Dr. Chris Walsh
Senior Research Fellow,
Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, and Water Studies Centre, Monash University

Biography
Chris Walsh is a senior research fellow in the Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology at the Water Studies Centre, Monash University, Melbourne. Chris gained his doctorate on the ecology of caridean shrimps in salt wedge estuaries from Deakin University in 1994. As well as having diverse research experience on a range of ecological problems in freshwater, estuarine and marine environments, he has worked as an educator at secondary, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and as a science communicator. After completing his doctorate, Chris worked for a year on environmental flow issues for Victorian government agencies, before joining the CRC for Freshwater Ecology to work on the ecology of streams in urban areas.

His research interests range from the ecology of estuarine and freshwater invertebrates to the nature of changes to catchment processes resulting from human land use and the resulting impacts on the structure and function of stream ecosystems. Chris is currently the leader of a large, integrated Cooperative Research Centre for Fresh Water Ecology project investigating the effects of urban density and infrastructure design on the ecology of small streams in the east of Melbourne. He will soon be the co-leader of a collaborative project with the CRC for Catchment Hydrology extending the current project to a comparison of urban effects on streams of Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. He has published 12 scientific papers, 14 reports and articles, and has delivered over 30 scientific seminars.

Selected Publications
Walsh C. J. 2000. Urban impacts on the ecology of receiving waters: a framework for assessment, conservation and restoration. Hydrobiologia, 431: 107-114

Walsh C. J., Papas P. J., Crowther D., Sim P. T. & Yoo J. 2003. Stormwater drainage pipes as a threat to a stream-dwelling amphipod of conservation significance, Austrogammarus australis, in south-eastern Australia. Biodiversity and Conservation, in press

Walsh C. J., Sharpe A. K., Breen P. F. & Sonneman J. A. 2001. Effects of urbanization on streams of the Melbourne region, Victoria, Australia. I. Benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Freshwater Biology, 46: 535-551

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