Dr Jess Marsh
ARC Externally-Funded Postdoctorate Research Fellow
School of Biological Sciences
College of Sciences
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.
I am an ARC Industry Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences. I combine taxonomy and systematics with conservation biology to tackle the challenge of working out what species we have, what is threatening them, and how we can best conserve them. My research focuses on invertebrates, mostly spiders and I have a particular interest in short range endemic species, whose entire range is restricted to a small area, with perhaps the epitome of this being obligate cave-dwelling species, whose whole range can be restricted to a single cave. My current research is centered on using molecular and morphological techniques to uncover the invertebrate diversity of the caves of the Nullarbor Plain, South Australia and Western Australia, and to develop management guidelines to aid in the conservation of this scientifically important and often imperilled biodiversity.
My major research interests include:
Taxonomy and systematics of troglobiont spiders
Conservation biology of short-range endemic taxa
Ecology of subterranean invertebrate fauna
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Co-chair | Australia Species Specialist Group |
| 2024 - ongoing | Adjunct Research Associate | Queensland Museum |
| 2023 - ongoing | Councillor | Biodiversity Council |
| 2022 - ongoing | Honorary Researcher | South Australian Museum |
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Country | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Award | Alan Yen Award for best oral presentation that addresses issues relating to the conservation of invertebrates | Australian Entomological Society | Australia | 200 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Woinarski, J. C. Z., Braby, M. F., Gibb, H., Harvey, M. S., Legge, S. M., Marsh, J. R., . . . Murphy, B. P. (2025). This is the way the world ends; not with a bang but a whimper: Estimating the number and ongoing rate of extinctions of Australian non-marine invertebrates. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction, 2, e23-1-e23-11. Scopus9 |
| 2025 | Ashman, K. R., Ward, M., Dickman, C. R., Harley, D., Valentine, L., Woinarski, J., . . . Lindenmayer, D. B. (2025). Policy decisions matter: Cessation of logging benefits 34 threatened species in Victoria, Australia. PLOS ONE, 20(3), e0319531. Scopus1 |
| 2025 | Harrison, S. E., Austin, A. D., Cooper, S. J. B., Marsh, J. R., Rix, M. G., Wilson, J. D., & Harvey, M. S. (2025). 'Lifting the lid' on relationships among Australian spiny trapdoor spiders of the genus <i>Blakistonia</i> Hogg (Araneae: Idiopidae: Arbanitinae). INVERTEBRATE SYSTEMATICS, 39(12), 22 pages. |
| 2025 | Ward, M., Possingham, H. P., Wintle, B. A., Woinarski, J. C. Z., Marsh, J. R., Chapple, D. G., . . . Watson, J. E. M. (2025). The estimated cost of preventing extinction and progressing recovery for Australia's priority threatened species.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(6), e2414985122. Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1 |
| 2024 | Dielenberg, J., Bekessy, S., Cumming, G. S., Dean, A. J., Fitzsimons, J. A., Garnett, S., . . . Wintle, B. A. (2024). Australia's biodiversity crisis and the need for the Biodiversity Council. Ecological Management and Restoration, 24(2-3), 69-74. Scopus6 WoS5 |
| 2023 | Marsh, J. R., Milner, S. J., Shaw, M., Stempel, A. J., Harvey, M. S., & Rix, M. G. (2023). A Case for Below-Ground Dispersal? Insights into the Biology, Ecology and Conservation of Blind Cave Spiders in the Genus Troglodiplura (Mygalomorphae: Anamidae). Insects, 14(5), 449-1-449-22. Scopus3 WoS3 |
