“If you maintain that curiosity and pursue your passions in ecology and conservation, you know, I don't know anyone who hasn't gone on to wonderful things by doing that.”
Professor Ritchie leads the Applied Ecology and Conservation Research group in the Centre for Integrative Ecology and School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University.
He has been a finalist in the Eureka Prizes three times:
- the 2013 Eureka Prize for Environmental Research as part of a team demonstrating that large predators like dingoes can affect the behaviour and abundance of invasive predators and herbivores such as the red fox, feral cat and feral goat.
- the 2020 Eureka Prizes as part of a large, national team examining the impact and management of feral cats in Australia.
More widely he has become a prolific science communicator, appearing regularly on television, in print and on radio. For this he was a finalist in the 2022 Eureka Prizes for his work promoting the understanding of science.
In 2021 he was awarded the Australian Ecology Research Award in recognition for his outstanding ecological research.
The Ecological Society of Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. Euan works on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nations.
Help the ESA support ecology in Australia by donating (www.ecolsoc.org.au/get-involved/donate/donation-form) or by becoming a member (www.ecolsoc.org.au/get-involved/become-a-member).
The music in this podcast is ‘Glow’ by Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au.
Episode image credit: Christine Cooper
