Craig Liddicoat
School of Public Health
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Craig Liddicoat is an Adjunct Senior Fellow in the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. Craig's research interests include environmental microbiomes, spatial epidemiology, and developing knowledge of beneficial connections between human health and exposure to biodiverse vegetation-soil systems. In particular, the role that exposure to (and loss of) biodiverse green space may play in developing immune fitness, mental health and predisposition to both infectious and non-infectious diseases.
My research is exploring connections between environments, their microbial communities (microbiota), and the potential for human health benefits from nature-contact. The notion of a real biological (microbiota-mediated) connection between humans and their environments, and potential benefits for immune training and regulation from exposure to biodiversity (and associated microbial diversity), has originated from immunologists and medical researchers. However, this represents a large multidisciplinary field of research. My research has objectives to:
- help bridge the gap between environmental science, ecology and human health.
- investigate if there is support for possible health benefits from exposure to biodiversity in large existing environmental and public health datasets.
- build knowledge of biological (microbiota-based) connections between environments and exposed populations.
- help inform new cost-effective nature-based public health interventions.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2020 - ongoing Adjunct Senior Lecturer Flinders University 2020 - ongoing Adjunct Senior Fellow University of Adelaide 2017 - ongoing Senior NRM Scientist (Soil & Land) [Part-time] Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (SA) 2011 - 2017 Senior Natural Resource Management Scientist (Soil & Land) Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (SA) 2002 - 2011 Environmental Consultant Rural Solutions SA -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2015 - 2019 University of Adelaide Australia PhD (Bioscience) 1999 - 2001 Flinders University, Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (ecology major) 1990 - 1993 University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical, 1st class hons.) -
Certifications
Date Title Institution name Country 2012 Certificate IV in Project Management MBH Management Pty Ltd (RTO ID: 90884) - -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2024 Brame, J. E., Warbrick, I., Heke, D., Liddicoat, C., & Breed, M. F. (2024). Short-term passive greenspace exposures have little effect on nasal microbiomes: A cross-over exposure study of a Māori cohort. Environmental Research, 252(Pt 1), 9 pages.
2024 Newman, N. S., Abbott, C. A., Brame, J. E., Cando-Dumancela, C., Fickling, N. W., Liddicoat, C., . . . Breed, M. F. (2024). Childcare centre soil microbiomes are influenced by substrate type and surrounding vegetation condition. Science of the Total Environment, 927, 11 pages.
2024 Robinson, J. M., Liddicoat, C., Muñoz-Rojas, M., & Breed, M. F. (2024). Restoring soil biodiversity. Current Biology, 34(9), R393-R398.
Scopus2 Europe PMC12024 Brame, J. E., Liddicoat, C., Abbott, C. A., Edwards, R. A., Robinson, J. M., Gauthier, N. E., & Breed, M. F. (2024). The macroecology of butyrate-producing bacteria via metagenomic assessment of butyrate production capacity. Ecology and Evolution, 14(5), e11239-1-e11239-14.
2024 Liddicoat, C., Edwards, R. A., Roach, M., Robinson, J. M., Wallace, K. J., Barnes, A. D., . . . Breed, M. F. (2024). Bioenergetic mapping of ‘healthy microbiomes’ via compound processing potential imprinted in gut and soil metagenomes. Science of the Total Environment, 940, 18 pages.
Scopus2 Europe PMC22024 Hodgson, R. J., Liddicoat, C., Cando-Dumancela, C., Fickling, N. W., Peddle, S. D., Ramesh, S., & Breed, M. F. (2024). Increasing aridity strengthens the core bacterial rhizosphere associations in the pan-palaeotropical C4 grass, Themeda triandra. Applied Soil Ecology, 201, 12 pages.
2024 Robinson, J. M., Liddicoat, C., Sun, X., Ramesh, S., Hawken, S., Lee, K., . . . Breed, M. F. (2024). The climate change-pollution-aerobiome nexus: A 'systems thinking' mini-review. Microbial biotechnology, 17(10), e70018.
2024 Brame, J. E., Liddicoat, C., Abbott, C. A., Cando-Dumancela, C., Fickling, N. W., Robinson, J. M., & Breed, M. F. (2024). Urban sports fields support higher levels of soil butyrate and butyrate-producing bacteria than urban nature parks. Ecology and Evolution, 14(7), 12 pages.
Europe PMC12024 Peddle, S. D., Hodgson, R. J., Borrett, R. J., Brachmann, S., Davies, T. C., Erickson, T. E., . . . Breed, M. F. (2024). Practical applications of soil microbiota to improve ecosystem restoration: current knowledge and future directions. Biological Reviews, 18 pages.
