The University of Western Australia

Professor Alistar Robertson

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) (on Special Leave)
School of Plant Biology

Contact details

Address

School of Plant Biology
The University of Western Australia (M090)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Phone

6488 4545

Email

alistar.robertson@uwa.edu.au

Biography

I grew up on a farm in Western Victoria, Australia and trained at the University of Melbourne where I obtained undergraduate and postgraduate degrees with a specialisation in animal ecology.

I joined UWA in 2002 as Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

At the beginning of 2008, I was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research).

I have been responsible for facilitating and managing strategic relationships with the Commonwealth science agencies, industry and State and Local agencies in the broad area of environmental research. I have also facilitated cross-disciplinary linkages across faculties and schools at UWA to develop Research Institutes. I was responsible for the re-establishment of the UWA Institute of Agriculture in 2007 and the formation of the UWA Oceans Institute in 2010. I was also responsible for coordinating UWA's successful bids for ARC Centres of Excellence and Cooperative Research Centres over the last 5 years.

Key research

• Ecological processes in marine ecosystems, including vegetation dynamics and production, fish recruitment, trophodynamics and material cycles in seagrass, mangrove and continental shelf habitats in tropical Australia, Canada, New Guinea and South-East Asia.

• Responses of river and floodplain ecosystems to multiple changes, including flow, invasive biota, clearing for agriculture and grazing by livestock.

Publications

Four books, 92 peer-reviewed publications, and 34 technical reports. See 'Useful Links' links below for Google Scholar citations and H index.

Examples from the last 10 years:

Roshier, D.A., Robertson, A.I., and Kingsford, R.J. (2002). Responses of waterbirds to flooding
in the arid region of Australia and implications for conservation. Biological Conservation 106, 399-411

Frazier, P., Page, K., Louis, J., Briggs, S., and Robertson, A.I. (2003). Relating wetland inundation to river flows using Landsat TM data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 24, 3755-3770.

Alongi, D.M., Clough, B.F, A.I. Robertson (2005). Nutrient use efficiency in arid-zone forests of the mangroves Rhizophora stylosa and Avicennia marina. Aquatic Botany 82, 121-131.

Wassens, S., Roshier, D.A., Watts, R.J., Robertson, A.I. (2007). Spatial patterns of a southern bell frog (Litoria raniformis) population in an agricultural landscape. Pacific Conservation Biology 13 (2), 104-110.

Tonkin, Z., King, A., and Robertson A. (2008). Validation of daily increment formation and the effects of different temperatures and feeding regimes on short-term otolith growth in Australian smelt Retropinna semoni. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 17, 312-317

Lowe, B., Watts, R.J., Roberts, J., and Robertson, A.I. (2010). The effect of experimental inundation and sediment deposition on the survival and growth of two herbaceous riverbank plant species. Plant Ecology 209, 57-69

Tonkin, Z., King, A.J., Robertson, A.I., and Ramsey, D. (2011). Early fish growth response to aspects of a temperate floodplain river flow regime. Freshwater Biology 56, 1769-1782

Alongi, D.M., Bouillon, S., Duarte, C.M., Ramanathan, A.I., and A.I. Robertson. 2012. Carbon and nutrient fluxes across tropical river-coastal boundaries in the Anthropocene. Ch 9 in ‘Biogeochemical dynamics at major river-coastal interfaces: linkages with global change, ed T.S. Bianci, M.A. Allison, W-J. Cai, Cambridge University Press.

Roles, responsibilities and expertise

I have extensive experience as a member of research committees and advisory groups, including:

Joint Venture Research Centres:

• Board Member, Cooperative Research Centre for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, 2003-2007.
• Board Member, WA Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, 2003-2007
• Board Member, Cooperative Research Centre for Coastal Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management, 2003-2006.
• Board Member, Agriculture Research Western Australia, 2005-2009
• Member and Chair, Board of the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, 2003-2007.
• Board Member, Western Australian Marine Science Institution, 2006-2009 and 2011-present
• Director, Bushfire CRC, 2007-present
• Board Member, International Water Centre, 2008-2012
• Board Member, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, 2009-2012
• Director, Lung Institute of Western Australia, 2011-2012

