Katherine Berthon

Melbourne

Katherine is a PhD candidate at the Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Group at RMIT university. Her passion for conservation biology and curiosity for understanding natural phenomena has led to a diverse research background in animal behaviour, spatial analysis, invasion biology and ecological theory. Her PhD investigates drivers of biodiversity change and function in urban landscapes. Using various methods she aims to understand and predict the influence of design on plant-insect relationships, including a year-long observational study of garden beds in the City of Melbourne, Australia; deploying experimental “phytometres” in Munich, Germany; and metabarcoding pollen. The goal of this research is to inform design guidelines for enhancing biodiversity in urban greenspaces.