Dr Christine Schlesinger is a Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the College of Engineering, IT and Environment based at the University’s desert campus in Alice Springs.

Christine’s research is focussed on desert ecosystems with an emphasis on the ecology and conservation of arid zone fauna.  One of her key interests is in understanding how native animals are affected, and adjusting, to rapidly changing environments. Large parts of inland Australia are being invaded by Buffel Grass – an introduced C4 grass that transforms plant communities and increases the frequency and intensity of fire - and a focus of Christine’s current research is to determine the impacts on native fauna so as to better manage these novel, invaded ecosystems for conservation. More broadly, Christine seeks to understand contemporary threats to desert fauna, such as introduced predators and climate change, within the framework of a highly variable, low resource arid environment.  

Christine coordinates CDU’s Bachelor of Environmental Science degree and teaches in field ecology and wildlife management.  She leads the Arid Zone Wildlife Ecology & Conservation lab located at the Alice Springs campus.