Professional experience

PhD Program Manager | Feb 2020  – present
Soil CRC

About the Soil CRC
The Soil CRC is part of the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres (‘CRC’) Program. It brings together scientists, industry and farmers to find practical solutions for Australia’s underperforming soils, which currently cost Australian farmers billions of dollars in lost revenue each year.

About my role
As the PhD Program Manager for the Soil CRC, I’m responsible for creating and delivering our PhD Program and supporting our cohort of Soil CRC PhD students.

Lead researcher and consultant | 2018 – 2019
Rochedale State School, Brisbane

Project: Research and Restoration at Rochedale

Project overview
In this project students will be coached through an applied scientific research project on habitat restoration, including project design, implementation, evaluation, and communication of results. This will be delivered within a framework of normalising science and challenging stereotypes including the gender of scientists and the broad spectrum of topics covered under “science”. Camera traps will be used to monitor wildlife numbers throughout the project, including in nesting boxes. Students will use these images for a student blog to update the school community and interested locals, and to evaluate project success.

As the lead researcher I engaged stakeholders, designed the project, and obtained Engaging Science Grants funding under the State Government’s Engaging Queenslanders in Science Strategy. However, given the high level of engagement of the deputy principals and their intricate knowledge of their staff and students, I happily handed over control of the project to the admin team and stepped back into a consulting role.

Project outputs

  • $9,500 Queensland Government grant
  • $4,000 matched funding from a local conservation group (Bulimba Creek B4C)
  • Updates in the school newsletter
  • Information to help increase community awareness of the health & wellbeing benefits of connecting with nature, and tips/resource sharing to encourage conservation activities (such as DIY habitat tripods)

Upcoming project outputs

  • Restoration of degraded farmland bordering the school

Postgraduate Research Student | Doctor of Philosophy (2014 – 2019)
School of Environment and Science, Griffith University

Project: The Conservation Actions and Outcomes of Ecotourism Enterprises

Project overview
My PhD was a multidisciplinary project examining 58 tangible conservation items for over 80 eco-certified ecotourism sites through both ecological and social mechanisms.

My results show that these sites are making important contributions to conservation goals, as outlined in national State of the Environment reports, national conservation policy, and international agreements. However, greater collaboration between the ecotourism, research, and government sectors could enhance this contribution.

Project outputs

  • Wardle, C., Buckley, R., Shakeela, A., and Castley, J.G. (2018). Ecotourism’s contributions to conservation: analysing patterns in published studies. Journal of Ecotourism (Journal of Ecotourism)
  • Wardle, C. (2018). Conservation contributions of Ecotourism Australia’s certified operators: preliminary findings. Report submitted to Ecotourism Australia
  • Blog-newspaper post: “Why I love my PhD“, published online by the Thesis Whisperer
  • Conference presentation: “The Conservation Contributions of Ecotourism in Australia: how far we’ve come, and where to from here” at the 2018 Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference in Townsville, Australia (joint academic and industry conference)
  • Conference presentation: “Evaluating the Conservation Contributions of Ecotourism” at the 2017 Interdisciplinary Tourism Research Conference in Cartagena, Spain (academic conference)
  • Conference presentation: “Conservation and wildlife tourism research: What’s been done? Where to from here?” at the 2015 Wildlife Tourism Australia Conference in Melbourne, Australia (industry conference)

Upcoming project outputs

  • Four journal articles in prep

Assistant and Member of Expert Panel (2019)
The Australian Committee for IUCN (ACIUCN)

Project: 2019 Science Informing Policy Symposium

Established in 2011, ACIUCN’s Science Informing Policy Symposiums are high-level, two-day events that engage leading experts on national conservation priorities to help inform key environmental policy.

The 2019 Symposium, Healthy People in a Healthy Environment focused on the critical link between human health and social well-being, and the environment.

My role with the symposium involved assisting the Director of ACIUCN with event management leading up to, and during, the symposium.

Project: Key Directions Statement for the 2019 Science Informing Policy Symposium

ACIUCN produce a Key Directions Statement through each symposium that documents the key policy ideas, cases studies and recommendations presented at and emerging out of the symposium. This publication is circulated to senior leaders nationally, regionally and internationally.

I was a member of the expert panel responsible for creating the 2019 Key Directions Statement (published 2020) to help progress both policy and action that contribute to achieving positive human and environmental health outcomes across Australia.

