Rate My Professor Michelle Hession

Dr Michelle Hession is a researcher at the University of Newcastle, listed in the university's researcher directory and affiliated with the School of Environmental and Life Sciences in the Faculty of Science. Her research contributions focus on the conservation of threatened amphibian species, particularly the endangered green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea), addressing challenges such as population dynamics, habitat selection, and disease impacts from chytridiomycosis caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

Dr Hession is a co-investigator on the long-term research project 'Landscape and population dynamics of Kooragang and Ash Island bell frogs,' funded by Port Waratah Coal Services Limited from 2010 to 2024. Led by Professor Matthew Hayward, the project team comprises Associate Professor John Clulow, Dr Colin McHenry, Dr Alex Callen, Dr Simon Clulow, Dr Michelle Hession, and Professor Emeritus Michael Mahony. She has also been part of project teams supported by Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG). Dr Hession has co-authored multiple conference presentations on amphibian research, including 'Monitoring monitoring: Predicting calling activity to maximize detection in the vulnerable frog Litoria aurea' (2012 World Congress of Herpetology), 'Growth, survival, uncertainty and the impact on viability of a remnant population of a threatened frog' (2012 World Congress of Herpetology), 'Chytrid management scenarios from models of host population dynamics: Costs vs benefits' (2012 World Congress of Herpetology), 'The role of overwintering habitat on the body temperature of an endangered amphibian (Litoria aurea) and its effect on a pathogenic fungus' (Australian Society of Herpetologists Conference Abstracts, 2010), and contributions to studies like those by Klop-Toker et al. (2013) on habitat comparisons and population studies. Her involvement supports key conservation strategies for amphibian recovery in Australia.