Dr Matt Baber Research Director, Lecturer
Matt is a conservation biologist who has recently returned from the US to take up the position of Research Director at EcoQuest. He has a BS in Zoology from Otago University, Dunedin; an MS (Hons) in Biological Sciences from Auckland University, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the International University of Florida, Miami (2001).
Matt has research experience with both terrestrial and aquatic systems, and has worked with invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. For his masters, he studied the behavioural ecology of the takahe (Notornis mantelli), a critically endangered flightless bird, on Tiritiri Matangi Island. In 1996, Matt moved to Florida to pursue his Ph.D. He engaged in research on pond-breeding amphibians in the greater Everglades region.
During his Ph.D., Matt was fortunate to be part of a 3-month biological expedition to inventory the reptiles and amphibians of British Guyana, South America. After completing his Ph.D., Matt took up a postdoctoral position at the University of New Hampshire. His primary focus at UNH was to manage a large research project examining conservation strategies for amphibians in industrial forest landscapes. Matt has taught amphibian ecology and conservation biology at both graduate and undergraduate levels. At EcoQuest, Matt is responsible for coordinating EcoQuest research activities and the Directed Research Projects for students. Matt lectures on ecology and conservation biology; he leads field exercises, and supervises Directed Research Projects.