Body: Taronga Conservation Society of Australia
Period: 2014-2015Global climate change and the impacts of temperature extremes on terrestrial biodiversity
Co-Researchers: Stephen Williams, Luke Shoo and Jeremy VanDerWal
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2011-2014Climate change and the impacts of extreme climatic events on Australia's Wet Tropics biodiversity
Co-Researcher: Andrew Krockenberger
Partner/Funding Body: National Environment Research Program
Period: 2011-2014Climate change refugia for terrestrial biodiversity: The role of refugia in ecosystem resilience and maintenance of terrestrial biodiversity in the face of global climate change
Co-Researchers: April Reside, Jeremy VanDerWal, Ben Phillips, Luke Shoo, Dan Rosauer, Barbara Anderson, Craig Moritz, Simon Ferrier, Thomas Harwood, Kristen Williams, Brendan Mackey, Sonia Hugh and Stephen Williams
Partner/Funding Body: National Adaptation Research Plan and National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility
Period: 2011-2013Climate change adaptation strategies for Australian birds
Co-Researchers: Donald Franklin, Glenn Ehmke, Jeremy VanDerWal, Lauren Hodgson, Chris Pavey, April Reside, Stuart Butchart, Genevieve Perkins and Stephen Williams
Partner/Funding Body: National Adaptation Research Plan and National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility
Period: 2011-2013
In the Media
Popular articles:
- Turbill, C and Welbergen, JA Australia’s threatened bats need protection from a silent killer: white-nose syndrome. The Conversation, 20-01-20
- Welbergen, JA, Eby, P Not in my backyard? How to live alongside flying-foxes in urban Australia. The Conversation, 27-5-16
- Welbergen JA, Booth, C, Martin, J Killer climate: tens of thousands of flying foxes dead in a day. The Conversation, 24-2-14
- Dalziell, AH, Welbergen JA The mimics among us — birds pirate songs for personal profit. The Conversation, 19-8-14
- Katsis, A, Welbergen JA, Ellis, W, Kearney, M Tree-hugging koalas beat the summer heat. The Conversation, 4-6-14
Interviews:
Since arriving at the HIE in 2014 Justin and his students have been interviewed on many occasions, including for Nine News; live radio (Radio New Zealand, ABC Radio National PM , ABC Sydney, Canberra, Southeast, BBC World Service); various news sites (The Huffington Post, BBC News, ABC Online, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun, The Sydney Morning Herald, Reportage) popular science articles (AAAS, The Verge), and for a documentary by the Climate Reality Project (chaired by Al Gore), among others.
People
- Professor Matthias Boer
- Associate Professor Yolima Carrillo
- Associate Professor Chris Cazzonelli
- Professor Brendan Choat
- Professor James Cook (Theme Leader - Plants Animals and Interactions)
- Doctor Eleonora Egidi
- Professor David Ellsworth
- Doctor Manuel Esperon
- Doctor Adam Frew
- Associate Professor Rachael Gallagher
- Professor Oula Ghannoum
- Doctor Christopher Gordon
- Professor Scott Johnson
- Associate Professor Catriona Macdonald
- Doctor James Makinson
- Doctor Jessica Meade
- Distinguished Professor Belinda Medlyn (Theme Leader - Ecosystem Function and Integration)
- Associate Professor Ben Moore
- Professor Uffe Nielsen (Theme Leader - Soil Biology and Genomics)
- Associate Professor Rachael Nolan
- Associate Professor Alexie Papanicolaou
- Professor Elise Pendall
- Associate Professor Jonathan Plett
- Professor Jeff Powell
- Professor Sally Power
- Doctor Renée Marchin Prokopavicius
- Professor Markus Riegler
- Associate Professor Paul Rymer
- Doctor Demi Sargent
- Associate Professor Robert Sharwood
- Distinguished Professor Brajesh Singh
- Professor Ben Smith (Director of Research)
- Distinguished Professor David Tissue
- Professor Mark Tjoelker (Interim Director)
- Doctor Bin Wang
- Doctor Jun-Tao Wang
- Professor Justin Welbergen
- Distinguished Professor Ian Wright (Chief Scientist)
Honorary and Adjunct Appointments
