I am interested in research that brings together measurement and modelling techniques to observe and predict ecosystem processes over time and space. I established my foundations in this field during my PhD in the School of Earth, Atmosphere & Environment at Monash University, where I quantified tropical savanna productivity and phenology using the eddy covariance technique and phenocams. 

I expanded my skills through my Postdoctoral Researcher appointment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the USA. I worked within the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) on quantifying the sustainability of bioenergy crops grown in the United States, and on the Water Efficient Sorghum Technologies (WEST) project to build knowledge about agricultural systems and how to measure them in a high-throughput way. I also collaborated on projects aimed at improving food security in the coming century, such as the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project. 

As a Lecturer at the University of Western Australia I am combining my interests in native ecosystem and agro-ecosystem processes by working towards improving our understanding of how these systems in Australia respond to climate variability over time and space. 

My overarching research interest is in ecosystem processes - understanding how native and managed ecosystems grow and function from the leaf to landscape scale. I use measurement techniques, including leaf gas echange, eddy covariance, micrometeorological observations, and hyperspectral sensing (i.e. LIDAR, sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence), to monitor ecosystem changes over time. I then combine these measurements with modelling techniques to understand how ecosystems respond to climate variability and stress. Using this approach, my research activities focus on the following:

Native and managed ecosystems in WA: improving current measurement infrastructure to provide faster monitoring of native eucalypt woodland and cropland (i.e. wheat) ecosystems in Western Australia. These enhancements will help to improve crop and native ecosystem productivity assessment, water use efficiency, and stress detection. 

Bioenergy sustainability: comparing and contrasting the sustainability and economic benefits of annual and perennial bioenergy crops; including maize, miscanthus, switchgrass, native prairie grasslands, energy sorghum and sugarcane. 

Food security: building and testing high-throughput phenotyping techniques to speed up identification of high-performing crop cultivars. 

Tropical savannas: understanding how the tree and grass components invidudually contribute to overall savanna ecosystem productivity and phenology over seasonal, annual and inter-annual timescales.