Projects

I have a broad range of research interests, broadly focused on using applied and quantitative approaches for better managing and conserving biodiversity in a time of global change. This has spanned topics including fire ecology, spatial conservation planning and prioritisation, ecological forecasting, invasive species management and ecosystem modelling. While I am always open to new avenues of research, my current research brings together two related threads:

1. Impacts and management of compounding threats and disturbances

Biodiversity is under increasing pressure from a diverse range of threats and pressures which will only worsen under climate change. Our research is motivated by identifying how species and ecological communities are shaped by interacting threats, disturbances (e.g. fire, drought) and ecological processes (e.g. predation, herbivory), and how this knowledge can be used to improve conservation outcomes for species and ecosystems. We have projects at the local-sale (e.g. in south-west and south-eastern Australia) and the continental-scale exploring this topic.

Key papers:

• Geary, W. L., Tulloch, A. I. T., Ritchie, E. G., Doherty, T. S., Nimmo, D. G., Maxwell, M. A., & Wayne, A. F. (2023). ‘Identifying historical and future global change drivers that place species recovery at risk’. Global Change Biology

• Geary, W.L., Nimmo, D.G., Doherty, T.S., Ritchie, E.G. & Tulloch, A.I.T. 2019 ‘Threat Webs: re-framing the co-occurrence and interactions of threats to biodiversity.’ Journal of Applied Ecology

2. Quantifying the biodiversity impacts of financial activities

One of the greatest drivers of pressures on biodiversity is global economic activity. We’re interested in better understanding the scale, location and intensity of these impacts to inform nature-friendly business practices and investment activities.

• Hickman, S., Cantele, M., Balogh, A., Dyndo, M., Willetts, J., Morgain, R., Geary, W. and Wintle, B., 2025. Making money talk nicely: Biodiversity impact assessment for investors. SSRN Preprint

• Balogh, A., Bekessy, S., Burgman, M., Geary, W., Karakaş, O., Layman, H., Tonetto, A. and Wintle, B., 2025. Flora, Fauna, and Finance: Assessing Biodiversity Risk in Investment Portfolios. SSRN Preprint

3. Development and application of quantitative decision-support approaches and tools

Stemming from my experience working in Government, we also focus on the development and application of quantitative decision-support tools. We do this by bringing together spatial conservation planning tools, expert elicitation and decision-science to help managers make sense of complex ecological decisions.

Key papers:

• Geary, W.L., Bode, M., Doherty, T.S., Fulton, E.A., Nimmo, D.G., Tulloch, A.I.T, Tulloch, V.J.D. & Ritchie, E.G. 2020 ‘A guide to ecosystem models and their environmental applications.’ Nature Ecology & Evolution

• Geary, W.L., Buchan, A., Allen, T., Attard, D., Bruce, M.J., Collins, L., Ecker, T.E., Fairman, T.A., Hollings, T., Loeffler, E., Muscatello, A., Parkes, D., Thomson, J., White, M. & Kelly, E. 2021 ‘Responding to the biodiversity impacts of a megafire: a case study from south-eastern Australia’s Black Summer.’ Diversity & Distributions