Dr Wendy Wright

Senior Lecturer, Environmental Science and Biology

Located at: Room 2W-257, Gippsland Campus Postal address: School of Applied Sciences and Engineering Monash University Gippsland Campus, Churchill, Victoria, 3842, Australia Phone: +61 3 512 26854 or +61 3 990 26854 Fax: +61 3 512 26738 or +61 3 990 26738 Email: Wendy.Wright@sci.monash.edu.au

Wendy Wright is a biologist with a strong interest in conservation and biodiversity. She teaches undergraduate units in Biology and Resource and Environmental Management. Her research is focussed on conservation within production environments (agriculture, forestry etc) and she has supervised several past and present research students working in the areas of conservation biology, restoration ecology and habitat evaluation.  Wendy is the coordinator of the Resource and Environmental Management Major with the Bachelor of Science degree program. She also coordinates the Honours and Postgraduate Research Degree programs (PhD and MSc) within the School of Applied Sciences and Engineering.

Teaching Commitments

Wendy teaches within the Biological and Environmental Management programs currently offered by the school. She is an experienced curriculum developer and has designed and introduced several new courses and units at Monash University. Wendy has received several teaching awards, including:  Gippsland Teaching Award, 2007; MUGSU "Golden Apple" Award, 2008.

Wendy is the unit advisor for the following units:

• BIO1711 - Human biology
• BIO1722 - Cell biology
• ENV2712 - Biology and diversity
• ENV2726 - Conservation of bio-resources
• ENV3647 - Forest management (with Mr Ian Leversha)
• ENV3656 - Natural area management (with Mr Ian Leversha)

Research Interests

Wendy's research focuses particularly on conservation within production environments and her work aims to promote sustainable practices within the silvicultural and agricultural industries. Current and recent research includes investigating the role of remnant native vegetation and revegetated areas on farms in supporting on-farm biodiversity.  This research documents the importance of native vegetation as habitat for invertebrate and vertebrate communities.

Other current projects are focused on maintaining biodiversity in production forests.  Wendy works collaboratively with other academics and with government and semi-government agencies including the Victorian Departments of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Primary Industry (DPI). In 2008 she was part of a team which received the David Ashton Biodiversity Award, for a research project investigating habitat restoration for fauna in rural landscapes.

Wendy has also published in the area of flexible delivery of science education, with an emphasis on pedagogical tools such as laboratory kits and audiovisual aids.

Postgraduate and Honours Supervision

Wendy is an accredited and experienced research supervisor, having completed Monash's research supervisor training program and several master classes in research supervision. She has supervised several PhD and MSc students in her research area. She also coordinates the school's honours program and supervises honours students.

Professional Affiliations

• Member, Ecological Society of Australia
• Member, Birds Australia
• Seconded Member, Catchment Ecosystems Advisory Group - West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority

Research Grants

• Appleton, R., Kelsall, Y, & Wright, W. ‘Strzelecki Warm Temperate Rainforest Restoration - Macks Creek Catchment’  Australian Government - Caring for our Country Open Grants, $211,359,  2008.
• Wright, W. & O’Donnell, P. ‘The effects of restoring native vegetation on biodiversity in an agricultural setting’ Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, $4,000,  2008.
• Ryan, A., Wright, W. & D’Urbano, T. ‘An examination of pedagogical approaches to education for sustainability in Victorian schools’  Monash University Faculty of Education Small Grant, $10,000,  2008.
• Wright, W., Barr, R., Rossi, S. &  Weston, N. ‘Review: Fire and biodiversity’, Department of Sustainability and Environment (Victoria) $15,000,  2007.
• Dutta, D., Wright, W. & Adeloju, S. ‘Climate perturbation and coastal zone control zone systems in the Asia Pacific region: Holistic approaches and Tools for Vulnerability Assessment and Sustainable Management Strategy’ - Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research 2007-2009, $90,000.
• Wright, W. & Weston, N. ‘Effects of timber harvesting and wildfire on bird populations in a managed native forest’ Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment $2,300,  2007
• Durbano, T., Ryan, A. & Wright, W. ‘Evaluation of the Gippsland Sustainability Project’  Gould Group Pty Ltd  $23,200,  2006
• Peterson, J., Wright, W. & Zhu, X. ‘Effects of land use on temperate rainforest recovery’ Grand Ridge Plantations Pty Ltd  $15,000,  2006
• Mosse, J. & Wright, W. ‘DNA profiling of koalas using DNA extracted from faecal samples’ Grand Ridge Plantations Pty Ltd $5,000,  2006
• Wright, W. & Weston, N. ‘Effects of timber harvesting and wildfire on bird populations in a managed native forest ‘ Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment $3.500, 2006
• Wright, W. ‘Boola Boola fauna study’  Department of Sustainability & Environment (Victoria) $5,000,   2004.
• Wright, W. & Adeloju, S. ‘FP101 Global flow probe; digital water velocity meter’ Collier Charitable Fund – Equipment Grant $595, 2004
• Wright, W. & Adeloju, S. ‘90FLMT Multi-parameter water quality meter’  Collier Charitable Fund – Equipment Grant  $2,500,  2004

