Professor Andrew Lowe
Director, Environment Institute
Environment Institute
Division of Research and Innovation
Professor Andrew Lowe is a dynamic and innovative research leader with executive experience in university, government, start-up industry and community sectors. He is particularly skilled at identifying and realizing research opportunities and partnerships combining collaborative research expertise with external stakeholders.
Andrew is currently Director of the Environment Institute, one of the University of Adelaide’s six research Institutes with over 100 members. During his tenure he has led a culture-focused rebuilding of the institute to prioritise activity around key staff and strengths. Previous roles include: Director of Agrifood and Wine (2017-2020), an institution-wide role that brought together expertise in research and teaching across Faculties, Institutes and Schools to coordinate and provide engagement with the food industry and government sectors across Australia and internationally; Science Director for the $121M Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre - research lead for the bid and responsible for developing the research investment portfolio across 60 research and industry partners; Deputy Dean – Partnerships and Collaboration in the Faculty of Science (2015-2016), coordinating early and mid-career training and mentoring programs and building partnerships with external stakeholders; Since 2012, Andrew has held significant research infrastructure management positions - led and negotiated the South Australian node of the NCRIS funded Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network, and served as Science Director and Board member (2010-2016); Director, NCRIS strategy (2022-2023), coordinating across the University’s significant NCRIS portfolio.
Andrew is a successful academic leader, and was made full professor in 2006, nine years after gaining his PhD in Plant Evolutionary Biology (1997) from the University of St Andrews, UK. He has helped secure over $250M of funding and has published over 250 scientific papers and books (including in Science, Nature PNAS), which have attracted >23,000 citations and an h index of 75. He has collaborated with over 300 researchers, from 100 institutes in 30 countries, and has directly supervised over 120 technical and postdoctoral staff, and graduate students (PhD, MSc Honours).
Experienced in commercializing research, Andrew is Chief Scientific Officer of Double Helix Tracking Technologies, a Bioknowledge start-up headquartered in Singapore that uses DNA tools to identify and help eliminate illegally logged timber from global supply chains. He has served on a broad range of international and national boards and committees, including: Lead author of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessment on Land Degradation and Restoration; the United Nation’s Office of Drugs and Crime expert working group on timber tracking; review panel for the $200M New Zealand Natural Heritage strategic investment research program; the board of the Atlas of Living Australia, and has headed up and participated in international delegations; e.g. leading the University’s delegation at COP22 in Marrakech, and working with Australian Chief Scientist Ian Chubb and departmental officials to negotiate Australian partnership priorities for the EU funding program Horizon 2020. He has also held executive positions in the government sector, including acting Director of the South Australian Museum (2013-2014), and Head of Science in the South Australian Department of Environment (2006-2012).
Andrew is passionate about communicating science and knowledge to a general audience and is an experienced media article writer and public presenter. He has presented at TedX and PechaKucha events, hosted panel discussions (WOMAD Planet Talks), runs blog sites (biodiversityrevolution and andylowe), hosts podcasts (Discovery Pod, EcoFuturists, FoodFuturists) and has served as Scientist in Residence for the Australian Financial Review (2019-2020) and the Advertiser (2018). He has published over 150 media articles and given over 250 public and scientific presentations.
- My Research
- Career
- Publications
- Grants and Funding
- Teaching
- Supervision
- Professional Activities
- Contact
My main research focus is in plant ecological and evolutionary genetics
Gene flow and adaptation in fragmented landscapes
Even when individuals of a species survive in remnant habitat, small population sizes make them more susceptible to extinction (Lowe et al 2005). In addition changes to gene flow dynamics can have detrimental impacts to the fitness of the new generation. Research in my lab has demonstrated this effect for plants (Breed et al 2013a; Ward et al 2005) and animals (Pavlacky et al 2012; 2010), and in Australian (Breed 2012a, b; Breed et al 2011), European (Bacles et al 2006, 2005) and tropical systems (Davies et al 2013; Breed 2012c; Davies et al 2010). Current work is focusing on integrating landscape genetic and adaptation genomics into restoration management and policy frameworks. By quantifying landscape level gene flow and assessing the strength of local adaptation, new principles for corridor and restoration planning have been developed (Broadhurst et al 2008, Sgro et al 2010; Navarro et al 2010, 2011; Breed et al 2013). At a national level, Greening Australia, Trees for Life, the Forestry Commission (UK) and English Nature have all reassessed their seed sourcing strategies based on this information.
Genetic structure and DNA timber tracking
Examining the genetic structure across the range of plants and trees gives us important insight into the historical demographic dynamics (migration, adaptation or extinction). My group has examined the historical range dynamics of a range of plants (Mellick et al 2011; Navarro et al 2005; Cavers et al 2005; 2003a), across Australia (Mellick et al 2012; McCallum et al 2013), Europe (Cotrell et al 2002; Petit et al 2002), the Neotropics (Cavers et al 2013; 2004; 2003b; Lemes et al 2010), China (Wang et al 2009; Kang et al 2007) and Africa (Hardy et al 2013; Lowe et al 2010). Using such knowledge, particularly for valuable timber species (e.g. Cavers et al 2003; Lemes et al 2010), we have been developing specific markers to aid the tracking and identification of material from unknown or dubious sources (Lowe et al 2010; Lowe & Cross 2011; Dormontt et al 2015), and work with forest certification companies and NGOs (e.g. WWF and FSC) and a private company in Singapore (DoubleHelix)to identify the species and source of origin of timber to eliminate illegally logged products in supply chains.
