Dr Dan Metcalfe
Deputy Director
Contact details:
- +61738335529
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GPO BOX 2583
BRISBANE QLD 4001 AUSTRALIA
Biography
Dr Metcalfe is currently the Deputy Director for CSIRO Land and Water, with key responsibilities for strategy, capability and facilities. Land & Water comprises around 500 research staff across 20 sites in all States and Territories. The business unit has foci around water resource management, environmental contaminants, management of landscapes and ecosystems, and human systems and adaptation.
Dr Metcalfe is a landscape ecologist specialising in tropical and sub-tropical ecology and ecophysiology, and the sustainable management of natural landscapes. He was awarded a PhD from the University of Cambridge for work in the tropics of South-east Asia, and has also worked across southern and eastern Africa and Australasia. He has spent over two decades working in Queensland’s rainforests on subjects including the dynamics of old-growth forest, seed dispersal, impact and recovery from natural perturbations (fire, disease, cyclones), seed dispersal, weed invasion and management. He has worked on fire management and its impact on natural systems in the rainforests and savannahs of northern and eastern Australia, and southern Africa, and as a landscape ecologist he has contributed to the development of monitoring and assessment protocols related to sustainable mining, water abstraction and agricultural development, and provided advice and conducted assessments and reviews for state and territory governments and the national governments of Australia and New Zealand.
Dr Metcalfe has spent the past seven years in predominantly research management roles supporting environmental research and impact across Australia. He is a member of Minister Ley’s Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel, was author of the Land theme in the 2016 State of the Environment Report, and has held multiple board and advisory committee positions.
Professional Areas
- 2020, Member, Wildlife & Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel, Department of Agriculture, Water & the Environment
- 2019- , Member, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) Advisory Board
- 2019- , Member, Standards & Accreditation Committee, Accounting for Nature
- 2015- , Member, NESP Northern Australia Hub Science Advisory Committee
- 2018, Member, Assessment Panel, Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, New Zealand Government’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
- 2016, Lead author of the 'Land' thematic report in the Australian Government's 5th State of the Environment Report
- 2015-2018, Adjunct Associate Professor, James Cook University, School of Marine & Tropical Biology, Queensland, Australia
- 2015-2018, Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
- 2017-2018, Member, Goyder Institute for Water Research Science Board
Current Roles
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Deputy Director
CSIRO Land & Water
Academic Qualifications
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2017
Certificate in Executive Management and Development
University of New South Wales -
2009
Company Directors Course Diploma
Australian Institute of Company Directors -
2000
Post-graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Higher Education)
University of Brighton, UK -
1994
PhD Plant ecology & ecophysiology
University of Cambridge (Magdalene College) -
1991
University of Bristol
BSc (Hons) Botany
Professional Experiences
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2017-2018
Acting Deputy Director (Science)
CSIRO Land & Water -
2014-2018
Manager, Office of Indigenous Engagement
CSIRO
Achievements and Awards
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2018--
Chairman’s Medal as a member of the Bioregional Assessment Project team
CSIRO
Community and Corporate Citizenship
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2011--
Tropical Biology Association mentor scheme
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2013-2015
Scientists in Schools: Coorparoo State Primary School
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2012-2013
Scientists in Schools: Atherton State High School
