I am a quantitative wildlife ecologist who uses and develops novel statistical methods coupled with research computing to understand species interactions and how wildlife communities are impacted by a wide range of contemporary disturbances. 

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I am currently working as the Principal Data Scientist to develop the Wildlife Observatory of Australia (WildObs) in partnership with UQ, TERN, ALA, QCIF, ARDC, and several others. My primary role in WildObs is to help collate, curate, and share a national database of previosuly siloed and new camera trapping surveys and link this data with rapid yet robust analyses to inform research, policy, and conservation decision making. 

 

I recently completed my PhD at the Universtiy of Queensland's School of the Environment and was advised by Drs. Matthew Luskin & James E.M. Watson. My thesis used data generated from many camera traps to (i) track megafauna extinctions and abundance declines in Southeast Asia, (ii) develop novel statisical methods to quanitfy predator-prey relationships, and (iii) examine the impact of large carnivore declines reshaping food webs in diverse tropical forests. My thesis leveraged previously isolated camera trap surveys in a data synthesis paired with novel inferential statistics to unravel complex species interactions that shape tropical forest food webs. 

 

In addition to my thesis, I assisted many other projects in the Ecological Cascades Lab, such as helping students use camera trap data and quantitative methods to research the basic ecology of understudied mammals in Southeast Asia's tropical forests. I have also lead the collection of a new multi-site multi-year camera trapping dataset across Queensland's Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, and I also am a tutor for several courses at UQ, including Field Ecology Studies where we take students to K'gari for a week and teach them how to camera trap and use artifical intellgence to sort out images. Take a look at what they saw on thier cameras here. 

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I have been incredibly lucky to develop my passion for wildlife ecology through amazing expereinces spent in the field. Starting with an undergraduate mammology class at the University of Colorado's Mountain Research Station to a semester abroad in Queensland's Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and K'gari (Fraser Island), I have learned how to collect data and study wildlife in thier natural environments. After graduating with dual degrees in psychology and ecology with honors (magna sum laude) from the University of Colorado, I worked as a field research technician on several USA federal government and university projects focused on the management and conservation of threatened reptiles and amphibians. 

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When I am not stuck behind my computer, you can find me outdoors looking for the amazing wildlife found around Southeast Queensland, chasing waves across our beautiful beaches, and riding bikes along the Brisbane River or Great Dividing Range.  

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If you are curious about my research or have any similar interes and would like to reach out, please feel free to contact me: z.amir@uq.edu.au

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For more info, check out my CV here.

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