Two prominent Charles Darwin University researchers have received a national award to honour their outstanding contributions to the field of birds in the Australasian region.
Director of the School for Environmental Research, Professor Stephen Garnett, and the Biodiversity Information Officer with Tropical Savannas CRC, Dr Gabriel Crowley, were recently awarded the prestigious D. L. Serventy Medal by Birds Australia (previously the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union) for their contributions to publications in the field of ornithology.
Partners in life and work, Professor Garnett and Dr Crowley have made a significant, pivotal and unique contribution to the knowledge and conservation of Australian birds.
This contribution has been through hands-on intensive research, through the compilation of systematic overviews of the conservation status of Australian birds, and through the development and maintenance of networks of ornithologists and others, nationally and internationally, with interest in the management of Australia’s threatened birds.
Much of this substantial body of work has been undertaken jointly, which gives it an unusual depth and richness.
While Professor Garnett is an excellent ornithologist, Dr Crowley also brings to the research partnership particular expertise in botany.
This added perspective has proven invaluable, allowing them to fully document and understand the intricate links between, for example, the management of Glossy Black-Cockatoos and their primary food source, Casuarinas, and between Golden-shouldered Parrots, grass seed availability and the response of grasses to cattle and fire.
Birds Australia Chief Executive Officer, Dr Graeme Hamilton said conservation ecology depended on untangling these nuanced relationships and dependencies, and the work of the pair represented some of the most outstanding examples of this discipline.
“Both Gay and Stephen have a long-standing association with Birds Australia, Stephen on several committees and Gay as a researcher,” he said.
“Together and separately they have made a major contribution to our knowledge of Australian birds, and an unrivalled contribution to their conservation.
“Their significant contributions to the publication of pure, applied and popular ornithology and conservation make them most worthy recipients of the D. L. Serventy Medal.”