QUT | Staff Profiles | Kate Helmstedt

Name: Dr Kate Helmstedt
Position(s): Research Fellow (DECRA)
Science and Engineering Faculty,
School of Mathematical Sciences; Senior Lecturer in Operations Research
Science and Engineering Faculty,
School of Mathematical Sciences
Discipline *: Applied Mathematics, Environmental Science and Management, Ecological Applications
Phone: +61 7 3138 7662
Email: kate.helmstedt@qut.edu.au
Location: View location details (QUT staff and student access only)
Identifiers and profiles
Qualifications: PhD (University of Queensland), Bachelor of Science with Honours Class Honours Class 1 (University of Queensland), Bachelor of Science (University of Queensland)
Keywords: decision science, operations research, biodiversity conservation, threatened species, invasive species, multi-use landscapes, environmental management, ecological modelling, Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica

* Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008

Dr Helmstedt’s research expertise is in using operations research to guide smart decision making for natural resource and environmental management with the ultimate goal of guiding future management decisions towards cost-efficiency, transparency and defensibility. Ecological systems are incredibly complex, and changing how those systems interact and evolve can have unexpected implications. Dr Helmstedt builds mathematical models of coupled ecological, land-use, and economic systems to understand the mechanisms driving success, failure, and efficiency of management actions. Carefully, transparently, and defensibly planning management and policy interventions while acknowledging those complexities and the associated risks helps achieve better outcomes for the environment and society.

Dr Helmstedt completed her PhD in 2015 at the University of Queensland under the supervision of Professor Hugh Possingham. She then spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Berkeley before joining QUT as a Lecturer.

For more information, see Dr Helmstedt’s website, twitter, or Google Scholar profile.

This information has been contributed by Dr Kate Helmstedt.

Prospective Honours and PhD students who are interested in any combination of biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, and operations research are encouraged to contact Dr Helmstedt — especially those from groups traditionally underrepresented in mathematics. There are opportunities for competitive funding for domestic and international students through university schemes. Postdoctoral researchers pursuing their own funding are also encouraged to contact Dr Helmstedt.

Undergraduate teaching

2017 Lecturer and Unit Coordinator of Operations Research for Stochastic Processes (MXB334), Queensland University of Technology

2016 Running graduate student working group UC Berkeley, Modelling and minimizing the ecosystem impacts of food waste

2015 Guest lecture UC Berkeley, Mathematical modelling of ecological systems

2010-2015 Five years’ experience as a teaching assistant at the University of Queensland: Mathematics and statistics undergraduate

Calculus and Linear Algebra (2010, 2012)
Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra (2010-2014)
Applied Mathematical Analysis (2011)
Multivariate Calculus & Ordinary Differential Equations (2012)
Analysis of Scientific Data in R (2010)

Biology undergraduate

Theory & Practice in Science (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014)

2011 Development of course materials (labs, tutorial materials and assignments) for “Theory & Practice in Science”: a first year undergraduate course for biology and chemistry students, covering an introduction to mathematical modelling, mathematical problem formulation and programming in Python.

This information has been contributed by Dr Kate Helmstedt.

Dr Helmstedt collaborates with diverse groups of scientists including mathematicians, statisticians, economists, ecologists, biologists, agricultural and marine scientists. These collaborative networks span Australia and internationally across the US and Europe (and, pending Brexit, the UK).

Through ongoing collaborations with the Australian Antarctic Division and the Tasmanian state government, she helps guide decision-making about how to tackle the huge environmental problem of invasive species on islands.

This information has been contributed by Dr Kate Helmstedt.

Adams M, Sisson S, Helmstedt K, Baker C, Holden M, Plein M, Holloway J, Mengersen K, Mcdonald-Madden E, (2020) Informing management decisions for ecological networks, using dynamic models calibrated to noisy time-series data, Ecology Letters p607-619
Holloway J, Helmstedt K, Mengersen K, Schmidt M, (2019) A decision tree approach for spatially interpolating missing land cover data and classifying satellite images, Remote Sensing p1-25
Runge C, Plantinga A, Larsen A, Naugle D, Helmstedt K, Polasky S, Donnelly J, Smith J, Lark T, Lawler J, Martinuzzi S, Fargione J, (2019) Unintended habitat loss on private land from grazing restrictions on public rangelands, Journal of Applied Ecology p52-62
McDonald J, Helmstedt K, Bode M, Coutts S, Mcdonald-Madden E, Possingham H, (2018) Improving private land conservation with outcome-based biodiversity payments, Journal of Applied Ecology p1476-1485
Helmstedt K, Stokes-Draut J, Larsen A, Potts M, (2018) Innovating at the food, water, and energy interface, Journal of Environmental Management p17-22
Coutts S, Helmstedt K, Bennett J, (2018) Invasion lags: The stories we tell ourselves and our inability to infer process from pattern, Diversity and Distributions p244-251
Helmstedt K, Potts M, (2018) Valuable habitat and low deforestation can reduce biodiversity gains from development rights markets, Journal of Applied Ecology p1692-1700
Helmstedt K, Possingham H, (2017) Costs are key when reintroducing threatened species to multiple release sites, Animal Conservation p331-340
Helmstedt K, Shaw J, Bode M, Terauds A, Springer K, Robinson S, Possingham H, (2016) Prioritizing eradication actions on islands: it's not all or nothing, Journal of Applied Ecology p733-741
Helmstedt K, Possingham H, Brennan K, Rhodes J, Bode M, (2014) Cost-efficient fenced reserves for conservation: single large or two small?, Ecological Applications p1780-1792

For more publications by this staff member, visit QUT ePrints, the University's research repository.

Current supervisions

Multi-Criteria Tool to Support Decision-Making for Waste Processing Technologies in the Red Meat Industry
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Robert Speight, Professor Ian O'Hara
Assessing the vulnerability of shallow continental shelf benthic habitats adjacent to the Australian Antarctic research stations and sub-Antarctic islands to marine invasive species in a warming world
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Kerrie Wilson
Extending Decision Tree Methods for the Analysis of Remotely Sensed Images
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Distinguished Professor Kerrie Mengersen
Novel mathematical models and simulation tools for stochastic ecosystems
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Pamela Burrage
Supply chain logistics and operations research techniques to optimise deployment of reef restoration technologies
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Paul Corry, Adjunct Professor Mark Gibbs

Completed supervisions (Doctorate)

Optimal Sequential Decision-Making under Uncertainty (2018)

Dr Kate Helmstedt

Grants and projects (Category 1: Australian Competitive Grants only)

Current supervisions

Completed supervisions (Doctorate)

Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)