Adaptation to climate change
Climate change is forcing a change in the adaptation of species and biological communities. We have examined the rate of change in species communities along environmental gradients (temperature and rainfall; Guerin et al 2013), and demonstrated that lowland semi-arid and upland heath ecosystems of South Australia appear to be relatively stable to temperature increases, but that the slope vegetation are expected to be very sensitive to future temperature change. Many endemic families of plants are predicted to be very sensitive to the future changes (e.g., Ericaceae, Proteaceae, Myrtaceae and Orchidaceae), whilst major weeds (e.g. Poaceae and Asteraceae) appear much more resilient (Guerin et al 2013). Our research was also the first to demonstrate an adaptive shift in plant morphology linked to climate change when a narrowing of leaf width was identified over a 20-year period for the hop bush in South Australia (Guerin et al 2012; Guerin and Lowe 2012).
Ecological and evolutionary genomics
During this recent period of genomics revolution, my lab has been rapidly developing genomic methods for ecological and evolutionary applications (e.g. Prentis et al 2008; 2010; Gardner et al 2011; Scoble et al 2012; Wei et al 2012; Roda et al 2013), and is part of the Regional Facility for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, which houses state-of-the-art laboratories for sequencing technologies applied to ecological and evolutionary problems. Within the last year, the Facility has been significantly expanded to cater for large Next Generation Sequencing and DNA barcoding projects.
Previous work
I studied the evolution of Britain’s newest plant species, discovered only 30 years ago, and described it as a new species, Senecio eboracensis (Lowe and Abbott, 2003). The origin of a new species within our time and its adaptation to man-made habitats (car parks; Lowe & Abbott 2004, Abbott & Lowe 2004) captured the scientific community and public imagination alike. In addition to scientific articles, press releases resulted in international media coverage (e.g. front page of The Times). The story also caused raging debate in creationist vs. evolution online forums, and a young British artist, Nich Relph, was inspired to produce an installation at the Finnish National Gallery on hearing the story.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2022 - ongoing Director, Environment Institute University of Adelaide 2021 - 2023 Director NCRIS Strategy University of Adelaide 2017 - 2018 Research Director Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre 2016 - 2020 Director of Agrifood and Wine University of Adelaide 2015 - 2016 Deputy Dean - Partnerships and Collaboration University of Adelaide 2014 - 2016 Director of Conservation Science and Technology University of Adelaide 2014 - 2016 Principal Advisor: Biodiversity Research Partnerships South Australian Government 2013 - 2016 Lecturer University of Queensland 2013 - 2013 Acting Director South Australian Museum 2012 - 2016 Associate Director, Science Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network 2010 - ongoing Chief Scientific Officer DoubleHelix Tracking Technologies 2009 - 2013 Director of the Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity University of Adelaide 2006 - ongoing Professor, Plant Conservation Biology University of Adelaide 2006 - 2013 Head of Science South Australian Government 1998 - 2003 Principal and Senior Scientist Centre for Ecology and Hydrology 1998 - 1998 Postdoctoral Researcher BBSRC 1996 - 1997 Postdoctoral Researcher Institute of Terrestrial Ecology 1996 - 1996 International Consultant International Livestock Research Institute 1991 - 1992 Field Science Officer Society for Environmental Exploration -
Language Competencies
Language Competency Spanish - Latin American Can read and understand spoken -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 1992 - 1996 University of St Andrews UK PhD 1987 - 1991 University of Bath United Kingdom Bsc (Hons) in Applied Biology
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Journals
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Books
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Book Chapters
Year Citation 2017 Thurgate, N., Lowe, A. J., & Clancy, T. F. (2017). Australia’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network: A Network of Networks Approach to Building and Maintaining Continental Ecosystem Research Infrastructures. In Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Infrastructures: Challenges and Opportunities (pp. 427-448). CRC Press.
Scopus32017 Turner, D. J., Smyth, A. K., Walker, C. M., & Lowe, A. J. (2017). ÆKOS: Next-Generation Online Data and Information Infrastructure for the Ecological Science Community. In Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Infrastructures: Challenges and Opportunities (pp. 341-368). CRC Press.
