Professor Hugh Possingham FAA FNAS FRS is a Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science and is actively involved in conservation policy and advocacy.

He was previously a Professor of Mathematics, Zoology and held ARC Professorial, Laureate and Federation Fellowships in the Department of Mathematics and the School of the Environment. His has championed the application of operations research to conservation biology globally, including co-developing the spatial planning tool Marxan. Possingham was the Queensland Chief Scientist from 2020 to 2022, where he provided high-level strategic research and innovation advice to the Queensland Government and acted as an ambassador for science in Queensland. He is a foreign associate of the USA National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Hugh likes counting birds.