People
Professor Therésa Jones
Principal Investigator
I am a behavioural and evolutionary ecologist interested in understanding how biotic and abiotic stressors influence the behaviour and physiology of animals. I completed my undergraduate at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (UK) and my PhD at the Institute of Zoology (UK) and am currently a Professor in the School of BioSciences (The University of Melbourne). I have conducted research in five countries and have to date worked on over 20 species (with a particular passion for the black field cricket). Over the past ten years my research has focussed on the largely negative effects of artificial light at night on the ecology of animal species and their communities. I work with external stakeholders to translate academic knowledge into real world solutions that mitigate the impact of light pollution for wildlife. I have contributed to State and National light pollution guidelines in Australia and am a member of the Network for Ecological Research on Artificial Light and the Australasian Dark Sky Alliance. In addition to my passion for behavioural ecology, I am a strong advocate for gender equality in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Email: theresa@unimelb.edu.au
Twitter: @ubanlightslab
Nicola-Anne Rutkowski (PhD)
The intersection between light at night and nutritional ecology
I am exploring the role of light at night on the behaviour and physiology of the cricket genus, Teleogryllus. I am exploring a range of traits including movement, feeding, developmental and reproductive measures. I am also exploring how melatonin, the chemical of darkness, might aid in mitigating the negative impacts of light at night. With my research I hope to provide a clearer picture of the impacts of ALAN.
PhD Supervisors: Prof Therésa Jones & Dr Kathryn McNamara
Email: nrutkowski@student.unimelb.edu.au
Ashleigh Anderson (PhD)
Light at night as a driver of circadian change
I am exploring the impact of artificial light at night and intraspecific circadian rhythm variation on the individual fitness of Drosophila melanogaster. With my research, I hope to explore the impact of circadian disruptors and whether particular circadian types are better able to cope with disruption.
PhD Supervisors: Prof Therésa Jones & Dr Kathryn McNamara
Email: andersonam@student.unimelb.edu.au
Erin Campbell-Hooper (PhD)
Artificial light at night and ecological communities
My PhD focuses on how artificial light at night affects animal communities, including coral reef fish, birds and insects. I am also investigating how stakeholders, decision makers and the broader Australian community perceive light pollution as an issue, and what the barriers are to positive change.
PhD Supervisors: Prof Therésa Jones & Prof Stephen Swearer
Email: erin.campbellhooper@unimelb.edu.au
Thibaut Roost (PhD)
Marine light pollution impacts on coral reef fish
My research focuses on how coastal light pollution affects teleost fish in shallow coral reefs. I am interested in how ALAN can impact fish individuals at different life stages from embryos to adults and how these effects can scale-up to higher biological scales such as predator-prey interactions and broad community structure.
PhD Supervisors: Prof Therésa Jones, Prof Stephen Swearer and Prof Suzanne Mills
Email: thibaut.roost@student.unimelb.edu.au
Gloria Hui Yu Gao (PhD)
The effect of tire wear particles on ecosystems
Gloria is currently pursuing a joint PhD between the University of Melbourne and the University of Toronto, with a focus on chemical additives from microplastics on terrestrial ecosystems. The project aims to determine the current levels of compounds from tire wear particles, namely 6PPD and 6PPD-quinone, in soil. The impacts of 6PPD on various soil invertebrates will also be investigated to fill in these knowledge gaps.
PhD Supervisors: Prof Therésa Jones
Email: gloriahuiyu.gao@student.unimelb.edu.au
Alumni
Postdoctoral Fellows
| Dr Kathryn McNamara | Light at night as a driver of evolutionary change |
| Dr Marty Lockett | Toolkit for wildlife sensitive lighting |
| Dr Gareth Hopkins | Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Western Oregon University. |
PhD
| Dr Nikolas Willmott | Natural history and the effects of artificial light at night in an urban exploiting orb-weaving spider |
| Dr Tom Keaney | Mothers curse – intra-genomic conflict in Drosophila melanogaster |
| Dr Dan Parker | Designing for Multispecies Cohabitation: The Case for Prosthetic Habitats |
| Dr Marty Lockett | Trophic effects of artificial light at night (ALAN) in Eucalyptus woodlands |
| Dr Ashton Dickerson | The function of nocturnal song in a diurnal bird and the effect of light at night on this behaviour |
| Dr Lucy McLay | The impact of light at night and oxidative stress in Drosophila |
| Dr Anne Aulsebrook | The impact of light at night on avian sleep |
| Dr Liz Milla | Evolutionary ecology of the Australian Heliozelidae (Adeloidea; Lepidoptera) |
| Dr Jessica Henneken | Mate choice in orb weaving spiders |
| Dr Yasaman Alavi | The evolution of facultative parthenogenesis in the Australian spiny leaf insect (Extatosoma tiaratum) |
| Dr Bec Featherston | Sexual conflict and sex ratios: the impact of female control |
| Dr Kathryn McNamara | Male mating strategies and their effect on female fitness in the almond moth |
Masters
| Rebecca Rasmussen | A quiet way to swim: Modelling water boatmen |
| Shion Kim | The impacts of UHI on the Australian field cricket (Teleogryllus oceanicus) |
| Nick Fitzgerald | The effect of multiple stressors on Australian field crickets |
| Maddie Nam | Insect attraction behaviour in response to differing colour/intensity of artificial light |
| Maddie Brown | The effect of light at night on cognition and life history traits |
| Gemma Walker | Eucalyptus leachate as an environmental stressor in freshwater landscapes |
| Harriett Kulich | The impact of light at night on zebra finch cognition |
| Tom Keaney | Mother’s curse: Drosophila melanogaster |
| Caitlin Selleck | Food choice in a native caterpillar pest |
| Nikolas Willmott | Responses of a nocturnal orb-weaving spider to artificial light at night |
| Alex Francis | Community level impacts of variation in the spectra of artificial light at night |
| Chris Freelance | Variation in tissue bound ROS and melatonin concentration in response to ALAN |
| Ellie Michaelides | Fitness costs associated with environmental light pollution |
| Joanna Durrant | Physiological consequences of constant light exposure and the role of melatonin in the black field cricket |
| Jessi Henneken | The use of web based chemical cues in mate assessment in an orb weaving spider |
| Christina Eldridge | Responding to stress – the impact of dietary oxidants for fitness |
Honours
| Brianna Robinson | Behaviour and genetics in the Australian blowfly |
| Michael Botha | Artificial light at night and variation in reproductive investment in crickets |
| Nathan Vu | Transgenerational impacts of light at night |
| Connor Wheelan | Variation in song traits under different nocturnal light conditions |
Urban Light Lab 