Scopus52014 Lindenmayer, D., Burns, E., Thurgate, N., & Lowe, A. (2014). General Overview. In D. Lindenmayer, E. Burns, N. Thurgate, & A. Lowe (Eds.), Biodiversity and Environmental Change: Monitoring, Challenges and Direction (1 ed., pp. 3-20). Australia: CSIRO Publishing. 2014 Sparrow, B., Dormontt, E., Thurgate, N., Burns, E., Lindenmayer, D., & Lowe, A. (2014). Our capacity to tell an Australian ecological story. In D. Lindenmayer, E. Burns, N. Thurgate, & A. Lowe (Eds.), Biodiversity and Environmental Change: Monitoring, Challenges and Direction (1 ed., pp. 49-82). Australia: CSIRO Publishing. 2014 Lindenmayer, D., Burns, E., Thurgate, N., & Lowe, A. (2014). The value of long-term research and how to design effective ecological research and monitoring. In D. Lindenmayer, E. Burns, N. Thurgate, & A. Lowe (Eds.), Biodiversity and Environmental Change: Monitoring, Challenges and Direction (1 ed., pp. 21-48). Australia: CSIRO Publishing. 2014 Ens, E., Burns, E., Russell-Smith, J., Sparrow, B., & Wardle, G. (2014). The cultural imperative: broadening the vision of long-term ecological monitoring to enhance environmental policy and management outcomes. In D. Lindenmayer, E. Burns, N. Thurgate, & A. Lowe (Eds.), Biodiversity and Environmental Change: Monitoring, Challenges and Direction (1 ed., pp. 83-108). Australia: CSIRO Publishing. 2014 Keith, D., Lindenmayer, D., Lowe, A., Russell-Smith, J., Barrett, S., Enright, N., . . . Yates, C. (2014). Heathlands. In D. Lindenmayer, E. Burns, N. Thurgate, & A. Lowe (Eds.), Biodiversity and Environmental Change: Monitoring, Challenges and Direction (1 ed., pp. 213-282). Collingwood, VIC, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. 2013 Lowe, A., & Volkaert, H. (2013). The Evolutionary and Plantation Origin of Teak. In The Migrant Ecologies Project: Jalan Jati (Teak Road) (1 ed., pp. 23-28). United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 2012 White, I., Foulkes, J., Sparrow, B., & Lowe, A. (2012). Biodiversity monitoring in the Australian rangelands. In D. Lindenmayer, & P. Gibbons (Eds.), Biodiversity Monitoring in Australia (1 ed., pp. 179-190). Australia: CSIRO Publishing. 2011 Cross, H., Lowe, A., & Gurgel, C. (2011). DNA barcoding of invasive species. In D. Richardson (Ed.), Fifty Years of Invasion Ecology: The Legacy of Charles Elton (pp. 289-300). United Kingdom: Wiley.
Scopus172011 Dormontt, E., Lowe, A., & Prentis, P. (2011). Is rapid adaptive evolution important in successful invasions?. In D. Richardson (Ed.), Fifty Years of Invasion Ecology: The Legacy of Charles Elton (pp. 175-194). UK: Wiley.
Scopus262011 Navarro, C., Cavers, S., & Lowe, A. (2011). Seed sourcing recommendations for forest restoration: impacts of tree isolation on progeny performance of cedar and mahogany in the neutropics. In F. Montagnini, & C. Finney (Eds.), Restoring Degraded Landscapes with Native Species in Latin America (1 ed., pp. 51-61). United States: Nova Science Publishers.
Scopus22011 Al-Rawi, M. A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., Lowe, A., & Lu, J. (2011). Computational fluid dynamics in arterial fluid-wall interaction modelling. In Systolic Blood Pressure: Influences, Associations and Management (pp. 135-154). 2009 MacGillivray, P., Hudson, I., & Lowe, A. (2009). Herbarium collections and photographic images: Alternative data sources for phenological research. In I. Hudson, & M. Keatley (Eds.), Phenological Research: Methods for Environmental and Climate Change Analysis (pp. 425-462). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Scopus262009 Speirs, A., McConnachie, G., & Lowe, A. (2009). Chloroplast DNA from 16th century waterlogged oak in a marine environment: initial steps in sourcing the Mary Rose timbers. In Michael Haslam (Ed.), Archaeological science under a microscope. Studies in residue and ancient DNA analysis in honour of Thomas H. Loy (pp. 165-179). Canberra ACT: ANU E Press. 2009 Leakey, R., Kranjac-Berisavljevic, G., & Lowe, A. (2009). Impacts of AKST on development and sustainability goals. In B. McIntyre, H. Herren, J. Wakhungu, & R. Watson (Eds.), Agriculture at a Crossroads: IAASTD Global Report (pp. 145-255). Washington DC, USA: Island Press. 2002 Cavers, C., & Lowe, A. (2002). Regional scale genetic structure within two Central American tree species: the influence of geography, biology and geological history. In Modelling and Experimental Research on Genetic Processes in Tropical and Temperate Forests; Conference Proceedings, Kourou, French Guiana (pp. 179-190). Brazil: Embrapa Amazônia Oriental. -
Conference Papers
Year Citation 2021 Anand, G., Lowe, A., Jones, R., Arnold, W. M., Kalra, A., Simpkin, R., . . . Budgett, D. (2021). Quantification of edge effects in capacitive biopotential sensing*. In IEEE Region 10 Annual International Conference, Proceedings/TENCON Vol. 2021-December (pp. 1004-1007). Online: IEEE.
Scopus12021 Rastegar, S., GholamHosseini, H., Lowe, A., & Lindén, M. (2021). A Novel Convolutional Neural Network for Continuous Blood Pressure Estimation. In IFMBE Proceedings Vol. 80 (pp. 22-28). Portoroz, Slovenia: Springer International Publishing.
Scopus12020 Han, S., Sinha, R., & Lowe, A. (2020). Assessing Support for Industry Standards in Reference Medical Software Architectures. In IECON Proceedings (Industrial Electronics Conference) Vol. 2020-October (pp. 3403-3407). Singapore: IEEE.
Scopus12019 Hassan, S. I., Stommel, M., Lowe, A., Zhang, Q., & Xu, W. (2019). Semantic Segmentation of Sheep Organs by Convolutional Neural Networks. In 2019 International Conference Image and Vision Computing New Zealand Vol. 2019-December (pp. 5 pages). Dunedin, New Zealand: IEEE.
