Rate My Professor Alison Shapcott

Professor Alison Shapcott holds a BSc(Hons) from Griffith University and a PhD from the University of Tasmania. She is Professor of Vegetation and Plant Ecology in the School of Science, Technology and Engineering at the University of the Sunshine Coast and a member of the Centre for Bioinnovation. Professor Shapcott has conducted research on the population genetics and ecology of rainforest plants and palms since 1985, with particular interest in the evolution and maintenance of biodiversity. Her fieldwork has spanned rainforest types across Australia from Tasmania to Cape Tribulation and the Northern Territory, as well as in Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Djibouti and Brunei. She maintains collaborations with institutions including the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew, the Smithsonian Institution and the Queensland Herbarium, and supervises postgraduate students.

Professor Shapcott integrates her expertise with systematics, population modelling, ecophysiology, pollination ecology, GIS, environmental modelling, climate change studies and microbiology. Recent work has addressed fire regime impacts at landscape scales, fragmentation effects on rare species, population and metapopulation modelling for climate change assessments, and endangered species recovery on Lord Howe Island and the Sunshine Coast. She has contributed to threatened species recovery teams and restoration projects involving translocation, reintroduction and ecological advice for developers, councils, government agencies and community groups. In 2012 she received a fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution to develop a DNA barcoded library for South-East Queensland rainforest plants. Her research has expanded to combine genetics and community ecology using DNA barcoding for biodiversity assessment. Professor Shapcott has published extensively in international journals and is recognised for contributions to plant conservation and landscape genetics.