Rate My Professor Sean Tomlinson

Dr. Sean Tomlinson is a Lecturer in the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, at Curtin University, a position he assumed in January 2025. He previously held a Research Fellow position in the same school from 2016 to 2020, a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Adelaide School of Biological Sciences, and roles as a research scientist with Western Australia's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (formerly Department of Parks and Wildlife) and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Western Australia. Tomlinson completed his Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Botany in 2004, First Class Honours in Zoology in 2005, and PhD in 2012 at the University of Western Australia. His doctoral thesis examined the physiological and behavioural responses of mammals to prescribed fire in the Western Australian Floristic Region.

Tomlinson's academic interests lie in conservation physiology, biodiversity conservation, ecological restoration, wildlife physiology, and seed ecology, with an emphasis on producing evidence-based insights for conservation policy and practice. He has published extensively in leading journals, including lead authorship on "Reconstructing Fox Invasion of Australia: A Process-Based Approach Using Historical Sightings" (Diversity and Distributions, 2025), which modeled the rapid continental invasion of red foxes using historical records; "Metabolic rate of angiosperm seeds: effects of allometry, phylogeny and seed mass" (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2025); and "Leveraging the value of conservation physiology for ecological restoration" (Restoration Ecology, 2022). Additional key publications encompass "One hundred research questions in conservation physiology for generating actionable evidence to inform conservation policy and practice" (Conservation Physiology, 2021), research reconstructing mechanisms behind New Zealand moa extinctions linked to human settlement (2025), flexibility in thermoregulatory physiology of dunnarts (Sminthopsis macroura and Sminthopsis ooldea), and assessments of mine site restoration using lizard tracking. As an Associate Editor for Conservation Physiology, Tomlinson's contributions have informed invasive species management, extinction risk modeling, and habitat rehabilitation strategies, with findings featured in Curtin University media releases.