ILWS - Institute of Land, Water and Society
Researchers
A/Prof Gary Luck
B App Sc(Hons) PhD
Lecturer
School of Environmental Sciences
Gary Luck's research interests include the conservation and management of endangered fauna in agricultural landscapes, the relationship between human demographics and biodiversity, and the role of species in providing ecosystem services.
Gary obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of South Australia in 1995, and then went on to complete his honours at the University of Adelaide in 1996, conducting one of the first studies in Australia on the relationship between birds and habitat edges in fragmented landscapes. Gary moved to Edith Cowan University in Perth in 1997 to complete his PhD on the conservation of threatened birds in agricultural landscapes. His thesis was awarded both the Faculty and University Research Medals for an outstanding contribution to research.
In 2001, Gary moved to California to take up a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the prestigious Stanford University . Here he worked with Paul Ehrlich and Gretchen Daily on a range of research projects including conservation of avian frugivores in Costa Rica and the relationship between human demographics and biodiversity conservation. His work from this period has been published in some of the leading scientific journals including Nature, Trends in Ecology and Evolution and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Gary returned to Australia in 2003 to begin his current position as a lecturer in the School of Environmental and Information Sciences. He is currently working on a range of projects related to conservation of fauna in agricultural landscapes and extending his research on the relationships between people and biodiversity.
Gary is a member of a number of national and international associations, including the Ecological Society of Australia and Faculty 1000. He is also an associate editor of Pacific Conservation Biology. He has published over 30 peerÂreviewed and general articles.