Helen Nahrung

Dr Helen Nahrung is a Senior Research Fellow at the Forest Research Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, with over twenty years of expertise in insect biology and ecology for sustainable pest management in plantation forestry. Her work bridges academic research and industry applications across Australian forestry sectors.

Her educational foundation includes a BSc (Honours) from the University of Queensland and a PhD from the University of Tasmania, completed through the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Production Forestry. This trajectory established her specialization in forest entomology.

Research focuses on forest invasion biology, particularly exotic pests in Australia and Australian-native insects invasive overseas. She investigates insect-plant co-evolutionary interactions, host location mechanisms, and chemical ecology for pest monitoring. Her work integrates predictive population modeling and biological control to address real-world biosecurity challenges.

Recent publications reveal a consistent emphasis on invasion drivers and mitigation strategies, with studies spanning Sirex noctilio dynamics, Mediterranean forest pests, and trait-based analyses of colonizer success in novel environments. This body of work underscores her leadership in translating ecological theory into practical forest management solutions.

Dr Nahrung actively supervises five PhD students across diverse projects including Gonipterus weevil-Eucalyptus interactions and nematode biocontrol. She leads major grants from Advance Queensland, FWPA, and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, focusing on hardwood/softwood pest management from Stanthorpe to tropical Queensland.

Her field operations span the UniSC Sunshine Coast campus and Brisbane's EcoSciences Precinct, where interdisciplinary teams conduct chemical ecology experiments, landscape-scale invasion modeling, and biological control trials across high-value timber plantations.