Rate My Professor Michael Mahony

Emeritus Professor Michael Mahony serves as an Emeritus Professor in the School of Science, within the Environmental Science and Management discipline, at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He obtained his PhD in Biology from Macquarie University in Sydney in 1986, where his research investigated the cytogenetics and genetics of Australian frogs. Over nearly three decades at the University of Newcastle, Mahony has dedicated his career to amphibian conservation, leading groundbreaking studies on threats to Australian frog populations including chytridiomycosis, climate change, wildfires, invasive pathogens, and habitat loss. His pioneering work includes developing cryopreservation methods for frog sperm and embryonic cells, establishing the first genome bank for Australian frogs, and achieving a world-first revival and reactivation of the genome of the extinct gastric brooding frog in 2013, which was named one of TIME magazine’s 25 Best Inventions of the Year. Mahony also demonstrated that pool salt treatment can increase survival rates by 70 percent for inland frogs translocated into chytrid-affected habitats during winter.

Mahony has co-authored over 235 publications, amassing more than 5,600 citations, with highly influential papers such as 'Effect of season and temperature on mortality in amphibians due to chytridiomycosis' (2004, Australian Veterinary Journal, 602 citations), 'The 10 Australian ecosystems most vulnerable to tipping points' (2011, Biological Conservation, 289 citations), and 'The role of introduced mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) in excluding the native green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea) from original habitats' (2002, Oecologia, 177 citations). His discoveries include new frog species near Newcastle Airport and two previously unrecognized loud species in 2021. Conservation impacts encompass captive breeding programs yielding new generations of endangered species like the Green and Golden Bell frog on Kooragang Island and Littlejohn's tree frog in 2025, habitat restoration post-Black Summer fires, and citizen science initiatives like FrogID involving 8,000 participants. Mahony collaborates with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, industry, and community groups. In 2022, he received the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the life sciences and conservation biology.