Dr Nick Whiterod
Grant-Funded Researcher (C)
School of Biological Sciences
College of Science
I am an experienced Freshwater Ecologist whose research and conservation work spans southern Australia, with a particular focus on often-neglected, threatened freshwater species.
I divide my time between my research role and scientific leadership as the Science Program Manager for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLMM) Research Centre, where I help guide research that informs the management of one of Australia's most significant and ecologically important freshwater-estuarine systems.
I also contribute my expertise to a range of scientific and conservation committees. I currently serve as Chair of the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, providing independent scientific advice on fisheries and aquatic conservation matters.
My research is applied, multidisciplinary, and strongly conservation-oriented, encompassing invasive species, ecological disturbance (including altered flow regimes, blackwater events, logging and bushfire), ecological responses to restoration and environmental flow management, population genetics, population modelling, spatial and temporal ecology, reintroduction ecology, and bioenergetics. I am currently leading a research project focusing on reassessing the impacts of carp virus release on Australia’s environmental assets.
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Austin, C. M., Ahyong, S. T., Miller, A., Raadik, T. A., Lintermans, M., McCormack, R., . . . Whiterod, N. S. (2026). A Prickly Problem: Genome Skimming Reveals Varying Levels of Phylogenetic Diversity in the Freshwater Crayfish Euastacus armatus Complex (Parastacidae) With Implications for Taxonomy and Conservation. Ecology and Evolution, 16(4), 14 pages. |
| 2025 | Lintermans, M., Lutz, M., Whiterod, N. S., Gruber, B., Hammer, M. P., Kennard, M. J., . . . Chapple, D. G. (2025). Corrigendum to “Troubled waters in the land down under: Pervasive threats and high extinction risks demand urgent conservation actions to protect Australia's native freshwater fishes” [Biol. Conserv. 300 (2024), 110843] (Biological Conservation (2024) 300, (S0006320724004051), (10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110843)). Biological Conservation, 302, 2 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. Scopus5 WoS6 Europe PMC2 |
| 2025 | Ward, M., Maron, M., Simmonds, J. S., Lintermans, M., Whiterod, N. S., Chapple, D. G., . . . Watson, J. E. M. (2025). Half of the habitat of Australia's highly imperilled narrow-range species is outside protected areas. Biological Conservation, 308, 111195-1-111195-11. Scopus8 WoS7 |
| 2025 | Lutz, M. L., Chapple, D. G., Grace, M. K., Beheregaray, L. B., Brauer, C. J., Ellis, I., . . . Walsh, J. C. (2025). Assessing recovery and conservation of Australian freshwater fishes with the IUCN Green Status of Species and structured expert elicitation. Conservation Biology, 39(6), e70160-1-e70160-16. Europe PMC1 |
| 2025 | McKnight, D. T., Bower, D. S., Ariel, E., Beatty, S., Clulow, S., Connell, M., . . . Van Dyke, J. U. (2025). Does a lack of juveniles indicate a threat? Understanding body size distributions in a group of long-lived vertebrates. Journal of Animal Ecology, 94(10), 1962-1982. Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC2 |
| 2024 | Lintermans, M., Lutz, M., Whiterod, N. S., Gruber, B., Hammer, M. P., Kennard, M. J., . . . Chapple, D. G. (2024). Troubled waters in the land down under: Pervasive threats and high extinction risks demand urgent conservation actions to protect Australia's native freshwater fishes. Biological Conservation, 300, 11 pages. Scopus17 WoS11 |
