Jana Stewart

Project: Restoring ecosystem function in drylands from the ground up: understanding abiotic and biotic interactions in drylands soil ecology

Supervised by: Dr Miriam Muñoz-Rojas, Prof Richard Kingsford

Project Description: My research aims to understand soil ecology in drylands using soil microbes as indicators of function. I combine field experiments and genetic tools to investigate interactions between soil, plants, invertebrates, mammals and microbes to compare how stress from biodiversity loss and climate change impacts drylands. The outcomes of this can be applied to improve restoration and monitoring in drylands.

My field sites are split between Fowlers Gap Arid Research Station and Wild Deserts.

I acknowledge the Wilyakali, Wongkumara, and Malyangaba people of the Barkindji Nation on whose land my research takes place.