PhD Opportunity: Beyond green facades – integrating natural ecologies and the built environment

PhD Advertisement Title: Beyond green facades – integrating natural ecologies and the built environment Description: This PhD challenges the status quo of ‘green’ architecture by addressing critical research gaps in the fields of natural ecology and the built environment to develop ecologically-driven architectural/landscape/urban design. By integrating ecological knowledge and understanding, designers can produce urban environments […]
PhD Opportunity: Nature as medicine: can a dose of the outdoors cure loneliness?

PhD Advertisement: Nature as medicine: can a dose of the outdoors cure loneliness? Description: This PhD is part of an NHMRC/European Commission funded project exploring the benefits of prescribing nature-based social activities to reduce loneliness and improve mental health. The project aims to better understand the effects of green space and biodiversity on loneliness and […]
From ‘day of the species’ to ‘protecting species every day’

In April, I attended an art exhibition that helps people visualize the biodiversity crisis in Australia. ‘Day of the Species’ is a community art project with contributions from 200+ artists. As a contributing artist, you get to learn about and draw Australian biodiversity under protection by the EPBC Act. As a viewer, you can see […]
In the news: How do the major parties rate on climate, biodiversity?

Catch our own Sarah Bekessy on Studio Ten, TEN Central Digital TV. Sarah rates the major parties’ policies when it comes to protecting biodiversity, threatened species and the climate. Read more
Outreach: Fail: our report card on the government’s handling of Australia’s extinction crisis

Sarah Bekessy, RMIT University and Brendan Wintle, The University of Melbourne Australia is losing more biodiversity than any other developed nation. Already this year the charismatic and once abundant gang gang cockatoo has been added to our national threatened species list, the koala has been listed as endangered and the Great Barrier Reef suffered another […]
Our favourite conservation journal articles of 2021

By Matthew Selinske As in 2020, some of us from ICON Science wanted to share journal papers that we found particularly exciting, insightful, or pertinent to our research. A synopsis of each paper is provided below, and as you would expect from an interdisciplinary team, they cover a diverse range of topics and disciplines. That’s […]
Work with us!

Research Fellow (RECETAS project) We are currently looking for a Research Fellow for an exciting, interdisciplinary, 4 year postdoc looking at the use of nature based prescribing to treat loneliness! 1x part time (0.5FTE), fixed term (4 years) position available Salary Level at Academic Level B1 ($100,465) + 17% Super Be part of global multidisciplinary […]
Enhancing biodiversity in cities through design

This article is republished from Cities People Love under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. An interview with Professor Sarah Bekessy Sarah Bekessy is a sustainability and urban planning academic at RMIT University in Melbourne and a leading voice in Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design (BSUD). We interviewed Sarah to understand more about the […]
Feral Cat Control in Australia – 5-year report

Read the full report here. Since 2015, members of ICON Science have been working with the Office of the Threatened Species Commissioner to assess the national management of feral cats across Australia. This work is part of the wider Threatened Species Strategy, and recognises the significant threat to Australia’s native species that is posed by […]
Outreach: Nurturing nature, designing a home with biodiversity in mind

Sarah Bekessy, Georgia Garrard, Sarrah Hurley, Casey Visintin, Freya Thomas & Holly Kirk There’s a lot you can do to promote biodiversity when you’re designing a new home or renovation, with clear benefits for you and your family as well as for the natural environment…