Rate My Professor Rebecca Dobbs

Rebecca Dobbs is a Research Fellow in the School of Agriculture and Environment, Faculty of Science, at the University of Western Australia, where she earned her BSc. With over 15 years based in the Kimberley region of Northern Australia, her career includes serving as Research Associate at the UWA Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management from 2004 to 2010 and Research Fellow since 2010. Hosted by the Kununurra Regional office of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, she has coordinated the Waterways Education Program since 2009, developing community skills in science, research, and waterway management. She previously guest lectured in units such as Freshwater Ecology (2006–2007), Aquatic Biology (2004–2006), and Waterway Restoration and Conservation (2008–2009).

Dobbs' research interests include freshwater ecology in tropical and temperate systems, wetland monitoring and health assessment, Indigenous-led and co-designed research, Multiple Evidence Base approaches, aquatic fauna as ecological indicators, river health, environmental flows, wet/dry tropical river systems, and Northern Australian freshwater ecosystems. She has led projects such as developing an Indigenous wetland monitoring and management toolkit co-designed with Kimberley ranger groups; the Kimberley Indigenous Saltwater Science Project (KISSP), producing guidelines for collaborative knowledge work, a regional saltwater monitoring framework and toolbox, and a researchers' guide; and a bilarra monitoring program for the Yawuru Indigenous Protected Area. She serves on the Technical Advisory Group for the Nyamba Buru Yawuru Indigenous Protected Area monitoring plan. Her applied research has supported management including Ord Environmental Water Requirements and northern Australia water futures assessments. Key publications are 'Integrated cross-realm planning: A decision-makers' perspective' (2015, Biological Conservation), 'Wetlands need people: a framework for understanding and promoting Australian indigenous wetland management' (2018, Ecology and Society), 'An Indigenous-led approach for regional knowledge partnerships in the Kimberley region of Australia' (2019, Human Ecology), and ''Clean Him Up…Make Him Look Like He Was Before': Australian Aboriginal Management of Wetlands with Implications for Conservation, Restoration and Multiple Evidence Base Negotiations' (2021, Wetlands).