| 2023 | Marsh, J. R., Bradford, T. M., & Cooper, S. J. B. (2023). Strong Population Genetic Structure for the Endangered Micro-Trapdoor Spider Moggridgea rainbowi (Mygalomorphae, Migidae) in Unburnt Habitat after Catastrophic Bushfires. Diversity, 15(7), 16 pages. Scopus2 WoS2 |
| 2022 | Marsh, J. R., Stevens, M. I., & Framenau, V. W. (2022). A taxonomic revision of the tube-web spiders of the genus Ariadna (Araneae: Segestriidae) in Tasmania. Zootaxa, 5105(2), 151-201. Scopus2 WoS1 |
| 2022 | Marsh, J. R., Stevens, M. I., Bradford, T., & Framenau, V. W. (2022). The Tube-Web Spiders of the Genus Ariadna (Araneae: Segestriidae) from South Australia and Victoria. Taxonomy, 2(4), 370-461. Scopus1 |
| 2022 | Marsh, J. R., & Glatz, R. V. (2022). Assessing the impact of the black summer fires on Kangaroo Island threatened invertebrates: towards rapid habitat assessments for informing targeted post-fire surveys. Australian Zoologist, 42(2), 479-501. Scopus3 |
| 2022 | Ward, M., Southwell, D., Gallagher, R. V., Raadik, T. A., Whiterod, N. S., Lintermans, M., . . . Legge, S. (2022). Modelling the spatial extent of post-fire sedimentation threat to estimate the impacts of fire on waterways and aquatic species. Diversity and Distributions, 28(11), 2429-2442. Scopus11 WoS11 |
| 2022 | Marsh, J. R., Bal, P., Fraser, H., Umbers, K., Latty, T., Greenville, A., . . . Woinarski, J. C. Z. (2022). Accounting for the neglected: Invertebrate species and the 2019–2020 Australian megafires. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31(10), 2120-2130. Scopus16 WoS15 |
| 2022 | Legge, S., Woinarski, J. C. Z., Scheele, B. C., Garnett, S. T., Lintermans, M., Nimmo, D. G., . . . Tingley, R. (2022). Rapid assessment of the biodiversity impacts of the 2019–2020 Australian megafires to guide urgent management intervention and recovery and lessons for other regions. Diversity and Distributions: a journal of conservation biogeography, 28(3), 571-591. Scopus76 WoS82 |
| 2021 | Dorey, J. B., Rebola, C. M., Davies, O. K., Prendergast, K. S., Parslow, B. A., Hogendoorn, K., . . . Caddy-Retalic, S. (2021). Continental risk assessment for understudied taxa post-catastrophic wildfire indicates severe impacts on the Australian bee fauna. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 27(24), 17 pages. Scopus19 WoS18 Europe PMC9 |
| 2021 | Marsh, J. R., Hudson, P., & Framenau, V. W. (2021). A ghost in the salt: A new species of halotolerant tube-web spider in the genus Ariadna (Araneae: Segestriidae). Zootaxa, 4952(3), 580-588. Scopus3 WoS3 |
| 2021 | Zephyrarchaea austini: Marsh, J. & Harvey, M. (2021). |
| 2021 | Marsh, J. (2021). Nunciella kangarooensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. |
| 2021 | Metaballus mesopterus: Glatz, R. & Marsh, J. (2021). |
| 2021 | Moggridgea rainbowi: Marsh, J. (2021). |
| 2018 | Marsh, J. R., Baehr, B. C., Glatz, R. V., & Framenau, V. W. (2018). New species of tube web spiders of the genus Ariadna from South Australia (Araneae, Segestriidae). Evolutionary Systematics, 2(2), 137-149. Scopus5 |
| - | Marsh, J. R. (2023). Five new species of mouse spiders in the genus Missulena (Mygalomorphae: Actinopodidae) from national parks and conservation reserves in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Taxonomy, 1-23. |
| - | Marsh, J. R., Harrison, S. E., Wilson, J. D., & Rix, M. G. (2024). A new species of the spiny trapdoor spider genus Blakistonia (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae) from Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Australian Journal of Taxonomy, 59, 1. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Marsh, J. (2024). Caving for Spiders. In H. P. Waudby (Ed.), Wild Science Unexpected Encounters When Working in Nature. CSIRO PUBLISHING. |
