Rate My Professor Holly Kirk

Dr. Holly Kirk is an Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow, and Australian Research Council (ARC) Industry Fellow at Curtin University in the School of Design and the Built Environment, Faculty of Humanities. She earned her DPhil in Zoology from the University of Oxford in 2017, with her doctoral thesis centered on seabird movement ecology. After completing her doctorate, Kirk moved to Australia and joined Curtin University as a research associate in 2024 before transitioning her ARC Industry Fellowship to the institution in early 2025. Her work spans the Schools of Molecular and Life Sciences and Design and the Built Environment, bridging ecology with urban design to confront Australian biodiversity conservation challenges. Kirk's expertise encompasses animal ecology, spatial analysis, and interdisciplinary collaboration with industry and government stakeholders.

Kirk's research specializations include urban ecology, ornithology, urban forestry, and biodiversity sensitive urban design (BSUD). She investigates ecological connectivity, wildlife conservation in cities, and the integration of biodiversity into urban planning frameworks. Key publications feature "Resolving the Conflict between Infectious Disease and Beneficial Wildlife in Cities" (BioScience, 2026), "Ecological connectivity as a planning tool for the conservation of wildlife in cities" (2023), "A social-ecological framework for identifying and governing informal greenspaces in cities" (2022), and "Towards an Everyday Nature Index for biodiversity in urban streets" (with Thami Croeser and others). Her scholarly output comprises 72 publications, amassing over 1,200 citations as documented on ResearchGate. Kirk influences the field through applied research that informs urban greening and planning policies. She delivers public lectures and presentations, including at the WABSI and Curtin Urban Biodiversity Forum on BSUD integration, the WALGA Urban Forest Conference, VicBioCon panels on urban challenges, and Ecological Society of Australia events. Additionally, she supervises fully-funded Higher Degree by Research (HDR) projects focused on urban biodiversity at Curtin University.