Emma Dale

Supervisors: Sarah Knowles and Tim Coulson

Australia’s native marsupial carnivores are under increasing threat from interspecific competition with invasive placental carnivores. Understanding these interactions may be key to preserving long-term ecosystem sustainability across the country. This is at the centre of an ongoing debate amongst ecologists and conservationists, regarding native vs invasive species management. These interactions are exacerbated by the ever-changing climate, which is further marginalising native carnivores into narrower niches. Within my DPhil I will investigate the interactions between two mice species (Wood Mice Apodemus sylvaticus and yellow-necked mice Apodemus flavicollis) as model organisms to explore how the climate impacts niche partitioning in two wild mice.

I graduated from Griffith University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Ecology. After graduating I completed an honours thesis assessing the usefulness of Lepidoptera as an ecological model to monitor climatic shifts.

I have long had an interest in carnivores, however. I began my conservation journey with the red panda in Nepal. I currently direct a small NGO that financially support students to undertake Red Panda-related research projects across Nepal.

Prior to starting at Oxford I was a park ranger in Tasmania, where I hope my research here will have positive applications. Especially in the ongoing concerns regarding feral cat-native carnivore conflict nationwide.