Dr Zoe Aitken and Dr Bronwyn Hradsky awarded ARC Early Career Industry Fellowships

L-R: Dr Zoe Aitken, Melbourne School of Population & Global Health; Dr Bronwyn Hradsky, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences.

Dr Zoe Aitken and Dr Bronwyn Hradsky have been awarded Australian Research Council (ARC) Early Career Industry Fellowships for research on disability statistics, and predator ecology.

Dr Aitken's research aims to solve a difficult disability data challenge, identified as a critical problem by the Australian Government: There is no data infrastructure in Australia to generate life expectancy statistics for people with disability.

Dr Aitken will partner with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on a three-year research project, generating whole of population disability data to monitor progress towards equity.

The research will develop a validated method for producing disability statistics and life expectancy statistics for people with disability, to hep build capacity in disability research and improve the lives of disabled Australians.

Dr Hradsky's research expects to improve the efficacy of introduced predator management, and enhance the capacity of land managers, which will be helpful for conducting best-practice management and substantially advance understanding of predator ecology.

Introduced predators, such as foxes and feral cats, are a key driver of wildlife loss in Australia, and millions of dollars are invested in management annually. Dr Hradsky's project aims to empower land managers to better protect Australia’s native wildlife.

Dr Hradsky will conduct a three-year research project gathering data on predator densities and analysing predator ecology to advance the efficacy of introduced predator management, working with Parks Victoria; Zoos Victoria; Victorian Government Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action; South Australian Government Department for Environment and Water; Kangaroo Island Landscape Board; Northern and Yorke Landscape Board; and Conservation Ecology Centre Pty Ltd.

ARC Early-Career Industry Fellowships help to develop the industry collaboration skills of early-career researchers and supports translating their research impact. The list of 2023 recipients can be found here.