Jessica Meade

Dr. Jessica Meade is a Researcher at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE) at Western Sydney University, working part-time (3 days/week) on flying-fox movement ecology. She holds a PhD in Animal Behaviour from the University of Oxford and has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Sheffield and UNSW. Her work focuses on navigation, spatial ecology, and cooperative breeding in animals, with recent emphasis on grey-headed flying-fox conservation and the impacts of climate change and bushfires on biodiversity.

Educations:

• PhD in Animal Behaviour, University of Oxford (UK)
• Postdoctoral Research: University of Sheffield (UK), UNSW (Australia)

Research Interests:

• Animal navigation mechanisms using GPS tracking
• Spatial ecology of flying-foxes in urban and natural landscapes
• Effects of extreme weather and bushfires on wildlife
• Conservation strategies for threatened species
• Cooperative breeding dynamics in birds

Grants/Projects (2021-2023):

• Grey-headed Flying-fox Conservation: Heat Stress Mitigation
• Population Monitoring and Foraging Resource Mapping
• Post-Megafire Roost Site Assessment

Labs/Teams:

• HIE Bushfire Research Team
• Flying-Fox Movement Ecology Group