Rate My Professor Hannah Franklin

Dr. Hannah Franklin is a Lecturer in the Environmental Sustainability and Management group within the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University, where she also serves as a Research Fellow at the Australian Rivers Institute. She earned her PhD in Ecology from Lincoln University, New Zealand, between 2011 and 2014, with a thesis titled 'The Interaction of New Zealand Native Plants with Nitrogen in Canterbury’s Agricultural Landscapes.' Prior to this, she obtained a Master's Degree in Ecology from the University of Canterbury. Her research specializes in freshwater biogeochemistry, riparian nutrient removal, sediment nutrient fluxes, nitrogen cycling, and restoration ecology. Franklin investigates natural river processes for water treatment, including how riparian plants manage nitrogen, sediment trapping by natural features, and nature-based solutions to improve water quality in catchments supplying the Great Barrier Reef and drinking water sources. Her work explores nutrient dynamics in ecosystems, effects of terrestrial dissolved organic matter on algal blooms, and denitrification in tropical floodplain wetlands.

Franklin's career at Griffith University began around 2016 as a Research Associate and progressed to her current roles. She has received the Advance Queensland Fellowship in 2020 to study natural river processes treating water in Queensland, and the Griffith University New Researcher Grant in 2017. Key publications include 'Plants for nitrogen management in riparian zones: A proposed trait-based framework to select effective species' (2019), 'Nitrogen removal by tropical floodplain wetlands through denitrification' (2019), 'A novel bioassay to assess phytoplankton responses to soil-derived particulate nutrients' (2018, Science of the Total Environment), 'Comparison of DET, DGT and conventional porewater extractions for determining nutrient profiles and cycling in stream sediments' (2019), 'Leaf litter additions enhance stream metabolism, denitrification, and restoration prospects for agricultural catchments' (2017), and 'Effects of terrestrial dissolved organic matter on a bloom of the toxic cyanobacteria, Raphidiopsis raciborskii' (2022). Her research has garnered approximately 380 citations, contributing to practical applications in environmental remediation and sustainable water management. As a lecturer, she contributes to teaching in environmental science courses.