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• Bennelongia Pty Ltd
• PO Box 384, Wembley WA 6913
• Australia
• Phone: +61 (8) 9285 8722
• Fax: +61 (8) 9285 8811
• Email: info@bennelongia.com.au

our people

Stuart Halse  (Managing Director)
Email: stuart.halse@bennelongia.com.au

Stuart Halse has a B. Sc. in Zoology from the University of Western Australia and a Ph. D. from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Stuart worked for the Department of Environment and Conservation from 1985 until 2007and has undertaken research into most aspects of wetland ecology, including stygofauna, and has provided policy and management advice to government on subterranean fauna and the biota of wetlands and rivers, as well as general wetland assessment anmd protection issues.

Experience includes

• Setting up AusRivAS in WA to assess river condition throughout the State
• Managing DEC’s Pilbara Biological Survey of stygofauna and many other regional inventories
• Describing many new species of aquatic invertebrate and undertaking waterbird population censuses
• Preparing nominations of the first 9 Ramsar wetlands in WA
• Advising DEC on selection and management of Natural Diversity Recovery Catchments in the wheatbelt
• Advising DEC and EPA on technical adequacy of EIS for aquatic ecosystems and their biota, including stygofauna
• Contributing to Strategic Plans for most NRM regions in WA
• Current membership of the WA Wetlands Coordinating Committee and Research Associate of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
  

Mike Scanlon  (Project Director)
Email: mike.scanlon@bennelongia.com.au

Mike Scanlon has a B. Sc. (Hons) in Biology from Curtin University and worked for the Department of Conservation from 1992 until 2006, when he joined Outback Ecology as a Senior Biologist.
Mike has been involved in AusRivAS monitoring throughout WA, macroinvertebrate identification and surveying stygofauna and troglofauna, especially in the Pilbara.

Experience includes

• Organising and undertaking field survey throughout WA on mining leases and pastoral properties
• Developing stygofauna and troglofauna sampling protocols in the Pilbara
• Building and running AusRivAs models and training staff in river assessment
• Aquatic macroinvertebrate, troglofauna and stygofauna identification, with particular experience in mites, oligochaetes and syncarids
• GIS analysis and mapping

Jane McRae  (Science Director)
Email: jane.mcrae@bennelongia.com.au

Jane McRae worked at the Australian Museum prior to joining the Department of Environment and Conservation from 1995 to 2007. Jane has been involved in regional surveys of aquatic invertebrates in rivers and wetlands and identification of troglofauna and stygofauna. She has wide experience identifying both macro- and microinvertebrates and has co-authored papers describing new species of copepods, ostracods, polychaetes and beetles. She is currently involved in the production of a pictorial guide to rotifers of WA.

Experience includes

• Sampling aquatic invertebrates in wetlands, rivers and groundwater throughout WA
• Species identification of all types of aquatic invertebrates, stygofauna and troglofauna
• Invertebrate photography, scientific illustration and taxonomy of many major invertebrate groups

Jim Cocking  (Project Director)
Email: jim.cocking@bennelongia.com.au

Jim Cocking has a B Sc and Graduate Diploma from Curtin University and worked for the Department of Environment and Conservation from 1994 to 2007. Jim has been involved in AusRivAS monitoring, macroinvertebrate identification and the survey and identification of troglofauna and stygofauna, especially amphipods, in the Pilbara.

Experience includes

• Organising and undertaking field survey throughout WA on mining leases and pastoral properties
• Profiling water chemistry of bores and taking footage of stygofauna and troglofauna with downhole video
• Building and running AusRivAs models
• Aquatic macroinvertebrate, troglofauna and stygofauna identification, with particular experience in amphipods
• GIS analysis and mapping

Grant Pearson  (Project Director)
Email: grant.pearson@bennelongia.com.au

Grant Pearson has an Associate Diploma in Recreation from Edith Cowan University and more than 30 years experience in wetland research and management with the Department of Environment and Conservation. Grant has worked on waterbirds throughout WA and during the last decade has organised extensive surveys of mudflat invertebrates, with a team of international collaborators, at the major sites for migratory shorebirds in northern WA. He has also mapped and assessed wetland vegetation. He was Centre Manager of DEC's Woodvale Research Centre from 1991 to 2007.

Experience includes

• Many publications of waterbirds and mudflat invertebrates
• Organising and undertaking field surveys throughout WA, including trips with up to 30 staff and volunteers
• Monitoring wetland water quality and mapping wetland bathymetry
• Mapping and assessing wetland vegetation

Associates

Russell Shiel 

Russell Shiel is based at the University of Adelaide and is Australia’s foremost expert on rotifers and cladocerans, two of the most abundant groups of aquatic microinvertebrates.

Russell has published widely on the taxonomy and biology of microinvertebrates and has worked with the Bennelongia team for almost 20 years on distribution of aquatic invertebrates in WA.