Richard Hobbs
Encyclopedia
Richard J. Hobbs FAA, is a distinguished professor, ARC Australian Laureate Fellow and ecologist at the University of Western Australia
, Perth, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
and a Highly-Cited author who has written extensively in the areas of vegetation dynamics and management, ecosystem fragmentation, ecosystem rehabilitation and restoration, landscape ecology, and conservation biology. Current research focuses on managing ecosystems in a rapidly changing world.
, Scotland in 1982, working on post-fire dynamics of heathland communities, supervised by Prof Charles Gimingham.
His first postdoctoral research position was at Stanford University, working with Prof Hal Mooney
on serpentine grassland dynamics.
In 1984 he joined the CSIRO Division of Wildlife & Ecology in Western Australia and worked on the dynamics of fragmented ecosystems in the Western Australian wheatbelt, becoming the Officer in Charge of the Western Australian laboratory in 1997.
In 2000 he took up a Chair in Environmental Science at Murdoch University
and was awarded an ARC Australian Professorial Fellowship in 2006.
Moving to the University of Western Australia in 2009, he was awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship by the Australian Research Council
for research into “Intervention ecology: managing ecosystems in the 21st century”.
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
, Perth, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
Australian Academy of Science
The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The Academy is modelled after the Royal Society and operates under a Royal Charter; as such it is...
and a Highly-Cited author who has written extensively in the areas of vegetation dynamics and management, ecosystem fragmentation, ecosystem rehabilitation and restoration, landscape ecology, and conservation biology. Current research focuses on managing ecosystems in a rapidly changing world.
Academic Career
An alumnus of Edinburgh University, Scotland, Richard obtained a 1st class honours in Ecological Science in 1976. He secured a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of California Santa Barbara, USA where he completed a Masters degree in 1977. He completed his PhD at the University of AberdeenUniversity of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, Scotland in 1982, working on post-fire dynamics of heathland communities, supervised by Prof Charles Gimingham.
His first postdoctoral research position was at Stanford University, working with Prof Hal Mooney
Hal Mooney
Hal Mooney was an American composer and arranger, born Harold Mooney on 4 February 1911, in Brooklyn, New York. He died on 23 March 1995, in Los Angeles, California.-Early life and career:...
on serpentine grassland dynamics.
In 1984 he joined the CSIRO Division of Wildlife & Ecology in Western Australia and worked on the dynamics of fragmented ecosystems in the Western Australian wheatbelt, becoming the Officer in Charge of the Western Australian laboratory in 1997.
In 2000 he took up a Chair in Environmental Science at Murdoch University
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
and was awarded an ARC Australian Professorial Fellowship in 2006.
Moving to the University of Western Australia in 2009, he was awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship by the Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...
for research into “Intervention ecology: managing ecosystems in the 21st century”.
Public and Professional Roles
- President, Ecological Society of Australia 1998-1999
- President, International Association for Landscape Ecology 1999-2003
- Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Worldwide Fund for Nature (Australia) 1997-2004
- Member, Invasive Species Specialist Group, IUCN Species Survival Commission
- Member, ARC Expert Advisory Panel (Engineering and Environment) 2001-2002
- Member, Board of Governors, Society for Ecological Restoration International 2003-2004
- Member, Wilderness Society Wildcountry Science Council 2003-2009
- Member, ARC College of Experts 2004-2005
- Member, Natural Heritage Trust Advisory Committee 2004-2007
- Member, Editorial Board, Ecological Management and Restoration 1999-2010
- Editor in Chief, Restoration Ecology, from 2005
- Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Landscape Ecology, from 2006
Awards
- Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
- ISI Highly Cited Researcher in Ecology and Environment
- Distinguished Scholarship Award, 1999, International Association for Landscape Ecology
- Finalist, 2001 Eureka Awards (The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney Eureka Prize for Biodiversity Research)
- Finalist, 2010 & 2011 Western Australian Scientist of the Year
- Ecological Society of Australia, 2010 Gold Medal Recipient
Selected Recent Publications
- Hobbs, R.J. & Suding, K.N. (eds.) 2009. New Models for Ecosystem Dynamics and Restoration. Island Press, Washington D.C.
- Suding, K.N. & Hobbs, R.J. 2009. Threshold models in conservation and restoration: A developing framework. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24(5):271-279
- Jackson, S.T. & Hobbs, R.J. 2009. Ecological restoration in the light of ecological history. Science 325(5940):567-569.
- Hobbs, R.J., Higgs, E. & Harris, J.A. 2009. Novel ecosystems: implications for conservation and restoration. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24(11):599-605
- Lindenmayer, D.B., Bennett, A.F. & Hobbs, R.J. (eds) 2010. Temperate woodland conservation and management. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
- Hobbs, R.J., Cole, D.N., Yung, L., Zavaleta, E.S., Aplet, G.H., Chapin, F.S.III, Landres, P.B., Parsons, D.J., Stephenson, N.L., White, P.S., Graber, D.M., Higgs, E.S., Millar, C.I., Randall, J.M., Tonnessen, K.A. & Woodley, S. 2010. Guiding concepts for parks and wilderness stewardship in an era of global environmental change. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 8(9):483-490.
- Hobbs, R.J., Hallett, L.M., Ehrlich, P.R. & Mooney, H.A. 2011. Intervention ecology: applying ecological science in the 21st century. BioScience 61(6):442-450