2024 Davies, T., Cando-Dumancela, C., Liddicoat, C., Dresken, R., Damen, R. H., Edwards, R. A., . . . Breed, M. F. (2024). Ecological phage therapy: Can bacteriophages help rapidly restore the soil microbiome?. Ecology and Evolution, 14(8), 10 pages.
2024 Robinson, J. M., Annells, A., Cavagnaro, T. R., Liddicoat, C., Rogers, H., Taylor, A., & Breed, M. F. (2024). Monitoring soil fauna with ecoacoustics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2030), 10 pages.
2024 Birnbaum, C., Dearnaley, J., Egidi, E., Frew, A., Hopkins, A., Powell, J., . . . Chiarenza, G. (2024). Integrating soil microbial communities into fundamental ecology, conservation, and restoration: examples from Australia. New Phytologist, 241(3), 974-981.
2024 Peddle, S. D., Cando-Dumancela, C., Krauss, S. L., Liddicoat, C., Sanders, A., & Breed, M. F. (2024). Agricultural land-use legacies affect soil bacterial communities following restoration in a global biodiversity hotspot. Biological Conservation, 290, 9 pages.
Scopus22024 Fickling, N. W., Abbott, C. A., Brame, J. E., Cando-Dumancela, C., Liddicoat, C., Robinson, J. M., & Breed, M. F. (2024). Light-dark cycles may influence in situ soil bacterial networks and diurnally-sensitive taxa. Ecology and Evolution, 14(2), e11018-1-e11018-18.
Scopus1 Europe PMC12023 Robinson, J. M., Hodgson, R., Krauss, S. L., Liddicoat, C., Malik, A. A., Martin, B. C., . . . Breed, M. F. (2023). Opportunities and challenges for microbiomics in ecosystem restoration. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 38(12), 1189-1202.
Scopus7 Europe PMC22023 Hodgson, R. J., Liddicoat, C., Cando‐Dumancela, C., Blyth, C., Watson, C. D., & Breed, M. F. (2023). Local and non‐local soil microbiota impede germination of the endangered Acacia whibleyana. Austral Ecology, 48(2), 339-358.
2023 Sun, X., Liddicoat, C., Tiunov, A., Wang, B., Zhang, Y., Lu, C., . . . Zhu, Y. G. (2023). Harnessing soil biodiversity to promote human health in cities. npj Urban Sustainability, 3(1), 8 pages.
Scopus17 WoS12023 Cando-Dumancela, C., Davies, T., Hodgson, R. J., Liddicoat, C., Peddle, S. D., Watson, C. D., & Breed, M. F. (2023). A practical guide for restoration ecologists to manage microbial contamination risks before laboratory processes during microbiota restoration studies. Restoration Ecology, 31(1), 6 pages.
Scopus5 WoS22023 Peddle, S. D., Bissett, A., Borrett, R. J., Bullock, P., Gardner, M. G., Liddicoat, C., . . . Krauss, S. L. (2023). Soil DNA chronosequence analysis shows bacterial community re-assembly following post-mining forest rehabilitation. Restoration Ecology, 31(3), 13 pages.
Scopus9 WoS22022 Watson, C. D., Gardner, M. G., Hodgson, R. J., Liddicoat, C., Peddle, S. D., & Breed, M. F. (2022). Global meta-analysis shows progress towards recovery of soil microbiota following revegetation. Biological Conservation, 272, 109592-1-109592-8.
Scopus8 WoS22022 Robinson, J., Aronson, J., Daniels, C., Goodwin, N., Liddicoat, C., Orlando, L., . . . Breed, M. (2022). Ecosystem restoration is integral to humanity’s recovery from COVID-19. Lancet Planetary Health, 9(6), 769-773.
Scopus13 WoS2 Europe PMC42022 Young, J. M., Liddicoat, C., van Dijk, K. -J., Tabernero, P., Caillet, C., White, N. J., . . . Newton, P. N. (2022). Environmental DNA as an innovative technique to identify the origins of falsified antimalarial tablets—a pilot study of the pharmabiome. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 13 pages.
Scopus4 Europe PMC22022 Taggart, P. L., Liddicoat, C., Tong, W. H., Breed, M. F., Weinstein, P., Wheeler, D., & Vyas, A. (2022). Gut microbiota composition does not associate with Toxoplasma infection in rats.. Mol Ecol, 31(14), 3963-3970.
Scopus6 WoS3 Europe PMC62022 Liddicoat, C., Krauss, S. L., Bissett, A., Borrett, R. J., Ducki, L. C., Peddle, S. D., . . . Breed, M. F. (2022). Next generation restoration metrics: Using soil eDNA bacterial community data to measure trajectories towards rehabilitation targets. Journal of Environmental Management, 310, 114748-1-114748-12.