Project coordinator | part-time contract (2018 – 2019)
Queensland Universities Consortium, Brisbane

Project: HDR* Experience and Employability Project

Project overview:

This project focused on enhancing the HDR* experience and graduate employability across the eight Queensland-based universities. My work on this project involved researching, designing, implementing, coordinating, and evaluating all aspects of the project and project outputs.

Project outputs:

  • Conference for 60 international HDR students
  • Industry networking event for 100+ people to connect Queensland researchers and HDR students with industry guests, opened by the Honourable Kate Jones MP
  • Report to the graduate research schools at each of the eight Queensland universities on the key needs and requirements of international HDR students in Queensland (based on three surveys of this cohort over several months)
  • Poster for the 2018 International Education and Training Summit
  • Mid-project and final-project reports to Trade and Investment Queensland
  • Report for university partners
  • International HDR Ambassador Network
  • Career-buddy program
  • Series of six employability guides for HDR students
  • Promotional video
  • Career-buddy guide for HDR students

Internship (2017 – 2018)

Science Policy Unit, Australian Academy of Science (AAS), Canberra

About: I completed a three-month science policy internship, one of four AAS internships offered per year.

Project: Science policy projects

Project overview:
My internship project incorporated three smaller projects: (1) an overview of the Australian system of government and policy development, (2) a literature review on the facilitators and barriers of evidence-informed policy, and (3) an analysis of the science policy landscape at a national level.

Using these components as a foundation, I created a Science Policy Handbook as a resource for AAS. Following the use of this resource in employee and intern inductions and its circulation among relevant stakeholders, AAS staff have recommended that it be made publicly available. As such, I’m currently in the process of updating and publishing this handbook as a free resource to: (1) enhance researcher understanding of the policy and governance landscape in Australia; (2) build the research translation capacity of STEM researchers, with a particular focus on early-career researchers (ECRs); and (3) encourage researchers to engage with, and contribute to, policy development.

Project outputs:

  • Science Policy Handbook
  • Internal presentation to the Policy Unit
  • Science Policy presentation on behalf of the Academy to the National Youth Science Forum

Student representative roles | Voluntary positions (2016 – 2018)
Griffith University, Brisbane

About: I was involved with several university committees and working parties responsible for policies, frameworks, feedback, and training for the HDR* and Early Career Researcher (ECR) cohort.

Committees and roles:

  • Deputy Leader in Service and Engagement, Griffith Sciences (GSC) Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Network Committee (2018)

The goal of the GSC-ECR Network is to connect, support, and champion ECRs within GSC and support their professional development. A complementary objective of the committee is to raise the profile of GSC and its members, particularly by highlighting the contributions made by ECRs.

  • HDR* Representative, HDR Development Framework Working Party (2017/18)

The HDR Development Framework Working Party was created within Griffith University to deliver transferable skills development through HDR training, in accordance with the ACOLA Review. This working party feeds into the Griffith University Board of Graduate Research.

  • HDR* Representative, Griffith University Board of Graduate Research (2016/17)

I was elected by the HDR student body of nearly 2,000 students to be their representative on the Board of Graduate Research (BGR), with full voting rights. The BGR is the senior body within the university that deals with matters relating to the HDR Program.

  • HDR* Representative, HDR Candidate Representative Consultative Committee (2016/17)

As the BGR Student Rep I led the HDR Candidate Representative Consultative Committee. This is Griffith’s HDR student representative committee consisting of the Graduate School Dean, the BGR student representative, and approximately 40 student representatives from each of the schools and departments. This committee is the major communication forum between the HDR students and the Griffith Graduate Research School and the Board of Graduate Research.

  • Student Representative | DestinationQ (2015)

I was nominated and selected to represent Griffith University as one of ten Queensland student representatives at the 2015 DestinationQ, a joint Queensland Government and tourism industry initiative.


Project: Griffith HDR* Handbook

Project overview:
During my time as the elected HDR student representative at Griffith University I learnt a lot about the university, the support and resources available to HDR students, the relevant policies and processes, and the various internal systems of governance. I also noticed patterns in the issues most commonly discussed by HDR students, and that many problems stemmed from a lack of knowledge of the appropriate processes and protocol.

To address this, I conceptually mapped out the entire university structure, bodies, and policies relating to the HDR space at Griffith University and summarised this as an easy-to-use handbook and series of FAQs. The purpose of this is to assist Griffith’s almost 2,000 HDR students to understand university processes; identify support for a variety of issues including professional, personal and medical; and increase awareness of the entitlements for, and requirements of, all HDR students. Following consultations with HDR students and staff from the Griffith Graduate Research School, it has now been adopted into the university’s HDR resources.

