Abstract: ACERA has been working with DAFF to develop tools to improve the quality and timeliness of biosecurity information. Recently, ACERA has begun a research project funded by the US intelligence service, to evaluate the use of prediction techniques. A group of ecologists and their friends have been deploying methods developed for biosecurity intelligence to issues in geopolitics. The potential benefits for conservation planning and threat mitigation are considerable.

Biography:  Mark A. Burgman is Director of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis and the Adrienne Clarke Chair of Botany in theSchool of Botany at the University of Melbourne.  He works on ecological modelling, conservation biology and risk assessment.  His research has included models on a broad range of species and a range of settings including marine fisheries, forestry, irrigation, electrical power utilities, mining, and national park planning.  He received a BSc from the University of New South Wales (1974), an MSc from Macquarie University, Sydney (1981), and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York (1987). He worked as a consultant ecologist and research scientist in Australia, the United States and Switzerland during the 1980’s before joining the University of Melbourne in 1990.