Rate My Professor Darren Southwell

Dr Darren Southwell is a Senior Lecturer in the Conservation Science Research Group within the School of Science, College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the Australian National University, a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of Melbourne, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Melbourne, focusing on the optimal management of threatened and invasive species. Earlier in his career, Southwell worked for five years as a scientist at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Australian Antarctic Division. Subsequently, from 2016 to 2022, he held a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position at the University of Melbourne's School of Ecosystem and Forest Science, part of the National Environmental Science Program’s Threatened Species Recovery Hub, where he designed and evaluated large-scale biodiversity monitoring programs across Australia. Previously a Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, he collaborates with Parks Australia, all Australian state governments, and NGOs including the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Bush Heritage Australia. His fieldwork spans Antarctica, Pacific tropical islands, and central Australian deserts.

Southwell's academic interests lie in quantitative ecology, encompassing optimal monitoring, population modelling, species distribution modelling, and conservation biology. He develops mathematical models to predict endangered population responses to management actions, identifying cost-effective strategies amid limited conservation funding. Key projects include efficient monitoring of threatened species like koalas and green and golden bell frogs, a long-term biodiversity monitoring program in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park with Indigenous rangers using 120 camera traps and 30 sound recorders, and tracking bird-eating rodents on Norfolk Island. He has developed software for designing effective large-scale biodiversity monitoring programs used by managers worldwide. Notable publications include 'Fire regimes drive population trends of a threatened lizard in the central and western deserts of Australia' (Wildlife Research, 2025), 'Monitoring impacts and recovery' (2023), 'The impacts of the 2019–20 wildfires on Australia’s lizards and snakes' (2023), and 'Essential principles to guide monitoring of threatened biodiversity' (2018). Southwell received the 2018 Whitley Award for the book 'Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities' and has secured $5,872,012 in funding across 16 grants.