Nicki Mitchell

I completed a BSc with first class honours in Zoology at the University of Tasmania in 1996, and a PhD in Environmental Physiology at The University of Adelaide in 2001. For the next couple of years I was a research fellow at Victoria University of Wellington, funded by The Royal Society of London, and afterwards spent periods at Colorado State University, the Australian National University and La Trobe University before moving to UWA in 2005 on an ARC postdoctoral fellowship. I transitioned to a teaching and research role in 2009, and since 2023 I have had two half time roles - Deputy Director of UWA's Oceans Institute and Professor in Conservation Biology. My research is interdisciplinary but has a grounding in physiological ecology and a strong focus on conservation and climate change. I mostly study threatened vertebrates and aim to understand their capacity to persist through rapid environmental change. Development of modelling approaches and decision tools that can inform conservation initiatives are a major interest. I have long-term research programs on assisted colonisation (conservation translocations that aim to mitigate impacts of climate change), on sex determination and survival in reptiles (especially sea turtles), and on the biology and conservation of terrestrial-breeding frog species, and their vulnerability to drying climates. These interests extend to ecosystems such as peatlands, and I co-lead a trandisplinary project '<a href="https://www.peatproject.com.au/">PEAT Southwest'</a> in the south west of Australia.

Animal taxa threatened by adverse fire regimes in Western Australia: a synthesis and outlook (Feb 2026) Food, Glorious Food! Energy budget and reproductive potential of critically endangered leatherback turtles explored with mechanistic modeling (Mar 2026) An application of finite element analysis predicts unique temperatures and fates for flatback sea turtle embryos (Dec 2025) Contrasting population declines and drivers of ecological refuge for two range-restricted amphibians (Feb 2025) Dancing with the devil: Could native predators inside ‘predator-free’ havens be good for the conservation of threatened native prey species? (Mar 2025) Additional file 7 of Identifying the most effective behavioural assays and predator cues for quantifying anti-predator responses in mammals: a systematic r