| 2024 | Hammer, M. P., Whiterod, N. S., Grandjean, F., Tromp, J. J., Horner, S. K., & Austin, C. M. (2024). Rediscovery, systematics and conservation of an enigmatic freshwater crayfish (Parastacidae) from the Australian monsoon tropics. Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 34(6), 17 pages. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2024 | McCormack, R. B., & Whiterod, N. S. (2024). Biology, distribution, and conservation of the Gamilaroi crayfish Euastacus gamilaroi Morgan, 1997 (Decapoda: Astacidea: Parastacidae), a freshwater crayfish from New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 44(1), 14 pages. Scopus3 WoS2 |
| 2024 | McCormack, R. B., & Whiterod, N. S. (2024). Biology, distribution and conservation of a dwarf-group crayfish, Euastacus spinichelatus Morgan, 1997 (Decapoda: Astacidea: Parastacidae), a freshwater crayfish from the Great Dividing Range, New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 44(1), 13 pages. Scopus4 |
| 2024 | Ion, M. C., Bloomer, C. C., Bărăscu, T. I., Oficialdegui, F. J., Shoobs, N. F., Williams, B. W., . . . Pârvulescu, L. (2024). World of Crayfish™: a web platform towards real-time global mapping of freshwater crayfish and their pathogens. Peerj, 12(10), 31 pages. Scopus35 WoS36 |
| 2023 | Ensbey, M., Legge, S., Jolly, C. J., Garnett, S. T., Gallagher, R. V., Lintermans, M., . . . Zukowski, S. (2023). Animal population decline and recovery after severe fire: Relating ecological and life history traits with expert estimates of population impacts from the Australian 2019-20 megafires. Biological Conservation, 283, 16 pages. Scopus34 WoS32 |
| 2022 | Marshall, I. R., Brauer, C. J., Wedderburn, S. D., Whiterod, N. S., Hammer, M. P., Barnes, T. C., . . . Beheregaray, L. B. (2022). Longitudinal monitoring of neutral and adaptive genomic diversity in a reintroduction. Conservation Biology, 36(4), e13889-1-e13889-12. Scopus17 WoS17 Europe PMC14 |
| 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. Scopus16 WoS16 |
| 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. Scopus80 WoS87 |
| 2022 | Legge, S., Rumpff, L., Woinarski, J. C. Z., Whiterod, N. S., Ward, M., Southwell, D. G., . . . Zukowski, S. (2022). The conservation impacts of ecological disturbance: Time-bound estimates of population loss and recovery for fauna affected by the 2019–2020 Australian megafires. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31(10), 2085-2104. Scopus104 WoS99 |
| 2021 | Wedderburn, S. D., Whiterod, N. S., & Vilizzi, L. (2021). Occupancy modelling confirms the first extirpation of a freshwater fish from one of the world's largest river systems. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 32(2), 258-268. Scopus6 WoS6 |
| 2021 | Whiterod, N. S., Brown, L., Bachmann, M., Farrington, L., & Vilizzi, L. (2021). Long and lasting: spatial patterns and temporal trends in a fish community responding to landscape-scale hydrological restoration of a coastal freshwater wetland complex. Landscape Ecology, 36(5), 1511-1532. Scopus7 WoS7 |
| 2020 | Wedderburn, S. D., Whiterod, N. S., Barnes, T. C., & Shiel, R. J. (2020). Ecological aspects related to reintroductions to avert the extirpation of a freshwater fish from a large floodplain river. Aquatic Ecology, 54(1), 281-294. Scopus6 WoS6 |
| 2020 | Thiele, S., Adams, M., Hammer, M., Wedderburn, S., Whiterod, N. S., Unmack, P. J., . . . Beheregaray, L. B. (2020). Range-wide population genetics study informs on conservation translocations and reintroductions for the endangered Murray hardyhead (Craterocephalus fluviatilis). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 30(10), 1959-1974. Scopus4 WoS4 |
| 2020 | Whiterod, N. S., Hammer, M. P., Barnes, T. C., Tucker, M., Adams, M., & Raadik, T. A. (2020). Clear as mud: the ecology and conservation of a secretive wetland fish (Neochanna cleaveri:Galaxiidae) in a heavily altered landscape. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 28(5), 779-795. Scopus2 WoS2 |
| 2020 | Whiterod, N. S., Todd, C. R., Zukowski, S., Raymond, S. M. C., Asmus, M., & Todd, M. J. (2020). A population model provides support for management decisions, enables ongoing research and reinforces strong partnerships to manage a threatened freshwater crayfish. Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 30(9), 1836-1840. Scopus2 WoS2 |
