Biocontrol & Molecular Ecology

The Biocontrol & Molecular Ecology team works on a range of projects aimed at protecting terrestrial biodiversity in New Zealand, and mitigating the impacts of invasive species on the natural environment and productive sector.

Our core skills and capability fall into three key areas:

Biodiversity management
	Biodiversity inventory and monitoring (including sub-Antarctic Islands) Understanding, protecting and restoring wetlands, drylands, forest fragments and rare ecosystems Sanctuaries and iconic species management Species recovery strategies, including genetics and assisted reproduction Conservation planning tools Biodiversity offsetting Incorporating biodiversity into urban design
Invasive Species management
	Management of weeds, especially through biocontrol Safe importation of new plant germplasm (to prevent new weeds) Managing invasive invertebrates in natural ecosystems Managing diseases of native plants
Molecular biology
	Understanding populations in order to better conserve or control them Diagnostics and systematics Functional genetics/genomics EcoGene® (DNA services undertaken for national and international clients for biodiversity and biosecurity applications)

Our team is responsible for managing the Miller Invertebrate Containment Facility at Lincoln, and the Pathogen Containment Facility currently being constructed at Tamaki. We also manage the Ecological Genetics Laboratory at Tamaki and Ecology Labs at Hamilton, Palmerston North and Dunedin.

Currently our team has 38 staff located at our Auckland, Hamilton, Lincoln, Palmerston North and Dunedin sites. We also have 9 Research Associates associated with our team, and a number of casual staff working with us at any one time.

Julia Allwood

Researcher Molecular Ecology & Capability Leader

Location: Auckland

Biocontrol & Molecular Ecology

Julia Allwood

Eva Biggs

Angela Bownes

Talia Brav-Cubitt

Anna Bristol

Amber Brooks

Bob Brown

Arnaud Cartier

Seona Casonato

Carina Davis

Murray Dawson

Manpreet Dhami

Andrew Dopheide

Shaun Forgie

Simon Fowler

Justyna Giejsztowt

Hugh Gourlay

Ronny Groenteman

Lynley Hayes

Richard Hill

Gary Houliston

Robyn Howitt

Peter N Johnson

Claudia Lange

Chris McGrannachan

Zane McGrath

Danielle Middleton

Caroline Mitchell

Quentin Paynter

Paul Peterson

Ana Podolyan

Chantal Probst

Hester Roberts

Lindsay Smith

Pauline Syrett

Katherine Trought

Peter Williams

Chris Winks