Professor David Eldridge
Centre for Ecosystem Science
School of Biological Earth and Environmental Science
University of NSW
Sydney NSW 2052
Telephone: + (61) 2 9385 2194
Fax: + (61) 2 9385 1558
Email: d.eldridge@unsw.edu.au
Research Interests
My research aims to understand how arid and semi-arid ecosystems function; specifically the relationships between plants, animals and soil processes. This work is necessarily multi-disciplinary, and covers the broad areas of rangeland ecology, ecosystem engineering (the effects of organisms on soil processes), soil biology, soil chemistry, restoration ecology and microbiology. The focus of my research is on the semi-arid woodlands of eastern Australia, and I have long-term research interests in west-central Idaho and the Chihuahuan Desert in the western United States.
I am a Senior Principal Research Scientist with the Department Planning, Industry and Environment so my research is of an applied nature. Many of my students undertake honours projects that address priority areas such as rabbit invasion and woody shrub encroachment. A number of these students have gone on to find employment within the Department.