| 2019 | Whiterod, N. S., & Zukowski, S. (2019). It’s not there, but it could be: a renewed case for reintroduction of a keystone species into the Lower River Murray. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 143(1), 51-66. Scopus5 WoS5 |
| 2018 | Garcia Diaz, P., Kerezsy, A., Unmack, P., Lintermans, M., Beatty, S., Butler, G., . . . Duncan, R. (2018). Transport pathways shape the biogeography of alien freshwater fishes in Australia. Diversity and Distributions, 24(10), 1405-1415. Scopus32 WoS32 |
| 2018 | Todd, C. R., Whiterod, N., Raymond, S. M. C., Zukowski, S., Asmus, M., & Todd, M. J. (2018). Integrating fishing and conservation in a risk framework: A stochastic population model to guide the proactive management of a threatened freshwater crayfish. Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 28(4), 954-968. Scopus15 WoS15 |
| 2018 | Whiterod, N. S., Meredith, S. N., Humphries, P., Sherman, B. S., Koehn, J. D., Watts, R. J., . . . Ryan, T. (2018). Flow alteration and thermal pollution depress modelled growth rates of an iconic riverine fish, the Murray cod Maccullochella peelii. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 27(3), 686-698. Scopus16 WoS16 |
| 2018 | Whiterod, N. S., Zukowski, S., Asmus, M., Todd, C. R., & Gwinn, D. C. (2018). Take the long way home: Minimal recovery in a K-selected freshwater crayfish impacted by significant population loss. Ecological Indicators, 89, 622-630. Scopus15 WoS15 |
| 2018 | Zukowski, S., Asmus, M., Whiterod, N., Conallin, A., Campbell, J., Fisher, I., & Bright, T. (2018). Collaborating with recreational fishers to inform fisheries management: Estimating population abundance for an iconic freshwater crayfish. Ecological Management and Restoration, 19(1), 85-88. Scopus6 |
| 2017 | Wedderburn, S., Hammer, M., Bice, C., Lloyd, L., Whiterod, N., & Zampatti, B. (2017). Flow regulation simplifies a lowland fish assemblage in the Lower River Murray, South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 141(2), 169-192. Scopus17 WoS16 |
| 2017 | Whiterod, N. S., Hammer, M., & Vilizzi, L. (2017). Linking the recruitment and survivorship of a freshwater stream-specialist fish species to flow metrics in Mediterranean climate temporary streams. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 62(16), 2614-2630. Scopus6 WoS6 |
| 2017 | Whiterod, N. S., Zukowski, S., Asmus, M., Gilligan, D., & Miller, A. D. (2017). Genetic analyses reveal limited dispersal and recovery potential in the large freshwater crayfish Euastacus armatus from the southern Murray-Darling Basin. Marine and Freshwater Research, 68(2), 213-225. Scopus18 WoS18 |
| 2015 | Hammer, M., Goodman, T., Adams, M., Faulks, L., Unmack, P., Whiterod, N., . . . Wright, S. (2015). Regional extinction, rediscovery and rescue of a freshwater fish from a highly modified environment: The need for rapid response. Biological Conservation, 192, 91-100. Scopus17 WoS16 |
| 2015 | Whiterod, N. S., Hammer, M. P., & Vilizzi, L. (2015). Spatial and temporal variability in fish community structure in Mediterranean climate temporary streams. Fundamental and Applied Limnology, 187(2), 135-150. Scopus20 WoS18 |
| 2015 | Whiterod, N. S., Sweeney, O. F., & Hammer, M. P. (2015). Assessing the status of a disjunct population of the endangered crayfish Euastacus bispinosus in a karst rising-spring habitat in southern Australia. Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 25(5), 459-468. Scopus4 WoS4 |
| 2015 | Ellis, I., Whiterod, N., Linklater, D., Bogenhuber, D., Brown, P., & Gilligan, D. (2015). Spangled perch (Leiopotherapon unicolor) in the southern Murray-Darling Basin: Flood dispersal and short-term persistence outside its core range. Austral Ecology, 40(5), 591-600. Scopus4 WoS4 |
