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Hugh P. Possingham

Hugh P. Possingham

Award Badge
Ecology and Evolution
Australia
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
170
Citations
103644
World Ranking
8
National Ranking
1

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Australia Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Australia Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Australia Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Australia Leader Award
  • 2016 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2013 - Fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA)
  • 2005 - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science

Overview

Hugh P. Possingham is affiliated with the University of Queensland in Australia. Their research primarily focuses on environmental science, with a specialized concentration in global and planetary change, ecology, ecological modeling, management, monitoring, policy and law, and nature and landscape conservation.

Possingham's scholarly work covers a range of topics within environmental science, including species distribution and climate change, conservation, biodiversity, and resource management, wildlife ecology and conservation, land use and ecosystem services, coral and marine ecosystems studies, ecology and vegetation dynamics studies, and economic and environmental valuation.

The scientist has contributed to numerous publications with recent notable papers including:

  • "Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution" (2020, Science)
  • "Protecting the global ocean for biodiversity, food and climate" (2021, Nature)
  • "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity" (2020, Nature Communications)
  • "Impact of 2019-2020 mega-fires on Australian fauna habitat" (2020, Nature Ecology & Evolution)
  • "UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030-What Chance for Success in Restoring Coastal Ecosystems?" (2020, Frontiers in Marine Science)

Frequent collaborators in their research include James Watson, Jennifer McGowan, Michelle Ward, Martine Maron, and Vanessa M. Adams.

Their work has been published in various scientific venues, notably:

  • Conservation Biology
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Conservation Science and Practice
  • One Earth
  • Science

Hugh P. Possingham is recognized by several scientific bodies and awards, having been named a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2016. They are also a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America since 2013 and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science since 2005.

Best Publications

  • Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution.

    Stephanie B. Borrelle;Stephanie B. Borrelle;Stephanie B. Borrelle;Jeremy Ringma;Jeremy Ringma;Kara Lavender Law;Cole C. Monnahan

  • Predicting species distributions for conservation decisions

    A. Guisan;R. Tingley;J. B. Baumgartner;I. Naujokaitis-Lewis

  • Predicting species distributions for conservation decisions

    Antoine Guisan;Reid Tingley;John B. Baumgartner;Ilona Naujokaitis‐Lewis

  • Sixteen years of change in the global terrestrial human footprint and implications for biodiversity conservation

    Oscar Venter;Oscar Venter;Oscar Venter;Eric W. Sanderson;Ainhoa Magrach;Ainhoa Magrach;James R. Allan

  • Recruitment dynamics in complex life cycles

    Jonathan Roughgarden;Steven Gaines;Hugh Possingham

  • Assisted colonization and rapid climate change.

    Ove Hoegh-Guldberg;Laura Hughes;Sue McIntyre;David Lindenmayer

  • Zero tolerance ecology: improving ecological inference by modelling the source of zero observations

    Tara G. Martin;Brendan A. Wintle;Jonathan R. Rhodes;Petra M. Kuhnert

  • Mathematical Methods for Identifying Representative Reserve Networks

    Hugh Possingham;Ian Ball;Sandy Andelman

  • IMPROVING PRECISION AND REDUCING BIAS IN BIOLOGICAL SURVEYS: ESTIMATING FALSE‐NEGATIVE ERROR RATES

    Andrew J. Tyre;Brigitte Tenhumberg;Scott A. Field;Scott A. Field;Darren Niejalke

  • Marxan and relatives: Software for spatial conservation prioritization

    Ian R. Ball;Hugh P. Possingham;Matthew E. Watts

  • A checklist for ecological management of landscapes for conservation

    David Lindenmayer;Richard J. Hobbs;Rebecca Montague-Drake;Jason Alexandra

  • The cost and feasibility of marine coastal restoration.

    Elisa Bayraktarov;Megan Irene Saunders;Sabah Abdullah;Morena Mills

  • Is conservation triage just smart decision making

    Madeleine C Bottrill;Liana N Joseph;Josie Carwardine;Michael Bode

  • Establishing representative no-take areas in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale implementation of theory on marine protected areas

    Leanne Fernandes;Jon Day;Adam Lewis;Suzanne Slegers

  • Spatial conservation prioritization: Quantitative methods and computational tools

    Atte Moilanen;Kerrie A. Wilson;Hugh P. Possingham

  • Global terrestrial Human Footprint maps for 1993 and 2009.

    Oscar Venter;Oscar Venter;Oscar Venter;Eric W. Sanderson;Ainhoa Magrach;Ainhoa Magrach;James R. Allan

  • Regional patterns of agricultural land use and deforestation in Colombia

    Andrés Etter;Andrés Etter;Clive McAlpine;Kerrie Wilson;Stuart Phinn

  • Prioritizing global conservation efforts

    Kerrie A. Wilson;Marissa F. McBride;Michael Bode;Hugh P. Possingham

  • Short communication: Marxan with Zones: Software for optimal conservation based land- and sea-use zoning

    Matthew E. Watts;Ian R. Ball;Romola S. Stewart;Carissa J. Klein

  • Protecting the global ocean for biodiversity, food and climate

    Enric Sala;Juan Mayorga;Darcy Bradley;Reniel B. Cabral

  • Optimal allocation of resources among threatened species: a project prioritization protocol.

    Liana N. Joseph;Richard F. Maloney;Hugh P. Possingham

  • One Hundred Questions of Importance to the Conservation of Global Biological Diversity

    W.J. Sutherland;W.M. Adams;R.B. Aronson;R. Aveling

  • Limits to the use of threatened species lists

    Hugh P Possingham;Sandy J Andelman;Mark A Burgman;Rodrigo A Medellı́n

Frequent Co-Authors

James E. M. Watson
James E. M. Watson University of Queensland
Kerrie A. Wilson
Kerrie A. Wilson Queensland University of Technology
Richard A. Fuller
Richard A. Fuller University of Queensland
Carissa J. Klein
Carissa J. Klein University of Queensland
Tara G. Martin
Tara G. Martin University of British Columbia
Eve McDonald-Madden
Eve McDonald-Madden University of Queensland
Oscar Venter
Oscar Venter University of Northern British Columbia
Michael A. McCarthy
Michael A. McCarthy University of Melbourne
David B. Lindenmayer
David B. Lindenmayer Australian National University
Josie Carwardine
Josie Carwardine Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

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