Visiting researcher: David Duncan (Arthur Rylah Institute, Australia).

David Duncan is a Senior Scientist in Ecology at the Arthur Rylah Insitute for Environmental Research (ARI), part of the state government Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) in Melbourne, Australia. Oddly enough, he has opted to spend two months of annual leave and long-service leave working here with us in Solsona until late November.

The purpose of this collaboration is to strengthen the relations between the CTFC and the ARI and develop new methodologies in applied decision making in the context of biodiversity conservation. In doing so, he hopes to luxuriate in focusing on a single project, and exchange ideas and approaches with our group. 

At ARI, David works closely with policy and investment program managers on quantitative evaluation of ecological impact. Let´s just call it monitoring. Some interesting application contexts that he is currently investigating include Australia´s first outcome-based ecological auction, where landholders will be paid only if they meet agreed ecological performance criteria, and implementing a new peri-urban conservation strategy developed because of the potential impact of Melbourne´s urban expansion on ecological communities and species persistence.  

He is a good friend and collaborator of our recent Melbournian visitors Brendan Wintle and Sarah Bekessy. David speaks english and spanish, both poorly, and understands enough catalán that you shouldn´t ridicule him within earshot. He is always on the lookout for a game of table tennis or badminton (or even padel).