Scopus32019 Yu, Y., Lowe, A., Anand, G., & Kalra, A. (2019). Tissue phantom to mimic the dielectric properties of human muscle within 20 Hz and 100 kHz for biopotential sensing applications. In Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS Vol. 2019 (pp. 6490-6493). online: IEEE.
Scopus6 Europe PMC32018 Meintjes, A., Lowe, A., & Legget, M. (2018). Fundamental Heart Sound Classification using the Continuous Wavelet Transform and Convolutional Neural Networks. In Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS Vol. 2018-July (pp. 409-412). Honolulu, HI, USA: IEEE.
Scopus52 Europe PMC82016 Kalra, A., Lowe, A., & Al-Jumaily, A. (2016). Point Tracking on a thin elastomer to emulate Skin-stretch induced motion artifacts in Electrocardiogram measurements. In International Conference Image and Vision Computing New Zealand Vol. 2016-November (pp. 6 pages). Auckland, New Zealand: IEEE.
Scopus12014 Embong, A. H., Al-Jumaily, A. M., Mahadevan, G., Lowe, A., & Sugita, S. (2014). Development of an abdominal aortic aneurysm ruptures mechanism using a geometric analytical technique. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE) Vol. 3.
2014 Tokmakoff, A., Sparrow, B., Turner, D., & Lowe, A. (2014). AusPlots Rangelands Field Data Collection and Publication: Infrastructure for Ecological Monitoring. In e-Science (e-Science), 2014 IEEE 10th International Conference on Vol. 1 (pp. 249-255). Guaruja, BRAZIL: IEEE.
Scopus2 WoS32013 Embong, A. H., Al-Jumaily, A. M., Mahadevan, G., Sugita, S., & Lowe, A. (2013). Patient-specific aneurysms rupture prediction using CFD modelling with strain energy function. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE) Vol. 3 A. American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Scopus12012 Al-Rawi, M. A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., Lu, J., & Lowe, A. (2012). A fluid-structure interaction model of atherosclerosis at abdominal aorta. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE) Vol. 2 (pp. 859-863). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Scopus12011 Al-Rawi, M. A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., Lu, J., & Lowe, A. (2011). An investigation into the acoustic response of diseased arterial pulse waveforms. In ASME 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2011 Vol. 2 (pp. 685-687). ASMEDC.
2010 Mookerjee, A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., Lowe, A., & Westerhof, B. E. (2010). Gender-specific transfer functions might give more accurate estimates of central pressure. In ASME 2010 Summer Bioengineering Conference, SBC 2010 (pp. 417-418). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
2010 Al-Rawi, M. A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., & Lowe, A. (2010). Computational fluid dynamics for atherosclerosis and aneurysm diagnostics. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE) Vol. 2 (pp. 603-605). ASMEDC.
Scopus12010 Al-Rawi, M. A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., & Lowe, A. (2010). Stress phase angle for non-invasive diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE) Vol. 2 (pp. 747-749). ASMEDC.
Scopus32010 Lan, H., Al-Jumaily, A. M., Hing, W., & Lowe, A. (2010). Biomechanical basis of oscillometric blood pressure measuring technique. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings Vol. 2 (pp. 481-483). ASMEDC.
2010 Mookerjee, A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., & Lowe, A. (2010). Individualized transfer functions for the noninvasive estimation of central pressure from brachial pressure readings. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings Vol. 2 (pp. 479-480). ASMEDC.
2009 Lan, H., Al-Jumaily, A. M., & Lowe, A. (2009). An investigation into the upper arm deformation under inflatable cuff. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings Vol. 2 (pp. 621-624). ASMEDC.
Scopus22009 Mookerjee, A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., & Lowe, A. (2009). Individualised pressure propagation model for the elastic arteries. In IFMBE Proceedings Vol. 25 (pp. 586-589). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Scopus12009 Mookerjee, A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., & Lowe, A. (2009). Monte-Carlo simulation of pressure propagation in elastic arteries. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings Vol. 2 (pp. 597-598). 2009 Mookerjee, A., Al-Jumaily, A. M., & Lowe, A. (2009). Vascular diseases and arterial pressure propagation. In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings Vol. 2 (pp. 599-601). ASMEDC.
2008 Mookerjee, A., Al-Jumaily, A., & Lowe, A. (2008). The effect of various physical phenomena on wave propagations in the human aorta. In 2007 Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, DETC2007 Vol. 1 PART A (pp. 353-356). ASMEDC.
Scopus32008 Lowe, A. (2008). Testing for rapid genetic adaption in fireweed. In Proceedings of the National Fireweed Conference (pp. 1-2). Australia: Bega Valley Fireweed Association. 2008 Lowe, A. (2008). Can we use DNA to identify the geographic origin of tropical timber?. In B. Degen (Ed.), PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP FINGERPRINTING METHODS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TIMBER ORIGINS Vol. 321 (pp. 15-19). Bonn, GERMANY: JOHANN HEINRICH VON THUNEN INST.
WoS32007 Gohil, B., GholamhHosseini, H., Harrison, M. J., Lowe, A., & Al-Jumaily, A. (2007). Intelligent monitoring of critical pathological events during anesthesia. In Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology - Proceedings Vol. 2007 (pp. 4343-4346). United States: IEEE.