Research Assessment:

• Member, International Panel, Review of Harbour Research Program, Matsue Prefecture, Japan, 1990
• Member (1997) and Chair (1998-1999), A1 Biological Sciences Discipline Panel and Member, Research Grants Committee, Australian Research Council.
• Member, Five Year Review Panel, CRC for Sustainable Development of the Great Barrier Reef, 1998.
• Chair, Third year Review Panel, ARC Special Research Centre for Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, University of Sydney, 1999.
• Member, Expert Advisory Committee-Biological Sciences, Australian Research Committee, 2001-2002
• Member, Ecology, Biodiversity and Ecosystems Assessment Panel, New Zealand Centres of Research Excellence Fund, The Royal Society of New Zealand, 2001-2002.
• Chair, Research Advisory Committee, Conservation Commission of Western Australia, 2003-2004.
• Chair, Science Review Panel of CSIRO Division of Entomology, 2005.
• Member, Environmentally Sustainable Australia Expert Working Group, Review of National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy Roadmap, 2008
• Member, Steering Committee, World Universities Network Adapting to Climate Change Grand Challenge, 2010 – present
• Chair, Review of CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, June 2012
• Chair, Review of Griffith University School of the Environment, July 2012

Other appointments:

• Torres Strait Baseline Study Management Advisory Committee, 1991-1994.
• Advisory Committee to Queensland Minister of Primary Industry on “Downstream Effects of Agricultural Practices”, 1991-1993.
• Water Quality Technical Advisory Panel, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 1991-1993.
• Editorial Advisory Committee, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1993 – 1998.
• Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Committee, 1995-1997.
• Environmental Engineering/Science Task Force, Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1996- 1997.
• Northern Australia Expert Advisory Panel, Commonwealth of Australia, 2011-present

Future research

• Environmental change and the ecology of wetland habitats
• Other topics as my mind runs free

Funding received

Recent funding (i.e. while at UWA and before I joined the UWA Vice Chancellery

• ARC Discovery Grant. Testing the Flood Pulse Concept for rivers with variable flow regimes, 2003-2008.
• ARC Discovery Grant. Restoration of Ecology of Floodplain Rivers: The Interactive Effects of Floods and Domestic Livestock on Ecological Processes in Floodplain Habitats 2003.
• ARC Discovery Grant. Understanding coastal biodiversity: the impact of marine production subsidies upon arid coastal environments (Walker, Duarte, Robertson and Grierson). 2005-2007

Industrial relevance

I have always developed my research projects and programs to have relevance to the management and conservation of wetland habitats and catchments.To maximise opportunities for adoption of my findings I have worked with landholders and served on regional and national committees to influence decision making. For example, in past research supported by the Australian Research Council my group and I developed an approach for rapid appraisal of the ecological condition of riparian habitats - the Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition (RARC) that is now used by landholders and catchment managers across the Murray-Darling Basin, the wool growing areas of southern Australia and the northern tropics of Australia.

Honours and awards

• Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence, Charles Sturt University, 1998.
• Vice-Chancellor’s Team Award for Research Excellence, Charles Sturt University, 2001.
• CSIRO Partnership Excellence Award, Team Member, successful Major Research Facility bid ($21M), Western Australian Marine Institution, 2005.

Previous positions

• 1994-2002 Foundation Chair and Professor of Environmental Science and Director, Johnstone Centre for Research in Natural Resources and Society, Charles Sturt University
• 1993-1994 Senior Principal Research Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science
• 1984-1993 Research Scientists-Principal Research Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science
• 1981-1984 Research Fellow, CSIRO Division of Fisheries Research
• 1979-1980 Postdoctoral Fellow, Dalhousie University, Canada

Current external positions

• Director, Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre
• Member Steering Committee, World Universities Network Adapting to Climate Change Grand Challenge
• Member Board, Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI)

Useful links

http://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=sxw1BbQAAAAJ&hl=en

Current projects

Currently on Special Leave investigating the assessment of research impact.

Research profile

Research profile and publications