Annabel Dorrestein, PhD 2023, Christmas Island Flying-fox ecology

Annabel Dorrestein completed her PhD in 2023 at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, studying the social organisation of the critically endangered Christmas Island flying-fox (CIFF; Pteropus melanotus natalis). Her project focused on observing and describing the social interactions and structure of the CIFF, and determining what the underlying social ecological pressures and individual benefits are. Annabel got her Bachelor of Science from Utrecht University where a study on the impact of ecotourism on mammalian abundance in Peru sparked her interest in conservation. She got her Master of Science in Environmental Biology from Utrecht University, where she studied regeneration of tropical forest in Suriname, and the impact of yellow crazy ants on CIFFs.

Supervisors: Dr Justin Welbergen (Western Sydney University), Dr Karrie Rose (Australian Registry of Wildlife Health), AProf. David Phalen (University of Sydney), Dr John Martin (Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney), Dr David Westcott (CSIRO)

To learn more about Annabel, take a look at her extended profile on the Animal Ecology Lab website www.animalecologylab.org/annabel-dorrestein.html