Tommi Mason

Qualifications

BEnvSci (Hons)

Position

PhD Candidate

Contact details

Address:

School of the Environment,

University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus

Room 363, Level 3, Goddard Building (08),

St Lucia, QLD, Australia 4072

Email: t.mason"at"student.uq.edu.au

Overview

I am a super-passionate Mega Frog Nerd/ Ecologist/ Entomologist/ Environmental Scientist (who also loves bugs and reptiles), who has returned to uni after working as a consultant to do a PhD to research Barred Frogs in SEQ and try and find out how they’re doing after the Chytrid Fungus epidemic.

I completed my BEnvSci with Honours at the University of Queensland, where I did a research project focusing on using bioacoustic and photo-based observation data from citizen science to

try to see if there is a relationship between frog abundance and diversity and waterway quality in Brisbane, and study the differences, limitations, and biases of using citizen science data.

During my undergrad I worked several jobs including consulting in aquatic ecology and entomology in Brisbane at a couple of different companies, educational entomology at various schools in SEQ and tutoring at UQ.

After completing my BEnvSci, I worked for a year and a half doing environmental consulting and tenement management, which included doing some aquatic ecology Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Receiving Environment Monitoring Program (REMP) fieldwork around open cut and underground coal mines in northern central Queensland. As such I am mine site qualified and in training to be a senior backpack electro-fisher.

I am now back at University doing my PhD studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia under supervision of Laura Grogan. My PhD work is focused primarily on Mixophyes spp., specifically Mixophyes iteratus (Giant Barred Frog), and if/how and/or why it is recovering from the chytrid fungus on a genetic, individual and/or population level, looking at environmental, micro habitat and landscape ecology factors.

Research Overview

I think my enthusiasm and passion for wildlife, particularly amphibians, insects and reptiles, is the reason for my interest in research. I know that these animals don’t get as much love as more charismatic species like birds and mammals, and so I think they deserve more. This love needs to include research that can help better-understand and best-protect these amazing species. In particular, frogs (my absolute favourite of the three), are some of the hardest-hit in terms of species declines and biodiversity loss – more so than birds or mammals. I want to protect my favourite animals and researching them is (I believe) one of the best ways to do it. We can’t protect and conserve them if we don’t know (enough) about them!

Research Keywords

Ecology, amphibians, populations, landscape ecology, microhabitat, chytrid fungus, microhabitat, entomology, biodiversity

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