Scopus14 Europe PMC22007 El-Aklouk, E., Al-Jumaily, A. M., & Lowe, A. (2007). Acoustic wave technology as a diagnostic tool for cardiovascular disease. In IFMBE Proceedings Vol. 14 (pp. 3386-3389). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Scopus12004 Lowe, A. (2004). Why use spatially explicit and direct gene flow approaches in conservation gentics?. In Proceedings of a Conservation Genetics workshop held at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 27 November 2001 - English Nature Research Reports, No. 607 (pp. 28-29). United Kingdom: English Nature. -
Conference Items
Year Citation 2018 Guerin, G. R., O'Connor, P., Sparrow, B., Lowe, A. J., & Rogers, D. (2018). An ecological climate change classification for South Australia. Poster session presented at the meeting of South Australian NRM Science Conference. The University of Adelaide. 2018 Martín-Forés, I., Acosta-Gallo, B., Guerin, G. R., Lowe, A., Castro, I., de Miguel, J. M., & Casado, M. A. (2018). Defying a traditional assumption: Non-native plants species seem to have positive effects on native biodiversity in grasslands located in several Mediterranean-climate regions. Poster session presented at the meeting of Neobiota. 10th International Conference on Biological Invasions: New directions in invasion biology. Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland.. 2017 Caddy-Retalic, S., Hoffmann, B., Guerin, G. R., Andersen, A., Wardle, G., McInerney, F., & Lowe, A. (2017). The potential decoupling of plant and ant communities with climate change. Poster session presented at the meeting of Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Portland, USA. 2017 Mills, J. G., Weinstein., Gellie., Weyrich., Lowe., & Breed. (2017). Restoration of urban green spaces rewilds the environmental microbiome with associated shifts in the human microbiome.. Poster session presented at the meeting of Society for Ecological Restoration. Foz do Iguacu, Brazil. 2017 Breed, M. F., Gellie, N., & Lowe, A. J. (2017). Alternative provenancing strategies, theory and empirical evidence. Poster session presented at the meeting of Using non-local plants for restoration – fallacy or fundamental?. Iguassu, Brazil. 2017 Lowe, A. J., Gellie, N., Mills, J., & Breed, M. F. (2017). Future challenges in restoration plantings, and their potential solutions. Poster session presented at the meeting of Using non-local plants for restoration – fallacy or fundamental?. Iguassu, Brazil. 2017 Breed, M. F., Gellie, N., Mills J., & Lowe, A. J. (2017). Revegetation rewilds the soil bacterial microbiome of an old field. Poster session presented at the meeting of Harnessing new genetic approaches to improve restoration success. Shenzhen, China. 2016 Gellie, N., Breed, M. F., & Lowe, A. J. (2016). Laboratories for restoration science - developing the evidence base for resilient landscape restoration. Poster session presented at the meeting of Conservation genetics. Hamilton, NZ. 2016 Mills, J., Breed, M. F., Gellie, N., & Lowe, A. (2016). Revegetation rewilds the bacterial microbiome of an old field. Poster session presented at the meeting of Conservation genetics. Hamilton, NZ. 2016 Breed, M. F., Gellie, N., & Lowe, A. (2016). How can restoration avoid genetic ghettos, adapt to climate change, and effectively monitor success?. Poster session presented at the meeting of Conservation genetics. Hamilton, NZ. 2016 Breed, M. F., Gellie, N., & Lowe, A. (2016). How can restoration avoid genetic ghettos, adapt to climate change, and effectively monitor success?. Poster session presented at the meeting of Holistic conservation. Melbourne, Aus. 2016 Guerin, G. R., Biffin, E., Baruch, Z., & Lowe, A. J. (2016). Centres of plant biodiversity in South Australia. Poster session presented at the meeting of NRM Science Conference. The University of Adelaide. 2016 Guerin, G. R., Caddy-Retalic, S., Christmas, M., & Lowe, A. J. (2016). Projected climate change implications for the South Australian flora. Poster session presented at the meeting of 'Botany 2016 – Past, Present and Future' Symposium. South Australian NRM Science Conference.. The University of Adelaide. 2016 Lowe, A. J., Breed, M., Gellie, N., Guerin, G. R., Mills, J., & Christmas, M. (2016). Restoring South Australia's native vegetation. Poster session presented at the meeting of ''Botany 2016 – Past, Present and Future' Symposium. South Australian NRM Science Conference.. The University of Adelaide. 2016 Guerin, G. R., & Lowe, A. J. (2016). Mapping endemism in the South Australian flora from species occurrence datasets using range-weighted, phylogenetic and categorical metrics.. Poster session presented at the meeting of Atlas of Living Australia Science Symposium. Keiran McNamara Conservation Science Centre, Perth. 2015 Lowe, A. J., Guerin, G. R., caddy-retalic., & Christmas. (2015). Species and gene turnover along environmental gradients - windows into the future. Poster session presented at the meeting of Interconnectedness. Ecological Society of Australia Annual Conference 2015. The Hilton Hotel, Adelaide. 