Dr Leo Joseph
Director, Australian National Wildlife Collection
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Contact details:
CANBERRA ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA
Biography
Leo joined CSIRO as Director of the Australian National Wildlife Collection in November 2005. Originally from Adelaide, he developed an early but lifelong interest in the evolution of birds, one that still guides his work today. He did his undergraduate and Honours degrees at the University of Adelaide in 1977-79 and 1981. Then he worked in Australia and travelled in South America until doing his PhD at the University of Queensland from 1989-1994 under the supervision of Dr Craig Moritz. For his thesis, he investigated the history of habitat diversity in eastern Australian rainforest birds. Then, from 1994-97, he held a Visiting Professorship in the Laboratorio de Evolución, Faculdad de Ciencias, Montevideo, Uruguay where he worked with Dr Enrique Lessa. In Uruguay, he developed interests in the evolution of migration. This work typified his interest in integrating ecological diversity and evolution. In 1997 he took up a position in the Department of Ornithology at the then Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in the USA. From 2003, he was Chair of the Department but returned to Australia in 2005. In his current position, Leo has developed an extensive and growing network of collaborators. These have ranged from fellow researchers in Australia, Europe and North America including postdoctoral researchers, PhD students and Honours students. He has amassed a body of work on the phylogeography and more recent evolutionary history of Australo-Papuan birds. Most recently, his program has extended into understanding the genomic basis of adaptation in birds. He was awarded the D. L. Serventy Medal for Publication in Australian Ornithology in 2018. In 2020 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Ornithological Societies.
Professional Areas
Fields of Research
Current Roles
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Director, 2005 - present
Australian National Wildlife Collection
Academic Qualifications
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1979
Bachelor of Science
University of Adelaide -
1981
Bachelor of Science (Honours)
University of Adelaide -
1994
PhD
University of Queensland
Professional Experiences
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2015-2023
Group Leader, Vertebrate Collections
National Research Collections Australia -
1997-2005
Chair and Assistant Curator
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, USA -
1994-1997
Visiting Professor
Faculdad de Ciencias, Montevideo, Uruguay
Achievements and Awards
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2009
Whitley Award, Best Australian Natural History Book (shared)
Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales -
1975-2018
Serventy Medal for Publication in Australian Ornithology
Birdlife Australia -
2020-ongoing
Fellow
American Ornithological Society -
2015-ongoing
Honorary Life Member
South Australian Ornithological Association
Other highlights
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2007-2019
Invited plenary speaker, Australasian Ornithological Conference, 2007, 2015, 2019
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1997-2005
Curator, Chair, Department of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia USA
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2005-ongoing
Director, Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO, Canberra
Community and Corporate Citizenship
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2015-2023
Group Leader, Vertebrate Collections, CSIRO National Research Collections Australia
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2008-2018
Member, Council of the Heads of Australian Faunal Collections
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2015-2018
Chair, Council of the Heads of Australian Faunal Collections
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2019-2020
Associate Editor, Journal of Biogeography
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2009-2012
Associate Editor, The Auk
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2005-ongoing
Associate Editor, Emu - Austral Ornithology
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2013-ongoing
Member, Night Parrot Recovery Team
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2016-2018
Assessor, CSIRO Research+ Postdoctoral Scheme
Related links
Publications
We have publications by Dr Leo Joseph