Professor Nicki Mitchell is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and Deputy Director of the UWA Oceans Institute at the University of Western Australia. She earned a BSc with Honours in Zoology from the University of Tasmania in 1996 and a PhD in Environmental Physiology from the University of Adelaide in 2001. After her PhD, she served as a research fellow at Victoria University of Wellington funded by the Royal Society of London, followed by positions at Colorado State University, the Australian National University, and La Trobe University. Mitchell joined UWA in 2005 on an ARC postdoctoral fellowship and began her role as a teaching and research academic in 2009. Her interdisciplinary research, grounded in physiological ecology, emphasizes conservation and climate change, focusing on threatened vertebrates' capacity to endure rapid environmental shifts. Key areas include developing modelling approaches and decision tools for conservation, assisted colonisation to counter climate impacts, sex determination and survival in reptiles like sea turtles, terrestrial-breeding frogs vulnerable to drying climates, and peatland ecosystems. She co-leads the PEAT project, Protecting Peatland Ecosystems and Addressing Threats in southwest Australia.

Mitchell's influence extends through high-impact publications such as 'Animal taxa threatened by adverse fire regimes in Western Australia: a synthesis and outlook' (2026, Pacific Conservation Biology), 'Food, Glorious Food! Energy budget and reproductive potential of critically endangered leatherback turtles explored with mechanistic modeling' (2026, Marine Environmental Research), 'An application of finite element analysis predicts unique temperatures and fates for flatback sea turtle embryos' (2025, Journal of Experimental Biology), 'Contrasting population declines and drivers of ecological refuge for two range-restricted amphibians' (2025, Biodiversity and Conservation), and 'Dancing with the devil: Could native predators inside ‘predator-free’ havens be good for the conservation of threatened native prey species?' (2025, Journal of Applied Ecology). She has garnered awards including the Australian Award for University Teaching Citation (2020), Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (2020), UWA Award for Excellence in Teaching (2018), Excellence in Coursework Teaching Level 1 (2017), and Peer Prize for Women in Science Earth, Environment and Space (2017). Mitchell co-leads UWA's Conservation Biology programs, coordinates units on managing threatened species and climate change effects on biodiversity, served on the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (2015-2023), and is Lead Council member of The Biodiversity Council. She has delivered public lectures, such as 'Lessons learned in planning and implementing assisted colonisations in Australia' (2021).

Professional Email: nicola.mitchell@uwa.edu.au