Rate My Professor Michael Douglas

Professor Michael Douglas is a Professor in the UWA School of Agriculture and Environment. He completed his honours in freshwater ecology and earned a PhD from Monash University in 1991 on the effects of catchment fire management on intermittent streams. Early in his career, he worked as a researcher and producer on natural history documentaries at ABC Television from 1989 to 1991. From 1995 to 2005, he lectured in ecology and environmental science at Charles Darwin University (CDU). Since 2006, he has been Director of the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) consortium; from 2011, Director of the National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Northern Australia Hub; and since 2016, Hub Leader of the National Environmental Science Program’s (NESP) Northern Australian Environmental Resources Hub, while holding positions at UWA and as University Professorial Fellow at CDU. He serves on the Kakadu Board of Management and chairs the Kakadu Research Advisory Committee, among other government committees.

Douglas’s research focuses on the ecology and management of tropical ecosystems, examining the effects of catchment practices such as fire, weed, forestry, and water management on freshwater ecosystems in northern Australia, including tropical rivers, floodplains, riparian zones, aquatic invertebrate, fish, and plant communities, and food webs. He also studies the ecology and management of exotic grasses like Gamba grass in savanna ecosystems and integrates Indigenous knowledge with Western science. His collaborative work with universities, CSIRO, governments, and Traditional Owners has influenced water planning in NT and QLD, environmental flows, invasive species frameworks adopted by NT Government, and management plans for Kakadu National Park. Awards include the 2023 UWA School of Agriculture and Environment Senior Research Award, 2020 Best Collaboration in NRM and Research in NRM Awards, 2014 Territory Natural Resource Management Research Award, 2013 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Research Performance (CDU), 2012 Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, 2009 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence (CDU), and 2005 Biosecure Australia Award. He has produced 155 research outputs, including 'Ecosystem accounting through first nations’ lenses: Integrating the SEEA-EA and Indigenous knowledge systems' (2026, AMBIO), 'Mapping resilience: A framework for analysing surface-water dynamics' (2026, Journal of Hydrology), and 'How Can We Improve If We Don't Measure? Evaluation of Riparian Revegetation Projects' (2026, Ecological Management & Restoration).