About Stuart Parsons
Stuart completed his BSc(Hons) and PhD in Zoology at the University of Otago before taking up roles at the University of Bristol and University of Auckland.
In 2014 Stuart moved to Queensland to take up the role of Head of School for Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences at Queensland University of Technology.
After 7 years at QUT he moved to the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) to take up the role of Dean of Science, Technology and Engineering.
Stuart has undertaken a number of significant strategic projects in his time as an academic leader. This includes the revision of degree curriculum, the development of new degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and accreditation of engineering and technology degrees.
He has also held leadership roles within key advisory groups and councils, such as the Australasian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (ACEDD) and the Australian Council of Science Deans. As President of ACEDD, Stuart initiated a significant project to assist universities to integrate first nations knowledge into their curricula.
Stuart has also been a national assessor for the Sage Athena Swan (Gender Equity in Science Australia) program, Chair of UniSC鈥檚 Academic Board, and a member of the university鈥檚 Council.
Stuart鈥檚 research is in the broad area of sensory ecology and animal behaviour, with a focus on bioacoustics. Past outputs have covered topics as diverse as auditory anatomy, biological sonar, mating systems, and habitat selection in natural and modified landscapes. Although much of his work has focused on bats, he has also worked with insects, birds and whales.
Much of Stuart鈥檚 work also has a strong applied focus, using his knowledge of acoustics and quantitative methods to develop detection and classification systems for vocalising animals. Systems developed have been used by conservation organisations to track birds in the wild, and state government to detect invasive species.
He has also worked with federal and local government and multinational companies on large infrastructure development projects such as dams, roads, airports, wind farms and quarries.
His research is international with collaborations in Australia, Europe, USA, Central America, South Africa, Taiwan, China, and Thailand. Stuart鈥檚 research is also multi-disciplinary with collaborations with physicists (acoustic arrays), engineers (bio-engineering 鈥 measure respiration from free-flying animals) and computer scientists/bioinformaticians (acoustic informatics).
His research is currently funded by the Australian Cotton Research Development Corporation, and he is collaborating with Plant and Food Research Rangahau Ahum膩ra Kai on an MBIE-funded project.
Stuart is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Bat Conservation International and a member of the IUCN Chiroptera Specialist group. He co-chaired the Specialist Group鈥檚 working party on human to bat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and was a founding member of the New 蘑菇视频在线观看Department of Conservation Bat Recovery Group and Species Threat Assessment Group (bats).