| 2023 | Marsh, J., Bal, P., Fraser, H., Greenville, A., Latty, T., Moir, M., . . . Woinarski, J. (2023). Impacts of the 2019-20 wildfires on Australian invertebrates.. In L. Rumpff, S. Legge, S. van Leeuwen, B. Wintle, & J. Woinarski (Eds.), Australia’s megafires: biodiversity impacts and lessons from 2019-2020 (pp. 141-153). CSIRO Publishing. |
| 2023 | Rumpff, L., Legge, S., Marsh, J., Fraser, H., & Woinarski, J. (2023). A precautionary tale: the consequences of, and remedies for, data deficiencies and uncertainty in conservation decisions related to the 2019–20 wildfires.. In L. Rumpff, S. Legge, S. van Leeuwen, B. Wintle, & J. Woinarski (Eds.), Australia's Megafires: Biodiversity Impacts and Lessons from 2019-2020 (pp. 417-429). CSIRO Publishing. |
| 2023 | Bluff, N., Moir, M., Marsh, J., Teixeira, D., Gray, J., Rumpff, L., . . . Woinarski, J. (2023). Of grief, spirit & hope; personal reflections of the 2019–20 wildfires.. In L. Rumpff, S. Legge, S. van Leeuwen, B. Wintle, & J. Woinarski (Eds.), Australia’s 2019-20 megafires: biodiversity impacts and lessons for the future. CSIRO Publishing. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Bal, P., Ogilvie, J., Foon, J. -K., Wenk, E., Yang, S., & Marsh, J. (2023). InverTraits: a curated trait database for Australian invertebrates. DOI |
Marsh, J.M., Woods, J., Beasley-Hall, P.B. & Cooper, S.J.B. (2025-2028). A fragile window into the past: informing conservation of cave biodiversity with ancient invertebrate DNA, The Hermon Slade Foundation ($82,000, Chief Investigator)
Marsh, J.M., Woods, J., Beasley-Hall, P.B., Harvey, M.S., Rix, M.G., Deharveng, L. & Cooper, S.J.B. (2025-2028). Conserving caves: Developing tools to safeguard subterranean biodiversity, Australian Research Council ($467,691, Chief Investigator)
Marsh, J.M (2025-2028). Conserving caves: Developing tools to safeguard subterranean biodiversity, Australian Speleological Federation, ($15,000, Chief Investigator)
Marsh, J.M. (2025-2028). Taxonomy and systematics of the Australian tube-web spiders (Segestriidae). ABRS Postdoctoral Fellowship. ($300,000, Chief Investigator). DECLINED due to acceptance of ARC Industry Fellowship
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Diet and ecology of mammal species on the Nullarbor Plain using ancient and historic scats. | Master of Philosophy | Master | Full Time | Miss Demelza Elizabeth Metha |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Cave Rights for Troglobites: Sequencing the Past to Secure the Future with modern DNA Technologies | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Andrew James Stempel |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Cave Rights for Troglobites: Sequencing the Past to Secure the Future with modern DNA Technologies | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Andrew James Stempel |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Diet and ecology of mammal species on the Nullarbor Plain using ancient and historic scats. | Master of Philosophy | Master | Full Time | Miss Demelza Elizabeth Metha |
| Date | Role | Board name | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 - ongoing | Council | Biodiversity Council | Biodiversity Council | Australia |
| 2023 - ongoing | Member | Invertebrate Conservation Committee | Australian Entomological Society | Australia |
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Co-Chair | Australia Species Specialist Group | International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Species Survival Commission | Australia |
| Date | Role | Editorial Board Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Associate Editor | Insect Conservation and Diversity | Royal Entomological Society | Australia |
| Date | Engagement Type | Partner Name |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Collaboration | Invertebrates Australia |
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