Selected Publications

Conference Papers

• Zhang, Zx, Peterson J, Zhu X, Wright W, ‘ Modelling land use and land cover change in the Strzelecki Ranges’ International Confertence on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM07) Christchurch , NZ, December 10-13, 2007.
• N Weston, W Wright, R Loyn & R MacNally, 'Occurence and distribution of forest owls in a harvested state forest in Victoria, Australia', Birds Australia Congress and campout, Albany, WA, 18-24 October 2006.
• R Lester, M Jones-Lennon & W Wright, 'Wood to Water: Habitat creation within streams on agricultural land and the contribution of community to a scientific study', 2006 International Landcare Conference, Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Melbourne, Australia, 8-11 October 2006.
• R Lester, M Jones-Lennon & W Wright, 'Wood to Water: Effects of the re-introduction of wood to streams in agricultural environments as a biodiversity enhancement tool', Australian Society for Limnology, Albury-Wodonga, 25-29 September 2006.
• R Lester, M Jones & W Wright, 'Wood to Water: The effectiveness of re-introduction of woody debris as a biodiversity enhancement tool in streams in agricultural environments,' Australian Society for Limnology Conference, Warnambool, Victoria, 2003.
• J MacHunter & W Wright, 'Differences in Bird Assemblages in Forest Fragments of Two Ecological Vegetation Communities in Gippsland, Victoria', Australian Ornithological Conference, ANU, Canberra ACT, 2003.
• W Wright, J MacHunter, & R Loyn, 'Temporal Comparison of Bird Assemblages in Forest Fragments in Gippsland', Ecological Society of Australia Conference, UNE, Armidale, NSW, 2003.
• J A Mosse and W Wright, 'Mum can't come to the phone right now – she's in the laundry doing a rat dissection', Uniserv Science Flexible Learning Tools Workshop Proceedings, Sydney, Australia, April 1999.
• W Wright & R J Lyall, 'Effects of Water Quality and Quantity on perceived health of a body of water: A case study - Lake Guthridge, Victoria, Australia', Conservation of the Hydrospheric Environment, Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium of Eternet - APR, Bangkok, Thailand, 1996.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

• Lester R E, Wright W, Jones-Lennon M, Rayment P, ‘Large versus small wood in streams: the effect of wood dimension on macroinvertebrate communities’ Fundamental and Applied Limnology Vol 174, 4, pp339-351, 2009.
• Lester R E, Wright W, ‘ Reintroducing wood to streams in agricultural landscapes: changes in velocity profile, stage and erosion rates’ River Research and Applications, Vol 25, 376-392, 2008.
• R Lester, W Wright & M Jones-Lennon, 'Does wood added to agricultural streams enhance biodiversity', Marine and Freshwater Research, Vol 58, pp 687-698, 2007.
• R Lester, W Wright & M Jones-Lennon, 'Determining target loads of large and small wood for stream rehabilitation in high rainfall agricultural regions of Victoria, Australia', Ecological Engineering, Vol 28, Issue 1, pp 71-78, 2006.
• J MacHunter, W Wright, R Loyn & P R Rayment, 'Bird declines over 22 years in forest remnants in south-eastern Australia: Evidence of faunal relaxation?', Canadian Journal or Forest Research - Revue Canadienne De Recherche Forestiere, ISSN 1208-6037, Vol 36, Issue 11, pp 2756-2768, NRC, Canada, © 2006.
• P Jamieson, A F Patti, L White & W Wright, "Case Studies in Flexible Learning: Teleteaching", Centre for Higher Education Development, Monash University, 2000.
• P L Freeman, J A Mosse & W Wright, 'Laboratory kits for first year biology by distance education', in Morgan C and O’Reilly M, Assessing Open and Distance Learners, Kogan, Page, London, 1999.
• R J Lyall & W Wright, 'Bridging the gap: Scientists, Managers and community groups working together to improve a wetland', in Williams W D, (Ed) Wetlands in a Dry Land: Understanding for Management, Environment Australia, Canberra, 1998.
• W Wright, C Jeffs & J Wood, 'Distance Education: Must it be ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ education?', ASCILITE Conference, University of Melbourne, Australia, 1995.