The University of Western Australia

Asst/Prof Harriet Mills

Assistant Professor
School of Animal Biology

Contact details

Address

School of Animal Biology
The University of Western Australia (M092)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Phone

6488 1978

Fax

6488 1040

Email

harriet.mills@uwa.edu.au

Qualifications

BSc(NatResMgt) PhD W.Aust.

Biography

I am passionately interested in the ecology and conservation of Australian fauna and landscapes. Having grown up in the south west of Western Australia, I have a strong personal interest in the conservation of its ecosystems and biodiversity. I have skills and research experience in field survey and monitoring populations, radio-tracking, captive breeding and translocation of endangered species, management of exotic predators and native species, genetics of small populations, reproductive physiology and the use of non-invasive monitoring of reproductive hormones.

Key research

Terrestrial vertebrate ecology and conservation

Dasyurid life history strategies

Non invasive endocrine monitoring

Publications

McMillan, A., Chambers, B., Mills, H., Benicini, R. (submitted). Stable isotope analysis reveals the diet of tammar wallabies on Garden Island, Western Australia. Australian Mammalogy.

Hetherington, C., Mills, H., Algar, D. and Bencini, R. (2007). Increasing the target specificity of ERADICAT for feral cat control by encapsulating a toxicant. Wildlife Research 34 467-471.

Lambert, C. and Mills, H. (2006). Husbandry and breeding of the dibbler Parantechinus apicalis at Perth Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook 40 290-301.

Mills, H. R., Moro, D. and Spencer, P. B. S. (2004). Conservation significance of island versus mainland populations: a case study of dibblers (Parantechinus apicalis) in Western Australia. Animal Conservation 7 387-395.

Wolfe, K. M., Mills, H. R., Garkaklis, M. J. and Bencini, R. (2004). Post-mating survival in a small marsupial is associated with nutrient inputs from seabirds. Ecology 85 1740-1746.

Mills, H. R. and Spencer, P. B. S. (2003). Polymorphic microsatellites identified in an endangered dasyurid marsupial, the dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis). Molecular Ecology Notes 3 218-220.

Miller, S., Bencini, R., Mills, H. and Moro, D. (2003). Food availability for the dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) on Boullanger and Whitlock Islands, Western Australia. Wildlife Research 30 649-654.

Mills, H. (2002). Breeding programmes and restocking for endangered species. Pp. 35-37 in Scientific Workshop on the Margaret River Marron (Ed. Maloney, B). Fisheries Occasional Publications No. 2. Department of Fisheries, Western Australia.

Bencini, R., McCulloch, C., Mills, H. R. and Start, A. N. (2001). Habitat and diet preferences of the dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) on two islands in Jurien Bay, Western Australia. Wildlife Research 28 465-468.

Mills, H. R. and Bencini, R. (2000). New evidence for facultative male die-off in island populations of dibblers, Parantechinus apicalis. Australian Journal of Zoology 48 501-510.

Mills, H., German, R. Z., Lambert, C. and Bradley, M. P. (2000). Growth and sexual dimorphism in the dibbler, Parantechinus apicalis (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae). Australian Mammalogy 21 239-243.

Bradley, M. P., Lambert, C., Power, V., Mills, H., Gaikhorst, G. and Lawrence, C. (1999). Reproduction and captive breeding as a tool for mammal conservation: the role of modern zoos. Australian Mammalogy 21 47-54.

Funding received

•Perth Airport $32500 ‘Radio-tracking translocated quenda at Perth Airport’ 2007-2009
•Perth Zoological Gardens $12000 ‘Faecal progesterone assays for central rock rats and sunbears’ 2006-2008
•Melville Rotary Club $2000 ‘Support for radio-tracking of translocated quenda at Piney Lakes Reserve’ 2007
•UWA Small Grant $20000 ‘Conservation status of urban populations of southern brown bandicoots’ in collaboration with Dr Jacqui Richards from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, 2005
•City of Canning $5000 ‘Conservation status of urban southern brown bandicoots – radio-tracking’ 2005
•Anglogold $5000 ‘Biological surveys of the Sunrise Dam Goldmine – support for student projects’ 2004

Teaching

ANIM3353 - Wildlife Conservation and Management (Unit Coordinator)
SCIE3305/306 - Industry Experience (Unit Coordinator)
ANIM2210 - Animal Science (Lecturer and Practical Coordinator)
COMM2210 - Science and its Communication (Tutor)

Current external positions

Visiting Research Fellow - Perth Zoo

Research profile

Research profile and publications