Professor Susan Fuller
Faculty of Science,
School of Biology & Environmental Science
Biography
Large areas of Australia are experiencing sustained anthropogenic pressure, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. I am passionate about protecting our ecosystems and biodiversity through the use of interdisciplinary and innovative technological approaches in ecological research. I have a particular interest in using ecoacoustic innovations to monitor changes in ecosystem health and impacts on biodiversity. I am a level 3 Mentoring Postgraduate Supervisor and current student projects in my research group include:- Acoustic signalling and subspecies divergence in two Australasian treecreeper species (Climacteris picumnus and Cormobates leucophaea).
- Temporal and spatial distribution of endangered Pink Cockatoos (Lophochroa leadbeateri leadbeateri) during their breeding season in the Mulga Lands of western Queensland.
- Innovative acoustic techniques for avian diversity assessments in vineyards.
- Sensory pollution in Australia: Measuring and understanding the impacts of noise and light pollution on soniferous fauna.
Personal details
Positions
- Professor in Ecology
Faculty of Science,
School of Biology & Environmental Science
Keywords
conservation biology, biodiversity, ecoacoustics, ecology, evolutionary biology
Research field
Ecology, Environmental Science and Management, Evolutionary Biology
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- Ph.d (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
International Society of Ecoacoustics (Councillor)
Teaching
Teaching areas:
- Conservation Biology
- Ecology
- Environmental Science
I commenced teaching at QUT in 2004. Since this time, I have developed and delivered new curriculum that is challenging, authentic and relevant for all undergraduate year levels and across the biological science, environmental science and environmental engineering curriculum. My teaching goal is to capture student interest and extend student understanding and I do this by connecting students with the subject matter so that they can personally relate to concepts and build a deep level of knowledge. My teaching emphasises practical applications for solving environmental problems and real world learning outcomes which will enhance student prospects of employment. I received nominations for VC Awards for Excellence in the areas of exceptional sustained performance and outstanding achievements in innovative and creative practice, leadership and learning and teaching in both 2015 and 2016, and in 2018 I completed QUT's Expert Peer Review of Educational Practice and gained an overall outcome of ‘exceptional’.
Experience
I collaborate with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) to provide real world experience to undergraduate students in conservation biology and ecology. I am also engaged in biodiversity monitoring and ecoacoustics research at the AWC Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary. I am also collaborating with the Cotton Research Development Corporation on research to improve natural resources (biodiversity) on Australian cotton farms. This project funding will have important scientific benefit as well as societal outcomes as on-ground engagement with landholders will lead to improved biodiversity management in cotton dominated landscapes.
Publications
- Scarpelli Drummond De Almeida, M., Roe, P., Tucker, D. & Fuller, S. (2023). Soundscape phenology: The effect of environmental and climatic factors on birds and insects in a subtropical woodland. Science of the Total Environment, 878. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238981
- Scarpelli, M., Tucker, D., Doohan, B., Roe, P. & Fuller, S. (2023). Spatial dynamics of soundscapes and biodiversity in a semi-arid landscape. Landscape Ecology, 38(2), 463–478. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238221
- Roe, P., Parsons, S., Fuller, S., Eichinski, P. & Alexander, C. (2022). A Convolutional Neural Network Bird Species Recognizer Built From Little Data by Iteratively Training, Detecting, and Labeling. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238222
- Vella, K., Capel, T., Gonzalez, A., Truskinger, A., Fuller, S. & Roe, P. (2022). Key Issues for Realizing Open Ecoacoustic Monitoring in Australia. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/227630
- Manawaduge, C., Brown, G., Simmons, C., Phillips, M. & Fuller, S. (2023). Molecular systematic analysis of the genus Notelaea (Oleaceae): SNPs from high-density DArT-sequencing unravel the mystery of the species limits of threatened species of Notelaea. Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 61(4), 643–656. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238219
- Farina, A., Righini, R., Fuller, S., Li, P. & Pavan, G. (2021). Acoustic complexity indices reveal the acoustic communities of the old-growth Mediterranean forest of Sasso Fratino Integral Natural Reserve (Central Italy). Ecological Indicators, 120. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/232842
- Holgate, B., Maggini, R. & Fuller, S. (2021). Mapping ecoacoustic hot spots and moments of biodiversity to inform conservation and urban planning. Ecological Indicators, 126. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/232843
- Scarpelli, M., Liquet, B., Tucker, D., Fuller, S. & Roe, P. (2021). Multi-Index Ecoacoustics Analysis for Terrestrial Soundscapes: A New Semi-Automated Approach Using Time-Series Motif Discovery and Random Forest Classification. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/232839
- Doohan, B., Kemp, J. & Fuller, S. (2019). Diversity favours the old: Metrics of avian diversity increase in aging regrowth Acacia woodlands of semi-arid eastern Australia. Global Ecology and Conservation, 20, 1–11. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/133417
- Alves, J., Carneiro, M., Cheng, J., de Matos, A., Rahman, M., Loog, L., Campos, P., Wales, N., Eriksson, A., Manica, A., Fuller, S. & other, a. (2019). Parallel adaptation of rabbit populations to myxoma virus. Science, 363(6433), 1319–1326. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/126869
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Susan, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Selected research projects
- Title
- Improving the ability of the Australian cotton industry to report its sustainability performance
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- QUT1705
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Agriculture; Agroecosystem Health; Natural Resource Management
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.