Melodie McGeoch
Melodie McGeoch is a South African ecologist and biodiversity scientist, whose research focuses on the measurement and monitoring of biodiversity, spatial ecology, biological invasions, climate change impacts and the development of biodiversity indicators used in policy and conservation. She has participated in several international biodiversity assessment efforts including the ARC Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future Special Research Initiative. Melodie is a professor of ecology affiliated with Monash University and La Trobe University in Australia. She is a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences.
Education
Melodie completed her B.Sc in botany and entomology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She completed doctoral studies at the University of Pretoria, earning a PhD in 1995 for research on community ecology that examined interactions among Acacia, fungi and insects.Career
After completion of her PhD, she carried out a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Sheffield in the UK. She returned to South Africa, where she held faculty appointments at the University of Pretoria and at Stellenbosch University. Melodie also served as head of the Cape Research Centre of South African National Parks, leading scientific research and application for protected ecosystems in the Cape region.In 2012, she moved to Australia to join the Monash University, where she progressed to become Professor in the School of Biological Sciences. She has also taken on leadership roles including Academic Director, Research Performance in the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Senior Vice-President.
While affiliated with Monash, she has held many significant international and policy-oriented positions: she is Co-Chair of the Species Populations Working Group of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network, Coordinating Lead Author for the IPBES assessment on invasive alien species, and First Vice Chair of the Science Committee of the Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility for the term 2021-2026.
She also holds a position at La Trobe University as an Adjunct Professor.
Awards and recognition
In 2014, Melodie received the Australian Ecology Research Award for her contributions to biodiversity monitoring.She was elected as a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences in 2021.