2015 Baruch, Z., Guerin, G. R., Leitch, E., Tokmakoff, A., Caddy-Retalic, S., Sparrow, B., & Lowe, A. J. (2015). Continental analysis of Australian rangeland vegetation: floristic and structural diversity. Poster session presented at the meeting of Interconnectedness. Ecological Society of Australia Annual Conference 2015. The Hilton Hotel, Adelaide. 2015 Guerin, G. R., & Lowe, A. J. (2015). Identifying centres of range-extent endemism using plot-based datasets. Poster session presented at the meeting of Interconnectedness. Ecological Society of Australia Annual Conference 2015. The Hilton Hotel, Adelaide. 2015 Jardine, D. I., Dormontt, E. E., Gerlach, J., van dijk, J. K., Degen, B., & Lowe, A. J. (2015). Genographic mapping of an African tropical Hardwood - application to DNA tracking. Poster session presented at the meeting of World Forestry Congress. Durban, South Africa. 2015 Gellie, N., Breed, M., & Lowe, A. (2015). That big tree’s not from around here – provenance decision –making during uncertain times. Poster session presented at the meeting of Synthesising restoration outcomes in agricultural and mined landscapes. Adelaide, Aus. 2015 Breed, M., & Lowe, A. (2015). Seed quality shifts and managing plant genetic resources in fragmented landscapes. Poster session presented at the meeting of Restoration genetics. Manchester, UK. 2015 Gellie, N., Breed, M., & Lowe, A. (2015). Laboratories for restoration science - developing the evidence base for cost-effective and resilient landscape restoration. Poster session presented at the meeting of Restoration resilience. Manchester, UK. 2015 Christmas, M., Breed, M., Biffin, E., & Lowe, A. (2015). Signatures of selection across the landscape: Using genomic tools to inform restoration and conservation practice. Poster session presented at the meeting of Future direction for conservation. Manchester, UK. 2014 Baruch, Z., Leitch, E., Sparrow, B., Guerin, G. R., Tokmakoff, A., & Lowe, A. (2014). AusPlots Rangelands vegetation communities: First insight on their relationship with the environmental matrix. Poster session presented at the meeting of Ecological Society of Australia 2014 Annual Conference. Alice Springs Convention Centre, Alice Springs. 2013 Lowe, A. J., Caddy-Retalic, S., Guerin, G. R., Andersen, A., Rossetto, M., van Leeuwen, S., & Sweeney, S. (2013). TREND and the Australian Transect Network: windows to our future environment. Poster session presented at the meeting of TREND Human Dimensions Symposium. Adelaide, SA. 2013 Soisup, N., Lowe, A. J., & Gurgel, C. F. (2013). Unveiling Lobophora (dictyotales, phaeophyceae) species diversity in Australia based on RBCL and COX1 DNA sequence analyses. Poster session presented at the meeting of Abstracts of papers to be presented at the 10th International Phycological Congress Orlando, Florida, USA 4-10 August 2013, as published in Phycologia. Orlando, Florida: International Phycological Society.
2012 Keith, D., Lindenmayer, D., Lowe, A., Russell-Smith, J., Enright, N., Fox, B., . . . Yates, C. (2012). Long-term studies: detecting and understanding trends in biodiversity. Poster session presented at the meeting of Ecological Society of Australia, 2012 Annual Conference, Ecology: Fundamental Science of the Biosphere. the Sebel Albert Park, Melbourne. -
Report for External Bodies
Year Citation 2019 Regan, C., Summers, D. M., Connor, J., O'Connor, P. J., Lowe, A., & Cavagnaro, T. R. (2019). Assessing South Australian carbon offset supply and policy for co-beneficial offsets: Pollination service supply in lucerne seed production. Goyder Institute for Water Research Technical Report Series No. 19/07. 2019 Guerin, G. R., Sparrow, B., & Lowe, A. (2019). Habitat suitability and distribution of Olearia pannosa subsp. pannosa under climate change. 2015 Guerin, G. R., Sweeney, S. M., Pisanu, P., Caddy-Retalic, S., & Lowe, A. J. (2015). Establishment of an ecosystem transect to address climate change policy questions for natural resource management. -
Patents
Year Citation 2015 Lowe, A. J., Jardine, D. I., Cross, H., Degen, B., Schindler, L., & Holtken, A. M. (2015). WO/2015/070279A1, A Method of Extracting Plant Nucleic Acids from Lignified Plant Tissue. Australia. -
Internet Publications
Year Citation 2014 Lowe, A. J., & Caddy-Retalic. (2014). Will the climate debate end up being fought in court?. The Conversation. 2012 lowe., & Caddy-retalic. (2012). Genetically linked, a continent apart: the rise of DNA barcoding. The Conversation. 2012 Caddy-Retalic, S., Caddy-Retalic, S., & Lowe, A. J. (2012). DNA barcoding: a better way to discover species. The Conversation. -
Datasets
Year Citation 2020 Mills, J. G., Bissett, A., Gellie, N., Lowe, A., Selway, C., Thomas, T., . . . Breed, M. (2020). Revegetation of urban green space rewilds soil microbiotas with implications for human health and urban design. 2017 Gellie, N., Mills, J., Breed, M., & Lowe, A. (2017). Revegetation rewilds the soil bacterial microbiome of an old field. Part 1: OTU raw data matrix.
2017 Gellie, N., Mills, J. G., Breed, M. F., & Lowe, A. J. (2017). Revegetation rewilds the soil bacterial microbiome of an old field. Part 2: Soil chemistry.
2016 Gellie, N. J. C., Breed, M. F., Thurgate, N., Kennedy, S. A., & Lowe, A. (2016). Local maladaptation in a foundation tree species: implications for restoration. Part 1; survival.
