Janet Lanyon

Dr Janet Lanyon is a Senior Lecturer in the School of the Environment at the University of Queensland, where she has served in a full-time academic capacity since 1993. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland. Lanyon's research specializes in the conservation, biology, and ecology of large marine vertebrates, focusing on population ecology, genetics, physiology, functional morphology, and health assessments of dugongs (Dugong dugon) and coastal dolphins in Australian coastal environments, particularly Moreton Bay. Her investigations include dugong metabolic rates via indirect calorimetry, hearing sensitivity, reproductive status through skin steroid hormones and tusk stable isotope analysis, faecal bacterial communities, antimicrobial resistance, osmoregulation, and serum biochemistry reference intervals.

Lanyon's scholarly output is extensive, with over 4,000 citations on Google Scholar in marine mammalogy, ecology, and conservation. Notable publications include 'How much seagrass does a dugong need? Metabolic rate of live wild dugongs, Dugong dugon, determined through indirect calorimetry (oxygen consumption)' (Marine Mammal Science, 2024), 'A chromosome-level genome assembly for the dugong (Dugong dugon)' (Journal of Heredity, 2024), 'Sirenian genomes illuminate the evolution of fully aquatic species within the mammalian superorder afrotheria' (Nature Communications, 2024), 'Degenerate dentition of the dugong (Dugong dugon), or why a grazer does not need teeth: morphology, occlusion and wear of mouthparts' (Journal of Zoology, 2006), and book chapters such as 'Research methods for marine mammals and reptiles' (Wildlife research in Australia, 2022) and 'Management of megafauna in estuaries and coastal waters: Moreton Bay as a case study' (Coasts and estuaries: the future, 2019). She has supervised multiple Doctor of Philosophy candidates to completion, including theses on sirenian conservation physiology, dugong health surveillance, and bottlenose dolphin population structure. Her research has received funding from the Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation, Australian Geographic Society, ARC Linkage Projects, and others, contributing to baseline data for marine mammal management and conservation.