Scopus18 WoS11 Europe PMC12022 Lem, A. J., Liddicoat, C., Bissett, A., Cando-Dumancela, C., Gardner, M. G., Peddle, S. D., . . . Breed, M. F. (2022). Does revegetation cause soil microbiota recovery? Evidence from revisiting a revegetation chronosequence 6 years after initial sampling. Restoration Ecology, 30(8), e13635-1-e13635-14.
Scopus11 WoS32022 Brame, J., Liddicoat, C., Abbott, C., Edwards, R., Robinson, J., Gauthier, N., & Breed, M. (2022). Towards the biogeography of butyrate-producing bacteria.
2021 Prescott, S. L., Wegienka, G., Kort, R., Nelson, D. H., Gabrysch, S., Hancock, T., . . . Berman, B. (2021). Project earthrise: Proceedings of the ninth annual conference of in vivo planetary health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(20), 10654.
Scopus2 Europe PMC12021 Searle, R., McBratney, A., Grundy, M., Kidd, D., Malone, B., Arrouays, D., . . . Andrews, K. (2021). Digital soil mapping and assessment for Australia and beyond: A propitious future. Geoderma Regional, 24, 13 pages.
Scopus43 WoS232021 Cando‐Dumancela, C., Liddicoat, C., McLeod, D., Young, J. M., & Breed, M. F. (2021). A guide to minimise contamination issues in microbiome restoration studies. Restoration Ecology, 29(4), 7 pages.
Scopus8 WoS52021 Stanhope, J., Liddicoat, C., & Weinstein, P. (2021). Outdoor artificial light at night: a forgotten factor in green space and health research. Environmental Research, 197, 5 pages.
Scopus25 WoS15 Europe PMC72021 Brame, J. E., Liddicoat, C., Abbott, C. A., & Breed, M. F. (2021). The potential of outdoor environments to supply beneficial butyrate-producing bacteria to humans. Science of the Total Environment, 777, 146063.
Scopus26 WoS15 Europe PMC132021 Robinson, J. M., Cando-Dumancela, C., Antwis, R. E., Cameron, R., Liddicoat, C., Poudel, R., . . . Breed, M. F. (2021). Exposure to airborne bacteria depends upon vertical stratification and vegetation complexity. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 9516-1-9516-16.
Scopus37 WoS18 Europe PMC132021 Robinson, J. M., Watkins, H., Man, I., Liddicoat, C., Cameron, R., Parker, B., . . . Meagher, L. (2021). Microbiome-Inspired Green Infrastructure: A bioscience roadmap for urban ecosystem health. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 25(4), 292-303.
Scopus5 WoS22021 Baruch, Z., Liddicoat, C., Cando-Dumancela, C., Laws, M., Morelli, H., Weinstein, P., . . . Breed, M. F. (2021). Increased plant species richness associates with greater soil bacterial diversity in urban green spaces. Environmental Research, 196, 12 pages.
Scopus37 WoS24 Europe PMC52020 Robinson, J., Cando-Dumancela, C., Antwis, R., Cameron, R., Liddicoat, C., Poudel, R., . . . Breed, M. (2020). Exposure to Airborne Bacteria Depends upon Vertical Stratification and Vegetation Complexity.
2020 Robinson, J. M., Cando-Dumancela, C., Liddicoat, C., Weinstein, P., Cameron, R., & Breed, M. F. (2020). Vertical Stratification in Urban Green Space Aerobiomes. Environmental Health Perspectives, 128(11), 117008.
Scopus34 WoS20 Europe PMC102020 Baruch, Z., Liddicoat, C., Laws, M., Kiri Marker, L., Morelli, H., Yan, D. F., . . . Breed, M. F. (2020). Characterising the soil fungal microbiome in metropolitan green spaces across a vegetation biodiversity gradient. Fungal Ecology, 47, 1-10.
Scopus18 WoS142020 Grundy, M. J., Searle, R., Meier, E. A., Ringrose-Voase, A. J., Kidd, D., Orton, T. G., . . . Bennett, J. M. L. (2020). Digital soil assessment delivers impact across scales in Australia and the Philippines. Geoderma Regional, 22, 15 pages.
Scopus5 WoS42020 Kidd, D., Searle, R., Grundy, M., McBratney, A., Robinson, N., O'Brien, L., . . . Triantafilis, J. (2020). Operationalising digital soil mapping – Lessons from Australia. Geoderma Regional, 23, 21 pages.
Scopus34 WoS172020 Liddicoat, C., Sydnor, H., Cando-Dumancela, C., Dresken, R., Liu, J., Gellie, N., . . . Breed, M. F. (2020). Naturally-diverse airborne environmental microbial exposures modulate the gut microbiome and may provide anxiolytic benefits in mice. Science of the Total Environment, 701, 1-11.
