Rate My Professor Thomas Newsome

Thomas Newsome is an Associate Professor in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney. He holds a courtesy faculty position in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University and an affiliate assistant professorship in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. Newsome completed a BSc (2001–2004), a Masters (2005), and a PhD (2007–2011) at the University of Sydney. His career at the University of Sydney includes appointments as Lecturer (Early Career Development Fellow) from 2018, Senior Lecturer from 2021, and Associate Professor from 2023. Prior roles include Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Deakin University (2016–2017) and Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar at Oregon State University (2013–2014).

Newsome’s research addresses how humans modify terrestrial food web dynamics and how environmental perturbations, including climate change, affect species persistence, using field and modelling studies to examine opportunities for species reintroductions, habitat restoration, invasive species control, and reduction of human-wildlife conflict. In 2018 he established the Global Ecology Lab at the University of Sydney. He currently serves as President of the Royal Zoological Society of NSW and immediate past president of the Australasian Wildlife Management Society. Awards and honours include the Collaborative Research Winner at the 2024 NT NRM Awards, NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2016), NSW Fulbright Scholarship (2013–2014), and Supervisor of the Year Award at the University of Sydney (2018). Key publications include the book The Red Kangaroo in Central Australia (2016, co-authored with A.E. Newsome) and numerous journal articles on topics such as trophic cascades, scavenging ecology, and biodiversity impacts of megafires. He contributes to editorial roles and public science communication on ecological issues.