AOC 2025 Plenary Speakers

We are excited to announce the following plenary speakers will be presenting at AOC 2025.

 

Associate Professor Kristal Cain

Te Kura Mātauranga Koiora, School of Biological Sciences
Waipapa Taumata Rau, The University of Auckland

Kristal grew-up chasing critters in the deep woods and creeks of East Texas. She completed a BSc in Wildlife Biology at Texas A&M and then worked as a wildlife biologist before returning to complete her PhD at Indiana University. She moved to Australian National University for her postdoc and in 2016, she joined the University of Auckland. Her research group aims to understand why animals are so varied in their behaviour and appearance and how complex social traits evolve, with a particular interest in testing entrenched assumptions and exploring new questions.

 

Heather Ketebengang

Communication and Outreach Program
Palau Conservation Society

Heather Ketebengang is a Program Manager at the Palau Conservation Society, where she leads communications, outreach, and education to strengthen environmental stewardship across Palau. With over 15 years of experience in biodiversity conservation, she has worked closely with communities and technical partners to raise awareness of Palau’s environment, protect its unique ecosystems, and promote sustainable environmental practices. Heather serves on the Palau Bird Records Committee and the Protected Areas Network Technical Committee, contributing to species documentation and national conservation planning. She holds a Masters in Global Development with a focus on community-driven conservation, combining science, traditional knowledge, citizen science, and capacity-building to support biodiversity and sustainable development in Palau.

Professor Richard Fuller

School of the Environment
The University of Queensland

Richard studies how people have affected the natural world around them, and how some of their destructive effects can best be reversed. His research group works on pure and applied topic in biodiversity and conservation, with a strong emphasis on building collaborative conservation to save migratory species. He is also an incurable birder. Find out more.

 

Dr Dejan Stojanovic

Fenner School of Environment and Society
The Australian National University

Dejan Stojanovic is a conservation biologist, whose research focuses on the conservation and management of threatened species and their habitat, with a focus on how species cope with habitat loss. He has a particular interest in parrots, and his PhD research led to the discovery of severe predation by sugar gliders on endangered Swift Parrots. He has also worked on the conservation and breeding biology of Orange-bellied Parrots and Carnaby’s Cockatoos.