Rate My Professor Zhenhua Hao

Zhenhua Hao is an Adjunct Associate Lecturer and Adjunct Fellow in the School of Science at UNSW Canberra, University of New South Wales. She holds a PhD in Physics from UNSW Canberra, awarded in 2016. Her doctoral thesis, titled "Testing ideas about Australian insect migration using entomological radar observations and a regional scale meteorological model," investigated the characteristics of migratory locusts and moths in Australia by integrating radar observations with meteorological simulations and mathematical models. Her research specializations encompass the development of entomological radars and analysis methods for entomological radar data; quantitative analytics on long-term insect monitoring radar data combined with meteorological models such as TAPM to study flight characteristics and seasonal patterns of migratory insects in the atmospheric boundary layer; and the biometeorology of insect migration along with insect behaviors leading to favorable migration outcomes. Prior to her current positions, Hao worked on the European Research Council-funded project "Hunting for the exclusive 'sixth' sense: navigation and magnetic sensation in a nocturnal migratory moth," focusing on the flight characteristics of long-distance migration in bogong moths. She also participated in an ARC Linkage project using models and structured decision making to improve management of invasive willows in alpine Victoria, particularly developing mesoscale models for willow seed dispersion.

Hao has co-authored numerous key publications advancing insect migration research and ecological applications. These include "Monitoring insect numbers and biodiversity with a vertical-beam entomological radar" (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2024, with V.A. Drake and H. Wang), "Spatial prioritization for widespread invasive species control: Trade-offs between current impact and future spread" (Ecological Applications, 2024, with S. Carter et al.), "Heading variations resolve the heading-direction ambiguity in vertical-beam radar observations of insect migration" (International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2021, with V.A. Drake and E. Warrant), "Insect target classes discerned from entomological radar data" (Remote Sensing, 2020), "Resolving the heading-direction ambiguity in vertical-beam radar observations of migrating insects" (Ecology and Evolution, 2019), "Locust displacing winds in eastern Australia reassessed with observations from an insect monitoring radar" (International Journal of Biometeorology, 2017), and "Investigating wind effects on insect migration" (ANZIAM Journal, 2014). Her work contributes to improved monitoring techniques and management strategies for migratory insects and invasive species.