BSc (Hons), Plant ecology, The University of New South Wales
BSc. Environmental Science, The University of New South Wales
PhD, Plant ecology, The University of New England, Australia.

Tim was first involved with the Center for Rainforest Studies during 2005, when he taught rainforest ecology over the two summer sessions. He enjoyed that experience and the location immensely and was very keen to rejoin CRS at the start of 2006 as the forest management faculty. The chance to teach keen and intelligent students about the rainforest in such a fantastic location was too good to pass up, and he has greatly enjoyed his time spent mentoring students and guiding their research projects on rainforest plant ecology and forest management.

Tim's research interests include functional ecology, evolutionary ecology, biogeography and restoration ecology. He is particularly interested in how plant functional traits (such as wood density) can be used to understand how rainforest plants survive disturbances such as drought and cyclones. His Ph.D. thesis examined the biogeography and functional and evolutionary ecology of dry rainforest in New South Wales. In particular, it tested several hypotheses concerning the origins of inland dry rainforest by comparing the drought tolerance of dry rainforest species with that of their close relatives from wetter rainforests, and by relating functional traits of dry rainforest species to their habitat preferences. This research fostered his current interest in understanding how plants, particularly rainforest species, survive drought, and how such understanding could help predict the response of vegetation, such as tropical rainforest, to global climate change. Recently, Tim and his students began examining how rainforest plants on the Atherton Tableland survive drought (by comparing drought resistance traits of closely related taxa across a rainfall gradient) as a means of identifying those species which might be most drought susceptible. Tim will work with future student groups to test these predictions and make similar predictions for a wider range of species.

Since joining CRS, Tim has conducted or supervised student research on a number of issues relating to plant response to cyclones. Along with Amanda Freeman and several of their students and interns, Tim examined the impacts of tropical cyclone Larry to patches of ‘Mabi' forest, a critically endangered forest type on the Atherton Tablelands. He and his students have also demonstrated that plant functional traits such as wood density are very important determinants of which species resist the damage caused by cyclones, as well as which species are cyclone resilient (able to quickly regrow lost foliage). 

Tim has wide experience in natural resource management, having served as the scientific representative on committees established to conserve vegetation in northern New South Wales and to manage koalas and their habitat at Port Stephens in New South Wales. For four years he worked in local government in New South Wales, mainly to prepare management plans for koalas and their habitat. He also participated in research by the Australian Koala Foundation to establish koala food tree preferences (which involved many hours searching below eucalypts for koala dung).

In his spare time Tim enjoys bushwalking, reading and playing sports, including Ultimate Frisbee and table tennis.

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