Rate My Professor Sarah Mika

Dr. Sarah Mika serves as Senior Lecturer in Aquatic Ecology within the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England (UNE), where she leads the Aquatic Ecology and Restoration Research Group (AERRG). A UNE alumna, she completed a Bachelor of Natural Resources externally, initially focusing on geography and planning, before pursuing an Honours project investigating the role of invertebrates in estuarine foodwebs and a doctorate on restoring surface-groundwater connections to improve river function. Following her PhD, she joined AERRG as a freshwater ecologist and advanced to her current senior lectureship position, contributing to UNE's ecosystem management efforts over more than a decade. Her academic career includes prior roles such as Senior Research Fellow at UNE and involvement in projects assessing river and estuarine conditions, such as the Nambucca Ecohealth Project (2018).

Mika's research centers on applying scientific principles to manage freshwater and estuarine ecosystems, with key interests in river restoration, environmental water allocation, catchment health, fine sediment impacts on aquatic life, hyporheic processes, and biogeochemical cycling in rivers. Her work spans wetlands, lagoons, regulated floodplain rivers in the northern Murray-Darling Basin, and unregulated coastal systems in eastern Australia, emphasizing aquatic species ecology, ecosystem metabolism, food web dynamics, monitoring programs for ecological condition, and restoration project evaluations. Notable publications include co-authorship on 'Ecology and management of the hyporheic zone: stream–groundwater interactions' (Freshwater Science, 2010), 'Inside the black box of river restoration: using catchment history to identify disturbance and response mechanisms' (Ecology and Society, 2010), 'Effects of inundation on water quality and invertebrates in semi-arid floodplain wetlands' (Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 2022), and 'The effects of hydrology on macroinvertebrate traits in river channel habitats' (2022), alongside reports like 'Long-term intervention monitoring in the Gwydir River selected area' (2022). With over 380 citations on Google Scholar, her contributions influence waterway management practices through collaborations with communities, industry, and government agencies. Mika teaches units including Aquatic Ecology (ECOL308), Catchment Science and Management (EM402), and Environment in Practice I (ENSC111), and serves on UNE's eResearch Committee while leading workshops on healthy waterways.