Our Purpose

The Frontiers of Restoration Ecology team is dedicated to improving restoration success through innovation, for the benefit of the natural world and society alike. We recognise that our planet is rapidly changing and believe that to respond, we need solutions based on cutting-edge science.

The group is led by Associate Professor Martin Breed at Flinders University, and brings together expertise from a diverse range of disciplines – including ecosystem health, restoration ecology, genomics and the health sciences. Having such a diverse team allows us to tackle problems from multiple angles.

The collaborative nature of the team enables us to work across several fields and we combine our expertise with modern genomics, bioinformatics and statistics.

Research highlights so far include pioneering the integration of genomics into restoration science, leading the development of health-promoting biodiversity in our cities, enhancing the benefits to society from biodiverse urban green spaces, improving ecosystem restoration practices that facilitate adaptation to climate change, and progressing soil biodiversity management to improve ecosystem restoration practices.

The FORE Team

**Associate Prof Martin Breed, Team Lead**
Restoration ecology, ecosystem health and genomics

**Christian Cando-Dumancela, Lab manager**

Sofie Costin, PhD Candidate

**Tarryn Davies, PhD candidate**
Microbial genomics, ecosystem condition and soil inoculation
I am researching the impact of ecosystem condition on soil microbial communities in grey box grassy woodlands, and using this knowledge to trial different soil inoculation techniques.

**Nicole Fickling, PhD candidate**
Restoration ecology, human health and ecosystem condition
I am investigating the influence of fragmentation on ecosystem restoration and condition with a focus on soil microbiota.

**Riley Hodgson, PhD candidate**
Restoration ecology, plant-soil feedbacks, and metagenomics research
I'm researching how soil microbes affect native plant health and ecosystems, with a focus on restoration ecology in response to global changes.

**Dr. Craig Liddicoat, Research Fellow**
Microbial genomics, ecological restoration, and human health
I am investigating the restoration of health-promoting soil biodiversity for the People, Cities & Nature research program in Aotearoa NZ.

**Shawn Peddle, PhD candidate**
Restoration ecology, soil microbiota and soil translocations/inoculations

**Jake Robinson, Research Associate**
My research focuses on the nexus between biodiversity and human health, and on developing innovative strategies to conserve and restore ecosystems.

**Alex Flynn Taylor, Honours Student**
Soil ecoacoustics, environmental monitoring, restoration ecology
I'm researching how we can use ecoacoustics to monitor soil fauna, focussing particularly on exploring relationships between soil communities and sound production.

**Carl Watson, PhD candidate**
Restoration ecology and soil microbiota

Alumni

Joel Brame

Declan Spoor

Daniel Shepherd

Natalie Newman

Henry Hunt

Alfie Lem

Daphne McLeod