Adrienne Nicotra

Adrienne Nicotra is a Professor and Associate Dean (Research) in the Division of Ecology and Evolution at the Australian National University (ANU). She joined ANU as a postdoctoral fellow in 1998 and has since held leadership roles, including director of the Australian Mountain Research Facility. Her research focuses on plant evolutionary ecology, particularly phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental change, with an emphasis on alpine flora and climate resilience.

Her education includes postdoctoral research at ANU, leading to her current professorship. Key research interests include thermal tolerance mechanisms, seed germination strategies, and the impacts of climate extremes on plant survival. She has supervised numerous honours and postgraduate students, contributing to training the next generation of ecologists.

Adrienne’s work spans over 120 peer-reviewed articles and 28 research projects, including studies on seedling acclimation to heatwaves, genomic responses to warming, and alpine ecosystem resilience. Her projects often address practical conservation challenges, such as managing snow gum dieback and restoring degraded alpine habitats.

She leads interdisciplinary initiatives like the Australian Mountain Research Facility, integrating field experiments and expert elicitation to predict species responses to global change. Her research bridges basic science and applied conservation, emphasizing the need for adaptive management strategies in the face of climate pressures.