Rate My Professor Ewen Silvester

Professor Ewen Silvester is a Professor in the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment at La Trobe University, affiliated with the Department of Environment and Genetics and the Department of Ecological, Plant and Animal Sciences. An environmental geochemist, he focuses on biogeochemical processes in rivers, wetlands, and alpine ecosystems. As Director of the Research Centre for Applied Alpine Ecology, he oversees studies on ecosystem function and condition, particularly in alpine peatlands. He also heads the Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology Group, co-led with Dr. Aleicia Holland, investigating topics such as the ecological consequences of macroinvertebrate community changes and real-time monitoring of contaminants. Previously, Silvester served as Deputy Director of the Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre and Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution.

Silvester's research explores the impacts of historical gold mining on river floodplains, carbon and water dynamics in peat soils, amino acid profiles and proteome changes in aquatic organisms under nutrient stress, and molecular characteristics of dissolved organic matter from peatland streams. His contributions include collaborative projects like Rivers of Gold, examining mining effects on the Yarrowee-Leigh River, and studies on peatland stream biofilm responses to dissolved organic carbon pulses. He has secured funding from the Australian Research Council, including Discovery Project DP240102532 on sensory systems in chordates. With 99 publications listed on ResearchGate and over 3,471 citations, his work demonstrates substantial influence in aquatic biogeochemistry. Notable publications encompass 'Structure of synthetic monoclinic Na-rich birnessite and hexagonal birnessite: I. Results from X-ray diffraction and selected-area electron diffraction' (1997, 469 citations), 'Structure of synthetic monoclinic Na-rich birnessite and hexagonal birnessite: II. Results from chemical studies and EXAFS spectroscopy' (1997, 360 citations), 'Structural mechanism of Co2+ oxidation by the phyllomanganate buserite' (1997, 327 citations), 'Legacy effects of historical gold mining on floodplains of an Australian river' (2024), and 'Peatland carbon chemistry, amino acids and protein degradation potential along a hillslope' (2024). Silvester contributes to teaching in ecological plant and animal sciences.