John Gould

John Gould is a conservation biologist in the School of Environmental and Life Sciences.

His research explores the population dynamics of threatened Australian amphibians and the application of management strategies to reduce extinction risk. This has resulted in publications exploring a variety of key threatening processes such as emerging infectious diseases and introduced fish, as well as management approaches such as habitat construction and exclusion fencing.

John’s PhD focused on the reproductive behaviour of an Australian ground frog (Lechriodus), including the adaptive benefits of communal spawning and the complex effects of conspecifics on oviposition site selection. This research has shed light onto the behaviour of this poorly known species and has potential to assist in the conservation of other amphibians that are specialised for breeding in highly ephemeral waterbodies.

John’s research in conservation is closely linked to animal behaviour and the natural history, as this basic understanding of species and the ecological context in which they exist can help improve the efficacy of applied management. This has led to several discoveries of unknown or poorly described behaviours and species interactions in the wild across amphibians and invertebrates.