2016 Gellie, N., Breed, M., Thurgate, N., Kennedy, S. A., & Lowe, A. J. (2016). Local maladaptation in a foundation tree species: implications for restoration. Part 2 growth.
2016 Baruch, Z., Christmas, M., Breed, M. F., Guerin, G. R., Caddy-Retalic, S., McDonald, J., . . . Lowe, A. J. (2016). Leaf trait associations with environmental variation in the wide-ranging shrub Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima (Sapindaceae) Part 1: Latitude.
2016 Baruch, Z., Christmas, M., Breed, M. F., Guerin, G. R., Caddy-Retalic, S., McDonald, J. T., . . . Lowe, A. J. (2016). Leaf trait associations with environmental variation in the wide-ranging shrub Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima (Sapindaceae) Part 2: Elevation.
2016 Guerin, G., Sparrow, B., Tokmakoff, A., Smyth, A., Leitch, E., Baruch, Z., & Lowe, A. (2016). Ausplots Rangelands supplementary dataset (Guerin et al. 2016), Version 1.0..
- Yan, D., Gellie, N., Mills, J., Connell, G., Bissett, A., Lowe, A., & Breed, M. (n.d.). Archaea restoration raw OTU data.
As Environment Institute director, have mentored researchers to apply for range of funding (>$100M), including: ARC Discovery, Linkage, Future Fellow and LIEF programs, NHMRC, MRFF, NESP, FRDC, Federal Government’s Soil Science Challenge program, BioPlatforms Australia, ARDC, DCCEEW, Wellcome Trust, DEFRA, ACIAR, DFAT, NORAD/NICFI, Scaling Green Hydrogen CRC.
Helped secure over $250M of research support included roles as research director (CRC, TERN, EU, PSRF), and partner in major programs (TERN, NCCARF, EU). Highlights include:
Facilitated large multi-partner funding bids, including:
Nature Positive Economy CRC bid (submitted 2024) Department for Industry, Innovation and Science, 47 partners and $41.5M in partner cash https://naturepositivecrc.com.au/ – Bid Lead and Interim CEO
Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (2019-2028) Department for Industry, Innovation and Science, 60 partners, $62M + $67M inkind – Inaugural Research Director
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (2010-2023) National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme, 10 University/Research Institute partners (>$100M). Included leveraging funding through Premier’s Science and Research Fund, NeCTAR and Australian National Data Service. Inaugural Research Director and Board member.
While at NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology led or partnered in large EU grants including EVOLTREE. (2006-2010 €14.7M), SEEDSOURCE (2006-2010 €2.6M), GENEO-TROPECO (2002-2005 €1.2M), TEAKDIV (2002-2004 €1.25M) OAKFLOW (2000-2004 €2.5M).
Individual and team awards
ARC awards - LIEF 2016 LE160100154, Discovery 2016 DP150103414, Linkage 2012 LP120100648, Linkage 2011 LP110100721, Linkage 2011 LP110200805, Super Science Fellowship 2011 FS1102 00051, Discovery 2006 DP0664967, Discovery 2006 DP0665859, Linkage 2005 LP0562265.
Lowe AJ, Westra SP, Qinfeng S, Tien-Fu L, Umberger WJ, Wheeler SA, Collins C, Pagay V, Bennett BS, Ostendorf BF. (2019-22) VitiVisor: An information, prediction and advisory platform for viticulture (Wine Australia) $2.3M.
Lowe AJ, Hogendoorn K, Breed M, Wilkinson M, Paton D, Weinstein P, Keller M, Austin A (2017-2020) Pollination reserves - Developing pollination services for native pollinators and managed honey bees from habitat restoration/ supplementation around pollinator dependent crops. (Dept Ag Rural R&D for Profit Fund, $4.5M)
Degen B, Lowe AJ, Dormontt E, Cavers S et al. (2015-2017) Large scale project on genetic timber verification (German Federal Government – total project budget €5M).
Lowe AJ, Degen B, Rimawanto A, Grant A (2014-2015) Implementing a DNA timber tracking system in Indonesia. International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO-TFLET, $650K)
Lowe AJ, Austin A, Cooper S, Crayn D, Nevill P, Appleyard S (2014-2015) Framework DNA barcode datasets for Australia. BioPlatforms Australia (BPA, $500k; total leverage $2.4M)
Crayn D, Costion C, Bransgrove K, Schulte K, Abell-Davis S, Metcalfe D, Rossetto M, Lowe AJ (2012-2014) What is at risk? Identifying rainforest refugia and hotspots of plant genetic diversity in the Wet Tropics and Cape York Peninsula. National Environmental Research Program: Tropical Ecosystems Hub ($344K)
Degen B, Koch G, Hardy O, Lowe A, Doucet J-L, Höltken A, Cavers S, Boner M, Kelly S, Horacek M, Yéné Yéné G, Zahnen J, Opuni Frimpong E, Ngomanda A, Odee D (2012-1016) Development and implementation of a species identification and timber tracking system in Africa with DNA fingerprints and stable isotopes. International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO, US$ 1.7M)
Teach into Third Year Biology courses, including Conservation Biology
Directly supervised over 120 technical and postdoctoral staff, and graduate students (PhD, MSc Honours).