Project outputs:

  • Griffith HDR Handbook


Project: HDR Student Representative roles

Project overview:
I created a role statement for the HDR Department Student Representatives at Griffith University as well as guidelines and Terms of Reference for the HDR Representative Consultative Committee (described above). I initiated this policy project due to concerns that some HDR Department Reps were being pushed beyond a reasonable workload for a voluntary position, while others weren’t active in their roles. I based this policy on data collected through (1) surveys and conversations with the Department HDR Reps documenting the extent and frequency of their tasks and their understanding of the role, (2) consultations with both the Graduate School and BGR regarding their view and expectations of the HDR Department Reps and the Committee, and (3) feedback from relevant stakeholders on the draft policies.

Project outputs:

  • Role statement for the HDR Department Reps
  • Guidelines for the HDR Representative Consultative Committee
  • Terms of Reference for the HDR Representative Consultative Committee


Project: Focus areas for the Griffith Sciences (GSC) Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Network Committee

Project overview:
I surveyed the GSC-ECR cohort to identify support requirements, concerns, and examples of best-practices to inform the agenda and priorities of the GSC-ECR Network Committee.

Project outputs:

  • Internal report to the ECR Network Committee


Research Assistant (RA) | full-time (2010 – Apr 2014) | casual (May 2014 – 2017)
International Centre for Ecotourism Research (ICER), Griffith University, Gold Coast
Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT), Griffith University, Gold Coast

About: I was the RA for both the Director of ICER and the Director of GIFT. Due to a funding distribution change, the RA position under ICER was shifted to GIFT in January 2014 for 4 months before I left to begin my PhD. I continued to undertake short term research contracts for the Director of GIFT throughout much of my PhD candidature.

Project: Tourism Planning in Natural World Heritage Sites

Project overview:
This project focused on the extent of tourism planning in natural and mixed World Heritage sites. In addition to a general assessment of planning in the 229 World Heritage areas, this study involved an in-depth analysis of English and Spanish-language tourism management plans and strategies via targeted content analysis. The focus was on visitor number monitoring and measurement of economic impact, and how plans address important elements of sustainable tourism management identified by UNESCO.

Project outputs:

Project: Gold Coast Tourism Industry Reports

Project overview:
The Gold Coast Tourism Industry Reports were a bi-annual series of reports produced for the Gold Coast tourism industry and general public as a reliable source of tourism intelligence.

These reports were commissioned by the Gold Coast Tourism Corporation and the City of Gold Coast, and prepared independently by the Griffith Institute for Tourism. They provided a consistent collation and analysis of macro and micro tourism statistics, research and trends.

Project outputs:

Project: Population Viability Analysis (PVA) and Threatened Species Management

Project overview:
Population Viability Analysis (PVA) is a tool used to assess the extinction risk of wildlife populations. It is frequently used in decision-making regarding the species, populations or habitats prioritised for conservation efforts based on urgency, biodiversity benefits, recovery potential, cost of interventions, and economic value of resource. It is therefore critical that PVA models can be replicated to ensure decisions are defensible, impacts can be evaluated, and interventions or new threats can be incorporated into the models.

This project evaluated the repeatability and reproducibility of a subset of 90 PVA models previously published between 2000 and 2012. We found that only 50% were both repeatable and reproducible, with 40% failing one or both requirements, and 10% lacking sufficient data for comparisons. This was not linked to taxa, IUCN category, PVA program version used, year published or the quality of publication outlet, suggesting that the problem is systemic within the discipline. The implications for conservation triage may be far reaching if population viability models cannot be reproduced with confidence, thus undermining their intended value.

Project outputs:

Project: Environment and visitor management in a thousand protected areas in China

Project overview:
We surveyed park managers of 1,110 protected areas across China to assess their environmental and visitor management practices. Using over 600 individual statistical tests, we found that both environmental and visitor management practices are more intensive for larger and older protected areas with higher visitation numbers and larger budgets. A number of parks receive >100,000 visitors per day and have adopted large-scale infrastructure approaches which successfully minimise impacts and maintain conservation values, as confirmed by on-site audits. Key conservation concerns include off-park air and water pollution sources in some regions, and sale of items including threatened species in 7% of parks.

Project outputs:

*Higher Degree Research (HDR) refers to all PhD and Masters (by research) students. At Griffith University, the HDR cohort is made up of almost 2,000 students.