Rate My Professor Eric Nordberg

Dr. Eric Nordberg is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Ecology and Landscape Management in the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England. He earned a BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Pennsylvania State University in 2010, an MSc in Biology from Middle Tennessee State University in 2013, and a PhD in Ecology from James Cook University in 2018. His research examines the impacts of environmental disturbance and land-use change on wildlife communities, with a focus on reptiles. Nordberg leads the Reptile Ecology and Environmental Disturbance (REED) lab, investigating topics such as spatial ecology of timber rattlesnakes, effects of feral pigs on turtles, and strategies integrating cattle grazing with wildlife conservation. He heads the UNE Renewable Energy Hub, coordinates the ERS BSc Honours course, serves as staff representative for the UNE Zoology Society, and acts as the wildlife representative on the UNE Animal Ethics Working Group. Nordberg has supervised work-integrated learning internships, minor projects, Honours, MSc, and PhD students.

Nordberg has secured significant research funding, including $392,700 from the NESP Landscape Hub for ecology and conservation of the Christmas Island giant gecko (2023), $249,203 from the Queensland Department of Environment and Science for linking flow and freshwater turtle movement (2023), and $114,286 from Northern Tablelands Local Land Services for securing wild populations of Bell's turtle (2023). His awards include the Dean’s Early/Mid-Career Research Excellence Award from the University of New England (2023), the 3 R's Animal Ethics Award (2023), the Mike Bull Award for Early Career Nature Scientists from the Nature Foundation (2020), and the James Cook University Early Career Researcher Open Access Champion (2020). Key publications include 'The influence of fence design on the movement patterns of eastern long-necked turtles' (Dowling et al., Journal of Wildlife Management, 2024), 'Creating wildlife habitat using artificial structures: a review of their efficacy and potential use in solar farms' (Boscarino-Gaetano et al., Biological Reviews, 2024), 'Seasonal and diel basking patterns in a tropical turtle' (Kidman et al., Journal of Thermal Biology, 2024), and 'Nocturnal basking in freshwater turtles: a global assessment' (McKnight et al., Global Ecology and Conservation, 2023).