#PhDChat
Before Billy started a PhD on quolls in the Pilbara, he was taking short contracts to complete biodiversity surveys out bush in classic Darwin formal attire; singlet, shorts and thongs – minus the thongs. Hence, it’s no surprise he ended up acclimatising to the slow and steady lifestyle that the Territory offers. CDU popped up on Billy’s radar when he first showed interest in a project focusing on arboreal mammals in the NT, but was beaten to the punch by another keen individual. Luckily, right around the corner was another project focusing on Northern Quolls, his “favourite kind of animal since [he was] a small child”. His steady optimistic attitude has gotten him through conducting remote fieldwork in the Pilbara region of Western Australia under the watchful eye of Rio Tinto.
CATS AND QUOLL-ITY ASSURANCE Despite the lack of cane toads in the Pilbara region (which are contributing to the decline of quolls across Queensland and the Northern Territory), the Northern Quoll population was still declining. It indicated that their “decline was most likely linked to changed fire regimes and the expansion and increase of feral cats” in the region. Feral cats kill millions of native fauna every night and are one of the biggest impacts on biodiversity in Australia. With the opportunity to discover whether we could manage cats in an open, expansive area, Billy teamed up with the Department of Conservation, Parks and Tourism of Western Australia and Rio Tinto to determine whether poison baiting could be used to control cats. The major problem was going to be whether the carnivorous Northern Quolls would also take the bait and wind up even more threatened. Due to the fad that we will most likely never be able to completely eradicate cats from mainland Australia, the question is whether quolls can persist with feral cats hunting across the landscape.
ISLANDS, FENCES OR MANAGEMENT? Feral cats have been successfully eradicated from smaller coastal islands around Australia, with the biodiversity improving over the years after cats were removed. This has lead conservationists and environmentalists to believe that in the future threatened species will only exist on “cat-free” islands or within “predator-proof” sanctuaries on the mainland. A.K.A a fence. But Billy believes otherwise; “After the first year of baiting we saw an 80% drop in the feral cat population and quolls have increased in our treatment area which is a positive sign that it can benefit quolls and possibly other species too”. If baiting continues to work in areas like the Pilbara that are certainly beyond the black stump, it means similar programs could be employed in semi-arid Australia’s woop woop to control cats. Billy’s work shows that if we can control or suppress cat populations to lower densities, that populations of species like the Northern Quoll will potentially be able to persist into the future with our help. He says, “fences are good for insurance populations, but it’s a short-term solution and they have the potential to drain money from dealing with landscape threats such as feral cats, invasive species, and habitat destruction. It just detracts from the main issues”. These landscape issues often seem too large and impossible to deal with, but science like Billy’s shows that we do have the potential to manage Australia’s outback with a bit “more money and more experimental science”.
PPE OF PHD The greatest challenge has not been the constant forty degree conditions of the bush or the continual flat tyres the corrugated roads produce, but has been the strict OH&S policies of Rio Tinto. Billy was bogged in piles of paperwork, audits and OH&S training for six months before he could set foot in the Pilbara region and then he was able to bog his vehicle anyway. Despite their different outlooks on correct PPE (personal protective equipment) and whether a shirt with holes is technically wearable, “it’s been good [working] with them”, he says, and overall, they’re working together to “improve management practices of threatened species” in areas where there may seem to be opposing land uses. Despite the challenges, he just can’t help going back; “I feel very lucky to be able to do what I do because I love where I work, I love being out there, I love quolls, I just love being out in the bush.”
“Just finishing a PhD would be a huge personal accomplishment…it’s a roller coaster but the peaks are a lot higher than the troughs…but I’m an optimist”, he laughs. Though everyone’s roller coaster is different and it’s a long ride, moments like going back into the field and reconnecting with his study species and the rocky landscape of the Pilbara allows him to step back and take a broader view. Sometimes the joy in research is just “chilling out in a nice waterhole [at the end of the day] watching the sunset and the whole range light up in red and orange hues.”
Cara Penton is also a PhD student at CDU studying tree-rats and possums on Melville Island. If you are undertaking your PhD here at CDU and would like to be part of #PhDChat, please reach out to Flycatcher to celebrate the individual research efforts of our students.
