Kirsten M. Parris is an Australian urban

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, Professor of Urban Ecology in the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

and an Honorary Associate of the

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land was rese ...

. She also leads the National Environmental Science Program's Research Hub for Clean Air and Urban Landscapes
CAUL
.

Early life and education

She was born in Kew, Victoria in 1969. In 1993 she received a BSc (Hons) from the

, and in 1994 a BA from the same institution. She was awarded a PhD from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

in 2000.

Career

She worked as a lecturer and researcher in Australia and the United States before joining the

in 2007. She has received research grants from the

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

, the

Department of the Environment and Energy The Department of the Environment and Energy (DEE) was an Australian government department in existence between 2016 and 2020. The department was responsible for matters including environment protection and conservation of biodiversity as well ...

, and other government agencies. She has published one book as sole author, ''Ecology of Urban Environments'' (Wiley Blackwell, 2016), one edited volume,
Cities for People and Nature
' (CAUL Hub, 2020), more than 60 research papers and five book chapters. Her research has enjoyed considerable media attention, with over 300 reports transmitted by Australian and international outlets.

Scholarly contributions

Parris works on the ecology of urban areas with particular emphasis on

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

, bioacoustics and

animal communication Animal communication is the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more other animals (receiver or receivers) that affects the current or future behavior of the receivers. Information may be sent int ...

biological survey A biosurvey, or biological survey, is a scientific study of organisms to assess the condition of an ecological resource, such as a water body. Overview Biosurveys are used by government agencies responsible for management of public lands, environ ...

methods and ecological

research ethics Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

. Parris is recognised as an especially effective science communicator. She won the British Ecological Society's Science Slam in 2016 and was a finalist in the 2004 Australian National Fresh Science Competition. She co-convenes the Ecological Society of Australia's Research Chapter for Science Communication.

References

External links

Kirsten Parris website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parris, Kirsten Australian women scientists Living people 1969 births Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Australian ecologists Women ecologists Scientists from Melbourne People from Kew, Victoria University of Melbourne alumni Australian National University alumni