Rate My Professor Michael Stat

Associate Professor Michael Stat is affiliated with the School of Science in the College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Sydney. His professional career encompasses diverse roles across prominent institutions. From January 2018 to December 2018, he served as a Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University, Australia. Prior to that, he was a Research Fellow at Curtin University in the School of Molecular and Life Sciences from January 2015 to January 2018, and at the University of Western Australia from September 2011 to December 2014. Earlier, from September 2005 to August 2011, he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, United States. Additionally, he has coordinated and lectured the course BIOL2090 Microbial Biology in the School of Environmental and Life Sciences at the University of Newcastle from July 2019 to December 2019.

Michael Stat's research specializations involve using genetics to understand the evolution and ecology of organisms, with a focus on the evolutionary ecology of coral symbioses and applications of environmental DNA (eDNA). His academic interests include the diversity, biogeography, and adaptation of corals and their symbionts; microbiomes impacting the health and fitness of species; and eDNA for monitoring biodiversity, invasive species, cryptic species, food webs, ecological communities over temporal and spatial scales, organisms' diets, and biodiversity hotspots. Key publications include Richards ZT, Stat M, Heydenrych M, DiBattista JD, 'Environmental DNA for Biodiversity Monitoring of Coral Reefs', 203-224 (2022); Stat M, West K, 'Approaching ecological questions using DNA barcodes' (2023); Harvey E, Bunce M, Stat M et al., 'Science and the Sydney', 279-303 (2017); Stat M, 'The community ecology of coral-algal mutualism' (2015); Carter DA, Tran-Dinh N, Stat M et al., 'The Aflatoxins: Evolution, Function and Prospects for Control', 47-62 (2002).