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Dr Matthew W. Rees
Research Scientist, CSIRO
matt.rees@csiro.au

I am a quantitative and applied ecologist, researching the best approaches for nature conservation and pest management. I work closely with conservation, biosecurity and agricultural stakeholders to address real-world problems and improve actions on the ground. Typically, I make sense of messy datasets to model species population dynamics, evaluate management actions and improve monitoring designs. Rather than a single study species or system, I am passionate about robust and reproducible science; equally content surveying wild animals as coding complex statistical models. Based in Canberra, Australia, a current focus of my work is developing near-term forecasts for outbreak risk of house mouse populations — a major socioeconomic and environmental threat to rural Australia. I serve on the Executive Committee of the Queensland Conservation Council during my spare time, which provides a united voice for environmental community groups across the state.

Interests

  • Conservation, biosecurity, agriculture
  • Ecological statistics and data science
  • Invasive species and population ecology
  • Near-term ecological forecasting

Academia

University of Melbourne
2017 - 2022
Ph.D. Quantitative Ecology
Queensland University of Technology
2013 - 2016
B.Sc. (Hons) Environmental Science

Publications

Body-part-based individual feral cat identification from camera trap images using deep learning, 2025, Ecological Informatics
RRS Akbar , MW Rees , PA Fleming , F Sohel
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National Vertebrate Pests and Weeds Distribution Project: Inferring the distribution of invasive alien species in Australia from disparate data sources, 2025, Final report prepared for the Federal Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Brisbane: CSIRO
JG Froese , S Foster , D Peel , MW Rees , S Parsons , K Proft , D Mitchell
Large‐scale and long‐term wildlife research and monitoring using camera traps: a continental synthesis, 2025, Biological Reviews
T Bruce , et al.
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Improved surveillance and management options for mice in crops, 2024, Final report prepared for the Grains Research & Development Corporation. Canberra: CSIRO
PR Brown , S Henry , MW Rees
Population density and ranging behaviour of a generalist carnivore varies with human population, 2024, Ecology and Evolution
B Alting , B Pitcher , MW Rees , J Ferrier-Paris , J Neil
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Dynamic shifts in predator diel activity patterns across landscapes and threat levels, 2024, Oikos
MW Rees , BA Wintle , JH Pascoe , M Le Pla , EK Birnbaum , BA Hradsky
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Fox control and fire influence the occurrence of invasive predators and threatened native prey, 2023, Biological Invasions
MW Rees , BA Wintle , A Robley , JH Pascoe , M Le Pla , EK Birnbaum , BA Hradsky
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Mesopredator release among invasive predators: Controlling red foxes can increase feral cat density and alter their behaviour, 2023, Journal of Applied Ecology
MW Rees , JH Pascoe , M Le Pla , A Robley , EK Birnbaum , BA Wintle , BA Hradsky
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Modelling feral pig habitat suitability in Queensland to inform disease preparedness and response, 2022, Final report prepared for the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Brisbane: CSIRO
JG Froese , MW Rees , J Murray , C Wilson , M Gentle
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Managing Interacting Invasive Predators for Biodiversity Conservation, 2022, PhD thesis, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences; University of Melbourne
MW Rees
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Genetic sampling and an activity index indicate contrasting outcomes of lethal control for an invasive predator, 2022, Austral Ecology
M Le Pla , EK Birnbaum , MW Rees , BA Hradsky , AR Weeks , A Van Rooyen , JH Pascoe
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Counting the bodies: Estimating the numbers and spatial variation of Australian reptiles, birds and mammals killed by two invasive mesopredators, 2022, Diversity and Distributions
A Stobo-Wilson , BP Murphy , SM Legge , H Caceres‐Escobar , DG Chapple , HM Crawford , SJ Dawson , CR Dickman , TS Doherty , PA Fleming , ST Garnett , M Gentle , TM Newsome , R Palmer , MW Rees , EG Ritchie , J Speed , J Stuart , AF Suarez‐Castro , E Thompson , A Tulloch , J Turpin , JCZ Woinarski
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Compounding and complementary carnivores: Australian bird species eaten by the introduced European red fox Vulpes vulpes and domestic cat Felis catus, 2021, Bird Conservation International
JCZ Woinarski , A Stobo-Wilson , HM Crawford , SJ Dawson , CR Dickman , TS Doherty , PA Fleming , ST Garnett , M Gentle , SM Legge , TM Newsome , R Palmer , MW Rees , EG Ritchie , J Speed , J Stuart , E Thompson , J Turpin , BP Murphy
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A guide to surveying red foxes and feral cats in Australia, 2021, NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub Project 1.1.5 report, Brisbane.
BA Hradsky , HW McGregor , MW Rees , M Le Pla , J Keem , BA Wintle , S Legge
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Sharing meals: predation of Australian mammals by the introduced European red fox compounds and complements predation by cats, 2021, Biological Conservation
A Stobo-Wilson , BP Murphy , HM Crawford , SJ Dawson , CR Dickman , TS Doherty , PA Fleming , M Gentle , SM Legge , TM Newsome , R Palmer , MW Rees , EG Ritchie , J Speed , J Stuart , E Thompson , J Turpin , JCZ Woinarski
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Reptiles as food: predation of Australian reptiles by introduced red foxes compounds and complements predation by cats, 2021, Wildlife Research
A Stobo-Wilson , BP Murphy , SM Legge , DG Chapple , HM Crawford , SJ Dawson , CR Dickman , TS Doherty , PA Fleming , M Gentle , TM Newsome , R Palmer , MW Rees , EG Ritchie , J Speed , J Stuart , E Thompson , J Turpin , JCZ Woinarski
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Variation in feral cat density between two large adjacent islands in Australia’s monsoon tropics, 2021, Pacific Conservation Biology
H Davies , Tiwi Land Rangers , MW Rees , D Stokeld , A Miller , G Gillespie , B Murphy
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Rapidly assessing cobenefits to advance threat‐management alliances, 2020, Conservation Biology
MW Rees , J Carwardine , A Reeson , J Firn
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Monitoring and managing critical weight range mammals in the Indigenous Protected Areas of the World Heritage Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, 2020, A report prepared for the Victorian Government, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
MW Rees
Unexpectedly high densities of feral cats in a rugged temperate forest, 2019, Biological Conservation
MW Rees , JH Pascoe , BA Wintle , M Le Pla , EK Birnbaum , BA Hradsky
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