Im interested in taking on new honours and PhD students in the following areas:
- Conservation and restoration genomics
- Biodiverstiy monitoring and analysis
- Timber tracking
- Plant genetic resources
- Ecosystem services and the vlaue of nautre
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Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2024 Principal Supervisor Monitoring and Evaluating Effective Community-Based Natural Resource Management Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Shannon Mariella Evenden 2024 Principal Supervisor The illegal timber trade: a multidisciplinary approach for identifying at risk species and developing resources for a more sustainable timber industry Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Brittany Paige Hogben 2024 Principal Supervisor Regenerative Agriculture: Can we feed the world without destroying it? Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Ava Helena Loechel 2022 Principal Supervisor Conserving orchids in a changing climate Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Ms Samantha Lee Bywaters 2021 Principal Supervisor Sustainable Agriculture at Scale: biotechnology, carbon sequestration and nature capital Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Alexander Robert George Mason 2019 Principal Supervisor Developing a DNA Timber Tracking System for South East Asian Timber Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Melita Low -
Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2018 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Restoring Bee Diversity and Pollination Services through Revegetation Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Dona Kireta 2018 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Restoring Urban and Human Microbiotas Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jacob Geoffrey Mills 2017 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Multi-isotopic Provenancing: Forensic Analysis for Determining Geographic Origin of Sandalwood Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Ellyse Bunney 2017 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Seed sourcing in the genomics era Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Colette Blyth 2015 - 2020 Principal Supervisor Development and Application of Genetic Timber Tracking Tools to Help Control Illegal Logging Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Duncan Iain Jardine 2014 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Clumped planting arrangements can improve the ecological function of revegetated eucalypt woodlands Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Kimberly McCallum 2014 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Quantifying Responses of Ecological Communities to Bioclimatic Gradients Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Stefan Caddy-Retalic 2013 - 2020 Principal Supervisor Biogeography of Australian chenopods: landscape in the evolution of an arid flora Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr John Thomas McDonald 2013 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Best Practice Restoration: Building The Evidence-Base for Restoring Eucalypt Woodlands of Southern Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Nick Gellie 2012 - 2016 Principal Supervisor Assessing genomic variation in the hopbush, Dodonaea viscosa, to investigate micro-evolution and adaptation Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Matthew Christmas 2010 - 2017 Co-Supervisor The Taxonomy of the Green Macroalgal Genus Caulpera: A Framework for the Application of Old Species Names in DNA-Based Taxonomies Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Gareth Smith Belton 2009 - 2014 Principal Supervisor Molecular Systematics of Selected Australian Brown Algae Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Nuttanun Soisup 2009 - 2015 Principal Supervisor New approaches to explore the past and present diversity of Australian sandalwood species -- from palaeobotany to next generation sequencing. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Patricia Fuentes-Cross 2009 - 2013 Principal Supervisor Delimitation, diversification and adaptation in Lachnagrostis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Austin James Brown 2009 - 2013 Principal Supervisor Restoration Genetics of Murray Mallee and Neotropical Forests Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Martin Breed 2008 - 2013 Principal Supervisor Tracking Phenological Shifts and Evolutionary Impacts Related to Climate Change Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Phyllis MacGillivray 2008 - 2012 Principal Supervisor Plant Biodiversity Science, Discovery, and Conservation:
Case Studies from Australasia and the PacificDoctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Craig Mitchell Costion 2008 - 2012 Principal Supervisor No Place to go and Nowhere to be? Characterising Demography of the Southern Scrub Robin (Drymodes Brunneopygia) Using Molecular and Modelling Tools for Conservation Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Jolene Scoble 2007 - 2013 Principal Supervisor Invasive Fireweed in Australia: Exploring the Invasion Dynamics of Senecio madagascariensis using Population Genetics Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Dr Eleanor Dormontt 2007 - 2012 Principal Supervisor Quaternary Climate Change and Podocarpus elatus Podocarpaceae Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Rohan Mellick -
Other Supervision Activities
Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name 2018 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Ground Observers: Surface estimations and sampling errors The University of Adelaide MSc Master Part Time Matthew Pearson 2016 - 2016 Co-Supervisor Conservation of sandalwood (genetics, biogeography and population modelling) The University of Adelaide BSc (Hons) Honours Full Time Marlee Crawford 2011 - 2011 Co-Supervisor Conservation recommendations for Callistemon teretifolius based on genetic analysis and bioclimatic distribution modelling The University of Adelaide BSc (Hons) Honours Full Time Kimberly McCallum
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Board Memberships
Date Role Board name Institution name Country 2009 - ongoing Member Atlas of Living Australia - - -
Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2014 - ongoing Member UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) - - 2012 - ongoing Co-Founder Global Timber Tracking Network - - 2012 - ongoing Member International Global Genome Biodiversity Network - - 2009 - ongoing Member International Barcode of Life - - 2008 - 2013 Member Terrestrial Biodiversity Node of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility - - 2007 - ongoing Chair Australian Barcode of Life Network - - 2003 - 2011 Advisory Board Member International Union of Forest Research Organisations - - -
Editorial Boards
Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country 2007 - ongoing Board Member Diversity and Distributions: a journal of conservation biogeography - - 2006 - ongoing Board Member Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens - - 2004 - ongoing Board Member Silvae Genetica: Zeitschrift fuer Forstgenetik und Forstpflanzenzuechtung - - -
Industry Partnerships
Date Engagement Type Partner Name 2014 - 2014 Consultant New Zealand Natural Heritage
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External Profiles