Research Fellow
Risk and integrated assessment for natural resource management and conservation purposes
Phone: +61 2 6125 8132
Fax: + 61 (0)2 6125 0746
E-mail: carmel.pollino@anu.edu.au

Carmel has a Bachelor of Applied Science with honours in Biology 1996 from RMIT University, a PhD in aquatic toxicology 2001 from RMIT University and a Masters in environmental law 2006 from Macquarie University. Before joining ANU as a research fellow in September 2006, Carmel spent 2 years as a postdoctoral fellow at the City University of Hong Kong and four years as a research fellow at Monash University.

Professional Activities

My research interests include the development of risk assessment and integration assessment methods and seeing these implemented for natural resource management and conservation purposes. This has involved activities such as: undertaking participatory processes to identify system values and communicate assessment findings; developing probabilistic models to quantify linkages between management, natural changes and processes, and system values (including identifying key uncertainties, knowledge and data gaps); undertaking capacity-building to improve understanding of models, building of models and adaptive development of models; and having both assessment outcomes and models adopted into future decision-making to better inform and improve natural resource management and conservation. Carmel is currently working on 2 major projects: Landscape Logic (a Commonwealth Environment Research Facility project) and Climate Change in the NSW Central West. Carmel is supervising postgraduate students and teaching a course in Bayesian networks. Carmel also maintains an interest in environmental toxicology.

Selected Publications

Pollino, C.A, White A. and Hart, B.T. 2007. Development and application of a Bayesian decision support tool to assist in the management of an endangered species. Ecological Modelling 201, 37-59

Pollino, C.A., Woodberry, O., Nicholson, A.E., Korb, K.B. and Hart, B.T., 2007. Parameterisation of a Bayesian network for use in ecological risk management. Environmental Modelling & Software 22, 1140-1152

Pollino, C.A., Georgiades, E. and Holdway, D.A. 2007. Use of the Australian crimson-spotted rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis) as a model test species for investigating the effects of endocrine disruptors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 26

Hart, B.T. & Pollino, C.A. (2008) Increased use of Bayesian network models will improve ecological Risk Assessments. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 14, 851-853.

Rosenkrantz, R.T., Pollino, C.A., Nugegoda, D., & Baun, A. (2008) Toxicity of water and sediment from stormwater retarding basins to Hydra hexactinella. Environmental Pollution, In press.