Our Team
Operations
Our operations team is committed to delivering this project, managing the participants, and ensuring that all findings are disseminated out to the public in an accessible and timely fashion. We will also be critically assessing the success and impact of this project, to help us better inform future scientific collaborations.
Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries
The University of Adelaide, Project Manager
Alana McClelland
The University of Adelaide, Specimen and Collection Management
Brock Hedges
The University of Adelaide, Website and Social Media
Dr Steve Donnellan
South Australian Museum, Project Oversight
Prof. Andy Austin
The University of Adelaide, Advisory
Assoc. Prof. Kevin Thiele
Taxonomy Australia, Advisory
Assoc. Prof. Patrick O’Connor
The University of Adelaide, Evaluation
Wayne Frazer
Australian Entomological Supplies, Director of Australian Entomological Supplies Pty Ltd.
Dr. Dirk Steinke
Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (Canada), DNA Barcoding Coordinator
School Engagement
Our schools team will be ensuring that the science that our taxonomists are so passionate about, is communicated in an exciting, engaging and accessible way in our partnered schools and developing resources to help teachers integrate the project into the classroom and curriculum.
Dr Andy Howe
University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD Schools Liaison and Ecological Component Design
Dr Sylvia Clarke
Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board, SA Schools Liaison
Nathan Ducker
WA Gould League, WA Schools Liaison
Alice Woodward
Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board, SA Schools Liaison
Ms Leanne Wheaton
South Australian Museum
Kate Dilger
South Australian Science Teachers Association, Executive Officer
Jill Mackenzie
South Australian Museum, Manager, Community Programs
Dr Karen Cullen
WA Gould League
Museums
Our museums team will be ensuring that all scientific specimens are appropriately preserved, stored and databased, and will be assisting our partnered taxonomists with accessing the critical material needed for species descriptions.
Dr Ben Parslow
South Australian Museum, Collection Manager (Terrestrial Invertebrates)
Dr Matt Shaw
South Australian Museum, Collection Manager (Terrestrial Invertebrates)
Dr Chris Lambkin
Queensland Museum, Curator Terrestrial Biodiversity (Entomology)
Susan Wright
Queensland Museum, Collection Manager, Entomology
Dr Nik Tatarnic
Western Australian Museum, Curator of Entomology
Dr Mark Harvey
Western Australian Museum, Head, Terrestrial Zoology; Curator of Arachnids & Myriapods
Taxonomists
This project doesn’t work without taxonomists, a critically underfunded profession in Australia. These expert scientists are volunteering their time to the project due to their immense passion for documenting Australian biodiversity. They will be assessing the specimens generated by schools, describing new species, and liaising with students to name these species!
Dr Chris Lambkin
Queensland Museum, Taxonomist
(Stiletto and Bee Flies)
Dr Ben Parslow
South Australian Museum, Taxonomist (Gasteruptiid wasps)
Dr Michael Rix
Queensland Museum, Taxonomist (Mygalomorph spiders)
Dr Francesco Martoni
Agriculture Victoria Research, Taxonomist (Psylloidea)
Dr Peter Allsopp
Queensland Museum, Taxonomist (Scarab subfamilies Melolonthinae, Dynastinae, Rutelina)
Dr Juanita Rodriguez
Australian National Insect Collection, Taxonomist (Pompillid and Mutilid Wasps)
Dr Keith Bayless
Australian National Insect Collection, Taxonomist (Tabanidae, Stratiomyidae, and acalyptrates)
Dr Nikolas Johnston
University of Tasmania, Taxonomist (Blow flies and flesh flies)
Dr Nik Tatarnic
Western Australia Museum, Taxonomist (Heteroptera)
Dr Kit Prendergast
Native Australian Bees Researcher
Dr Vivian Sandoval
Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland Museum, Taxonomist (fungus beetles, ants)
Dr Carly Tribull
Farmingdale State College, Taxonomist (Dryinidae)
Maddi Giannotta
Australian National University, Taxonomist (Mutilidae)
Prof. Andy Austin
The University of Adelaide, Taxonomist (Braconid Wasps)
Dr Mark Harvey
Western Australian Museum, Taxonomist (Pseudoscorpions)
Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries
The University of Adelaide, Taxonomist (Microgastrine wasps)