One of the issues incursion managers face is determining when and where a pest outbreak may occur. John's PhD investigated the use of satellite imaging to determine the suitability and susceptibility of vegetation ('greenness') and to see if we could correlate this with historic presence and abundance of pests.

John is a senior research scientist for the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources focusing on invasive pests.

The projects he is involved in now include: Evaluating the efficiency of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance of pests (a PBCRC project) Surveillance strategies for long distance natural wind dispersal of plant pests into Australia (a PBCRC project) Modelling the spread of pests and determining preferred control strategies - using agent based models. Prioritising weed management activities in wetlands.