Plenary Speakers
Sustaining Diversity
Dr. Rachael Gallagher
“Into the wild: addressing plant extinction through establishment of new plant populations”
Rachael Gallagher is a plant ecologist and conservation biologist. She runs a research program at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University investigating plant diversity and adaptation, including experimental and field studies of plant responses to key threatening processes such as climate change and fire. Rachael’s research draws on national and international initiatives on plant traits and geographic ranges, several of which she contributes to directly as co-curator of the national AusTraits plant database. She uses these rich sources of data to inform continental and global scale studies in plant biogeography and conservation.
Rachael has worked in plant science since 2004, initially at the National Herbarium of NSW and subsequently as an Australian Research Council Early Career Research Fellow (DECRA 2017-2021) and Future Fellow (2026-2030). She is a current member of the Commonwealth of Australia’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) and previous Deputy Chair and member of the NSW TSSC (2016-2021).
Over the last three decades, vast international resources have been committed to conservation seed banking, to great success. Seed bank collections have grown rapidly since the millennium and seeds and plant germplasm are now routinely stored to safeguard species against extinction. Yet seed banks were never intended to be a ‘final stop’ along the road to recovery for plant species. Currently, when we do reintroduce or translocate plant populations, failure rates associated with their establishment can be unacceptably high. We also often do not know where to situate new plant populations relative to their historical distributions, given immense changes in climate and land use. New science is therefore needed to improve and intensify the strategic reintroduction and establishment of plant populations to the landscape.
In this talk, I will outline gaps in ecological and conservation knowledge that hamper current reintroduction success, such as a lack of a comprehensive list of at-risk species and explore solutions – including new engagement with landholders and practitioners. I will also discuss how we might use emerging financial market mechanisms to fund initiatives that reduce plant extinction risk by establishing new populations.
Biosecurity, Invasive Threats and Post-invasion Challenges
Barbara Waterhouse
“Stemming the tide: biosecurity and conservation challenges in northern Australia.”
Barbara Waterhouse PSM worked as a botanist with the Department of Agriculture (DAFF) Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy from 1990 to 2023. In this role she worked widely across northern Australia and in neighbouring Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands. She contributed to early detection and reporting of weeds and pests of biosecurity concern, identification of host plants, biosecurity responses for new weeds, Asian honey bees and exotic fruit flies, and training of remote biosecurity staff and ranger groups. In ‘retirement’ she still has an active interest in invasive species, an adjunct role at the Australian Tropical Herbarium and is a member of the Queensland DETSI Species Technical Committee (Threatened Species).
Long term geographic isolation, climatic stability and ancient, nutrient poor soils have shaped Australia’s unique biota. Isolation has also limited the arrival of invasive organisms that are common elsewhere, although this protection is increasingly challenged by global trade, rapid transport, population growth and human movement.
Northern Australia presents a different story. For millennia it has been a region of biotic exchange across the Sunda–Sahul Convergence Zone (Joyce et al. 2020). Proximity to neighbouring landmasses, periodic land bridges, monsoonal weather systems and migratory animals have created ongoing opportunities for the arrival of new species. The flora and fauna of the region remain incompletely documented due to remoteness, difficult access and a shortage of taxonomic specialists. This natural permeability complicates the distinction between native, naturalised and introduced taxa, with direct implications for biosecurity and plant conservation, especially in sensitive northern ecosystems.
Across Australia, biosecurity threats are mitigated through regulation, inspection and surveillance, particularly near international ports and airports. However, the presence of ‘unregulated pathways’ in northern Australia has required additional measures to support prevention and early detection of new incursions, particularly in remote coastal and island communities.
My talk will present examples of current threats and pathways for new introductions into northern Australia, with a focus on the Torres Strait region, drawing on over 30 years of experience in early detection biosecurity programs. I will also outline challenges for biosecurity and conservation arising from mistaken identity, taxonomic uncertainty, rigid application of biosecurity precepts and potential unintended consequences of well-intentioned responses.
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Meanwhile, you can view presentations from our last conference held in Toowoomba and watch delegate reactions and closing thoughts here.
