Rate My Professor Jo Monks

Dr Jo Monks is a conservation biologist and senior lecturer in the Department of Zoology within the Division of Sciences at the University of Otago. She earned her PhD in Ecology from Victoria University of Wellington in 2007. Before joining the University of Otago in 2021 as a lecturer in Ecology, she worked for 14 years as a Science Advisor at the Department of Conservation, specializing in terrestrial threatened species and ecosystems. Her research focuses on applied ecological issues, with a background in herpetology and behavioural ecology. She investigates a range of terrestrial fauna, including bats, birds, lizards, and invertebrates. Major projects include conservation management in alpine ecosystems, assessing impacts of invasive predators such as mice and wasps on native lizards and large-bodied invertebrates along with sustainable suppression methods, evaluating climate change effects on native terrestrial fauna to inform strategies, and developing monitoring techniques for cryptic taxa. Monks coordinates and teaches into courses like WILM 402 Techniques of Wildlife Management and contributes to ECOL 111 Ecology and Conservation of Diversity, ECOL 212 Ecological Applications, ECOL 321 Ecology of Species Introductions and Invasions, ECOL 313 Field Ecology, WILM 401 Principles of Wildlife Management, and WILM 501 Wildlife Management Research Placement.

Monks supervises 14 current postgraduate students on projects such as predicting lizard distributions in drylands, lizard responses to wildfire and drought, drone surveys for lizards, and mātauranga Māori-integrated ecology of butterflies, and has mentored 11 former students on topics including wasp impacts on butterflies, mouse effects on invertebrates, and habitat use of geckos and skinks. Her publications include Bourke et al. (2026) 'Prioritizing efficient use of resources: Simple changes to monitoring combat inefficient capture-recapture of vulnerable skinks' in Journal of Wildlife Management; Gunton et al. (2025) 'Alpine skinks persist 12 months post-translocation with no initial evidence of weka predation' in New Zealand Journal of Ecology; Randall et al. (2025) 'Habitat use of obligate alpine geckos from southern New Zealand' in New Zealand Journal of Ecology; and Bourke et al. (2025) 'Commonly used funnel trap causes rostral damage in Lakes skink' in New Zealand Journal of Ecology. With over 3,000 citations, her work influences conservation practices. She was a finalist for the Sciences Division Supervisor of the Year Award in 2024.