I am a plant community ecologist with interests in biological invasions, environmental change and biodiversity. I am particularly interested in the causes, consequences and processes of vegetation change, and I typically focus on species invasions to tackle such questions. Human actions can directly and indirectly alter plant community composition, with subsequent impacts on ecosystem structure and function. Increased understanding of the processes maintaining community diversity and driving community assembly could be used to alleviate some of the ecological degradation caused by humans.
I joined the Department of Geography at King’s College London in 2018. I previously held an academic position at the University of Southampton. From 2012-2016, I held a research fellowship with the Australian Research Council, and worked at the University of Melbourne, University of Minnesota and Australian National University.
Current positions
- Reader in Ecology, Department of Geography, King’s College London, UK
- Senior Editor for Journal of Ecology
- Honorary Fellow, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Australia
- Elected staff member of KCL Academic Board
- Editorial Board of BES Ecological Reviews book series
- Programming Group for BES Ecology Live online seminar series
- Member of British Ecological Society’s Publications Committee
Qualifications
- Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of Southampton, UK
- PhD (Ecology), University of Melbourne, Australia (supervised by Barbara Downes)
- BA, BSc (Hons) (Ecology, Geography, Politics), Monash University, Australia
Previous positions
- 2018-2021: Editor for Conservation Letters
- 2016-2021: Associate Editor for Journal of Ecology
- 2020-2021: Deputy Chair of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee, KCL Geography
- 2019-2021: Deputy Chair of Undergraduate Examinations, KCL Geography
- 2016-2020: Editor for Neobiota
- 2018-2019: Visiting Academic, Biological Sciences, University of Southampton.
- 2016-2018: Lecturer in Community Ecology, Biological Sciences, University of Southampton.
- 2012-2018: Visiting Fellow, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University.
- 2014-2018: Editor for Ecological Society of Australia’s Hot Topics
- 2012-2016: ARC Research Fellow (ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award; ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions), University of Melbourne.
- 2012-2015: International Scholar, Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota.
- 2009-2012: Research Fellow, School of Botany, University of Melbourne (funding from: Australian Weeds Research Centre; Applied Environmental Decision Analysis; National Climate Change Research Adaptation Facility).
- 2009-2011: Vegetation Specialist on “River Health & Environmental Flows in China”, Australia-China Environment Development Program.
- 2003-2008: Environmental consultant on freshwater-based projects (Ecological Engineering Pty Ltd, Stormy Water Solution Pty Ltd).
Reviewing
Funding agencies:
- Australian Research Council
- European Research Council
- European Science Foundation
- US National Science Foundation
- UK Natural Environment Research Council
- BiodivERsA (pan-European biodiversity research funding agency)
- The Nature Conservancy
- German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
- Ecological Society of Australia
- Czech Science Foundation
- Swiss National Science Foundation
Book publishers:
- CABI Publishing
- Cambridge University Press
- Oxford University Press
- Wiley-Blackwell
Journals:
- Nature Communications
- Nature Ecology & Evolution
- PNAS
- Ecology Letters
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution
- PLOS Biology
- Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
- BioScience
- Ecology
- Global Change Biology
- Global Ecology & Biogeography
- Journal of Ecology
- Ecology & Evolution
- Journal of Applied Ecology
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B
- Philosophical Transactions B
- Ecography
- Biological Conservation
- Diversity and Distributions
- Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics
- Oikos
- PLoS ONE
- Austral Ecology
- Ecosystems
- Oecologia
- Journal of Vegetation Science
- Plant Ecology
- Hydrobiologia
- Plant Ecology and Diversity
- Environmental Research
- Biological Invasions
- Restoration Ecology
- AoB Plants
- Axios
- Acta Oecologia
- Health Promotion International
- PNAS of India
Catford Ecology Lab 