Christopher R. Dickman

Ecologist Christopher Dickman is Professor in Terrestrial Ecology in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and co-director of the Desert Ecology Research Group at the University of Sydney. The major focus of his research is the investigation of factors that influence the distribution and abundance of terrestrial vertebrates, especially marsupials.

Dickman's pioneering research shows that competition, predation and indirect interactions have more profound and pervasive effects on mammalian population dynamics than previously thought, and has transformed thinking about how these interactions can be harnessed in programs of threatened species conservation and pest control. 

Dickman carries out his research in a wide range of overseas and Australian environments, including forest, woodland, heathland, urban, alpine and arid desert habitats, and on offshore islands. His primary focus has been to elucidate, by observation and field experiment, the factors that regulate vertebrate diversity in arid Australia. Research on the exceptionally rich communities of small mammals, birds and lizards of this vast region provides an opportunity to contribute to theoretical debate about the importance of biotic and physical processes in shaping population and species dynamics, and especially to achieve practical conservation and management goals.

Dickman has been elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, and the Zoological Society of India in recognition of his research.