Michael Brooker is an Australian

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

based in Western Australia following retirement from a career with the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

's Division of Wildlife Research. There he worked on

wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

s, fauna surveys, the environmental impact of

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

and the conservation value of remnant patches of native vegetation. Since then he has collaborated with his wife Lesley Brooker in studies on

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

evolution, population ecology of fairy-wrens and spatial dynamics of birds in fragmented landscapes. In 2004 he was awarded, jointly with his wife Lesley, the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union's D.L. Serventy Medal which recognizes excellence in published work on birds in the

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

n region.

References

Olsen, Penny. (2005). D.L. Serventy Medal 2005: Citation. Lesley and Michael Brooker. ''Emu'' 105: 341. Living people Australian ornithologists CSIRO people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-ornithologist-stub