Susan Hoebee

Susan Hoebee is a Senior Lecturer in Ecological Plant and Animal Sciences at La Trobe University's School of Ecology, Environment and Evolution. She serves as Deputy Head of Department (2023-2024) and previously held the role of Departmental Graduate Research Coordinator (2015-2023). Her research focuses on plant conservation, reproductive biology, and population genetics of Australian native flora, particularly Proteaceae species.

• BSc, BSc (Hons) and PhD from The Australian National University

Dr. Hoebee's research investigates various aspects of plant reproduction, population genetics/genomics and evolution. Her group employs traditional field-based ecological approaches alongside modern genomic techniques to study floral characters associated with different pollinators and mate choice mechanisms. Her work primarily addresses conservation issues for native species and weed biology, with strong emphasis on fragmented ecosystems and threatened flora.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a clear trajectory toward integrating genomic approaches with traditional ecological field studies. Her research increasingly focuses on climate adaptation, population vulnerability assessments, and conservation genetics applications for threatened Australian plant species. The work spans fundamental research on pollination biology and self-incompatibility systems to applied conservation projects addressing real-world management challenges.

Dr. Hoebee actively contributes to scientific discourse as an editor for the Australian Journal of Botany since 2021.

• Current lab members: Mark Clifton (PhD), Allison Menzies (MSc), Yennifer Longo (MSc), Jacob Moore (Honours), Emily Stevenson (Honours)
• Co-supervision: Simon Heyes (PhD with John Morgan), Susan Kachaniwsky (Honours with John Morgan), Amelia Mendes (Honours with Ryan Phillips)

Her research is supported by multiple significant grants including an ARC Discovery Project (2015-2019) on 'Evolution in action or the demise of iconic Australian flora?', the Hermon Slade Foundation project on East Gippsland callistemons (2023-2026), and the Nardoo Hills Genomic Analysis project (2023-2024).

Dr. Hoebee collaborates extensively with research industries, government organizations, NGOs, land-managers and community groups across Australia, working on practical conservation solutions for threatened plant species.