Our People
The School of Biological Sciences has a dedicated team of academic, research and professional staff, all strongly committed to enhancing our students’ learning experience and collaborating with our external partners.
Professor Bronwyn Gillanders
Head of School, Biological Sciences
Professor Bronwyn Gillanders joined the University of Adelaide in 2001 as an ARC Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow before taking leadership roles as Deputy Executive Dean from 2022-2023 and Deputy Dean, Research, in 2019-2020 and 2022-2023.
Bronwyn is a member of the Environment Institute and is a globally recognised oceans scientist whose research is critical to sustainable management of commercial fisheries and protection of coastal environments.
In 2023 Professor Gillanders was elected to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
Professor Gillanders has pioneered transformative techniques in marine management and conservation, including using fish ear bones and trace chemicals to understand fish populations. She has undertaken seminal work on cephalopods and her efforts have led to the protection of the only known breeding aggregation of cuttlefish in the world. Professor Gillanders also led the Spencer Gulf Ecosystem Development Initiative, considered an outstanding case study in marine management achieving sound outcomes for both gulf users and the environment.
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Deputy Head of School
Professor Frank Grutzner
Professor Frank Grützner received his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin in 2001. In the same year he moved to the Australian National University where he led and international team that resolved the longstanding controversy about the complex sex chromosome system in the platypus.
For the past 20 years he has been instrumental in establishing monotremes as a key species for research in comparative genomics and mammalian evolution.
In 2005 Frank joined the University of Adelaide and has since established an award-winning community-based research project on echidna conversation – EchidnaCSI. He has worked in the field of comparative genome biology in many different species and published extensively in leading international journals including Nature, Nature Genetics and Science. Professor Grützner has won several awards for his research including the Eppendorf Medal for the Young Australian Investigator (2005) and the Tall Poppy Science Award (2007/8) and SA Science Excellence awards in Citizen Science (2021). His research has been supported by competitive ARC research fellowships and grants since 2003.
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Associate heads
Dr Danny Wilson
Associate Head, Research
Dr Michelle Coulson
Associate Head, Learning and Teaching
Associate Professor Bastien Llamas
Associate Head, People and Culture
Dr Stephen Kidd
Associate Head, International
Dr Kimberley McLean
Associate Head, Outreach
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Discipline leads
Associate Professor Jeremy Austin
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Professor Michael Beard
Molecular and Biomedical Science
Associate Professor Ben Sparrow
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
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School contacts
Administration:
- Tel: +61 8 8313 5352
- Email: sbs@adelaide.edu.au