Possingham, Hugh Philip (1962 - )

Summary

Professor Hugh Possingham obtained his PhD from Oxford University in 1987, researching a model of resource renewal and depletion. Possingham has held positions at the University of Adelaide, the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales and Stanford University, investigating how computational and mathematical tools can be applied to understand ecological systems. He took up a joint position between the Departments of Zoology and Entomology, and Mathematics at the University of Queensland. Possingham became the Foundation Director of the University's Ecology Centre in 2001. He has investigated the viability of populations of endangered species and how decision theory applies to conservation biology. A vocal conservation spokesperson, Possingham has consulted with the government on ecological planning issues. He has contributed to population, marine, behavioural and community ecology. In 2020 he was apppointed Queensland's Chief Scientist.

Details

Chronology

1983

Award - Rhodes Scholarship

1984

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of Adelaide

1987

Education - DPhil, University of Oxford

1987 - 1988

Career position - Postdoctoral Research Associate, Stanford University, Stanford, California, U.S.A.

1989

Career position - Visiting Fellow in Biological Sciences, University of New South Wales

1989

Career position - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University

1990

Career position - Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, Ecosystem Dynamics Group, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University

1991 - 1993

Career position - Lecturer, University of Adelaide

1994 - 1995

Career event - Vice-President, Ecological Society of Australia

1994 - 1995

Career position - Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, University of Adelaide

1994 - 1996

Career position - Member, South Australian Selection Panel, Rhodes Scholarships

1995 - 1997

Career position - Chair, South Australian Koala Management Taskforce

1995 - 1998

Career position - Foundation Chair and Head, Environmental Science, University of Adelaide

1995 - 1998

Career position - President, Nature Conservation Society of South Australia

1996 - 2000

Career position - Member, South Australian National Parks Council

1996 - 2000

Career position - Member, International Board of Governors, Resource Modelling Association

1997 - 2000

Career position - Member, South Australian Wildlife Advisory Council

1998 - 2000

Career position - Member, Australian Biological Resources Study

1999

Award - POL Eureka Prize for Environmental Science (with David Lindenmayer), Australia Museum

1999 - 2000

Career position - Professor and Head, Department of Applied and Molecular Ecology, University of Adelaide

1999 - 2003

Career position - Member of the Editorial Board, Ecological restoration

1999 - 2003

Career position - Member, Conservation Committee, Birds Australia

2000 -

Career position - Director, The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland

2000 -

Career position - Professor of Mathematics and Professor of Zoology, University of Queensland

2000

Award - Fenner Medal, Australian Academy of Science

2000 - 2006

Career position - Chair, Biological Diversity Advisory Committee

2001

Award - Australian Mathematical Society Medal (jointly)

2001 - 2002

Career position - Member of the Board, Greening Australia (Queensland)

2001 - 2003

Career position - Member, Advisory Committee, National Heritage Trust

2001 - 2005

Career position - Member of the Board, Rio Tinto Australian Science Olympiads

2002 -

Career position - Member, The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists

2002

Award - General Systems Medal, Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand

2003 - 2006

Award - ARC Professorial Fellow

2004 - 2008

Career position - Member of the Editorial Board, Ecology letters

2004 - 2008

Career position - Chair, Ministerial Advisory Committee on Biodiversity Hotspots

2004 - 2008

Career position - Member, Research and Conservation Committee, Birds Australia

2005 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

2006 - 2011

Award - ARC Federation Fellow

2006 - 2011

Career position - Member, Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vegetation Management, Queensland

2008 -

Career position - Chief Editor, Conservation letters

2009 -

Career position - Member of Council Australian Academy of Science

2009 -

Career position - Member, Smart State Council, Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet

2009

Award - Sherman Eureka Prize for Environmental Science (jointly), Australian Museum

2011 - 2015

Career position - Member, National Committee for Data in Science, Australian Academy of Science

2011 - 2018

Career position - Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions

2013 - 2018

Award - ARC Laureate Fellow

2016 -

Award - Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A.

2016

Award - Mahathir Science Award for Tropical Natural Resources (jointly with Kerrie Wilson and Erik Meijaard), Mahatir Science Award Foundation, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2016 - 2020

Career position - Chief Scientist, The Nature Conservancy

2020 -

Career position - Queensland Chief Scientist

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Possingham, Hugh, The business of biodiversity; applying decision theory principals to nature conservation (Fitzroy, Vic.: Nature Conservation Foundation, 2001), 37 pp. Details
• Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, Accounting for nature: a scientific method for constructing environmental asset condition accounts (Sydney: Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, 2016), 32 pp. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5932357. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/90588208. Details
• The Australian Mathematical Society Medal, 2024. https://austms.org.au/awards-grants/awards/the-australian-mathematical-society-medal/. Details
• 'Possingham, Hugh (1962-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-603207. Details

Resource Sections

• Salt, David, 'Interview with Professor Hugh Possingham, Mathematical ecologist', in Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 2002, http://science.org.au/scientists/interviews/p/hp.html. Details

See also

• Robson, Alexandra K.; Production Manager and Editor eds, Who's who in Australia 2019 (Southbank, Vic.: AAP Directories, 2018), 1788 pp. Details