Scopus110 WoS72 Europe PMC442019 Bennett, J. M., McBratney, A., Field, D., Kidd, D., Stockmann, U., Liddicoat, C., & Grover, S. (2019). Soil Security for Australia. SUSTAINABILITY, 11(12), 15 pages.
Scopus36 WoS212019 Mills, J., Brookes, J., Gellie, N., Liddicoat, C., Lowe, A., Sydnor, H., . . . Breed, M. F. (2019). Relating urban biodiversity to human health with the ‘holobiont’ concept. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10(MAR), 8 pages.
Scopus67 WoS49 Europe PMC262019 Liddicoat, C., Weinstein, P., Bissett, A., Gellie, N., Mills, J., Waycott, M., & Breed, M. F. (2019). Can bacterial indicators of a grassy woodland restoration inform ecosystem assessment and microbiota-mediated human health?. Environment International, 129, 105-117.
Scopus52 WoS42 Europe PMC112018 Liddicoat, C., Bi, P., Waycott, M., Glover, J., Breed, M. F., & Weinstein, P. (2018). Ambient soil cation exchange capacity inversely associates with infectious and parasitic disease risk in regional Australia. Science of the Total Environment, 626, 117-125.
Scopus29 WoS23 Europe PMC42018 Liddicoat, C., Bi, P., Waycott, M., Glover, J., Lowe, A., & Weinstein, P. (2018). Landscape biodiversity correlates with respiratory health in Australia. Journal of Environmental Management, 206, 113-122.
Scopus47 WoS37 Europe PMC122016 Liddicoat, C., Waycott, M., & Weinstein, P. (2016). Environmental change and human health: Can environmental proxies inform the biodiversity hypothesis for protective microbial-human contact?. BioScience, 66(12), 1023-1034.
Scopus21 WoS172015 Liddicoat, C., Maschmedt, D., Clifford, D., Searle, R., Herrmann, T., Macdonald, L., & Baldock, J. (2015). Predictive mapping of soil organic carbon stocks in South Australia's agricultural zone. Soil Research, 53(8), 956-973.
Scopus35 WoS302015 Odgers, N. P., Holmes, K. W., Griffin, T., & Liddicoat, C. (2015). Derivation of soil-attribute estimations from legacy soil maps. Soil Research, 53(8), 881-894.
Scopus15 WoS14 -
Books
Year Citation - Arrouays, D., McKenzie, N., Hempel, J., Richer de Forges, A., & McBratney, A. B. (Eds.) (n.d.). GlobalSoilMap. CRC Press.
DOI -
Conference Papers
Year Citation 2014 Liddicoat, C., Maschmedt, D., Kidd, D. B., & Searle, R. (2014). Modelling soil carbon stocks using legacy site data, in the mid north region of South Australia. In D. Arrouays, N. McKenzie, J. Hempel, A. C. R. DeForges, & A. McBratney (Eds.), GlobalSoilMap: Basis of the Global Spatial Soil Information System - Proceedings of the 1st GlobalSoilMap Conference (pp. 253-259). Orleans, FRANCE: CRC PRESS-TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3 -
Conference Items
Year Citation 2021 Stanhope, J., Liddicoat, C., & Weinstein, P. (2021). Is outdoor artificial light at night confounding studies on green space and health?. Poster session presented at the meeting of Environmental Health Perspectives. New York: The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
DOI2021 Stanhope, J., Liddicoat, C., & Weinstein, P. (2021). Is outdoor artificial light at night confounding spatial epidemiological studies on greenspace and health?. Poster session presented at the meeting of International Journal of Epidemiology. Virtual: Oxford University Press (OUP).
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Datasets
Year Citation - Liddicoat, C., Weinstein, P., Bissett, A., Gellie, N., Mills, J., Waycott, M., & Breed, M. (n.d.). Data Inputs - Can bacterial indicators of a grassy woodland restoration inform ecosystem assessment and microbiota-mediated human health?.
DOI- Liddicoat, C., Sydnor, H., Cando-Dumancela, C., Dresken, R., Liu, J., Gellie, N., . . . Breed, M. (n.d.). Supporting Data - Naturally-diverse airborne environmental microbial exposures modulate the gut microbiome and may provide anxiolytic benefits in mice.
DOI- Stanhope, J., Liddicoat, C., & Weinstein, P. (n.d.). Supporting data for article - Outdoor artificial light at night: a forgotten factor in green space and health research.
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Preprint
Year Citation 2023 Liddicoat, C., Edwards, R., Roach, M., Robinson, J., Wallace, K. J., Barnes, A., . . . Breed, M. (2023). Bioenergetic mapping of ‘healthy microbiomes’ via compound processing potential imprinted in gut and soil metagenomes.
DOI
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