| 2014 | Miller, A. D., Sweeney, O. F., Whiterod, N. S., Van Rooyen, A. R., Hammer, M., & Weeks, A. R. (2014). Critically low levels of genetic diversity in fragmented populations of the endangered Glenelg spiny freshwater crayfish Euastacus bispinosus. Endangered Species Research, 25(1), 43-55. Scopus12 WoS10 |
| 2014 | Mccarthy, B., Zukowski, S., Whiterod, N., Vilizzi, L., Beesley, L., & King, A. (2014). Hypoxic blackwater event severely impacts Murray crayfish (Euastacus armatus) populations in the Murray River, Australia. Austral Ecology, 39(5), 491-500. Scopus47 WoS43 |
| 2013 | Hammer, M., Bice, C., Hall, A., Frears, A., Watt, A., Whiterod, N., . . . Zampatti, B. (2013). Freshwater fish conservation in the face of critical water shortages in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research, 64(9), 807-821. Scopus75 WoS76 |
| 2013 | Whiterod, N. S., Meredith, S. N., & Humphries, P. (2013). Refining the activity component of a juvenile fish bioenergetics model to account for swimming costs. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology, 46(4), 201-210. Scopus6 WoS6 |
| 2013 | Whiterod, N., & Sherman, B. (2013). Environmental Gradients Along a Lowland Weir Pool in the Southern Murray-Darling Basin, Australia (vol 28, pg 1680, 2012). RIVER RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS, 29(9), 1205. |
| 2013 | Miller, A. D., Van Rooyen, A., Sweeney, O. F., Whiterod, N. S., & Weeks, A. R. (2013). The development of 10 novel polymorphic microsatellite markers through next generation sequencing and a preliminary population genetic analysis for the endangered Glenelg spiny crayfish, Euastacus bispinosus. Molecular Biology Reports, 40(7), 4415-4419. Scopus11 WoS10 Europe PMC5 |
| 2013 | Whiterod, N. S. (2013). The swimming capacity of juvenile Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii): An ambush predator endemic to the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 22(1), 117-126. Scopus11 WoS11 |
| 2012 | Whiterod, N., & Sherman, B. (2012). Environmental gradients along a lowland weir pool in the southern murray-darling basin, australia. River Research and Applications, 28(10), 1680-1694. Scopus6 WoS6 |
| 2010 | Whiterod, N. S. (2010). Calibration of a rapid non-lethal method to measure energetic status of a freshwater fish (Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii peelii). Marine and Freshwater Research, 61(5), 527-531. Scopus4 WoS5 |
| 2009 | Zukowski, S., & Whiterod, N. (2009). Notes & summaries: Water quality, nutrient, phytoplankton and microcrustacean responses to watering of private wetlands in the Murray Valley, New South Wales. Ecological Management and Restoration, 10(2), 145-148. |
| 2006 | Whiterod, N., & Walker, K. (2006). Will rising salinity in the Murray-Darling Basin affect common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)?. Marine and Freshwater Research, 57(8), 817-823. Scopus20 WoS16 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Whiterod, N. S., Lintermans, M., Cramp, R. L., Franklin, C. E., Kennard, M. J., McCormack, R., . . . Zukowski, S. (2023). The impact of the 2019-20 Australian wildfires on aquatic systems. In L. Rumpff, S. M. Legge, S. VanLeeuwen, B. A. Wintle, & J. C. Z. Woinarski (Eds.), AUSTRALIA'S MEGAFIRES (pp. 59-77). CSIRO PUBLISHING. WoS4 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Zukowski, S., Whiterod, N. S., & Watts, R. J. (2013). Comparing Murray crayfish (Euastacus armatus) population parameters between recreationally fished and non-fished areas. In Freshwater Crayfish Vol. 19 (pp. 153-160). DOI Scopus3 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Miller, A. D., Brown, L., Whiterod, N., Rizzari, J., Barnes, T. C., Morrongiello, J., & Lieschke, J. A. (2026). Complex patterns of biological connectivity highlight risks of local depletion in an Australian fishery. DOI |
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Chair | NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee | NSW DPIRD | Australia |
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