Tessa R Smith

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Grants, Publications and Other Contributions

 

Grants

1. 2024. CABAH Cadetship program (University of Wollongong) $50000 to work with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (Hobart) for 6 months. 

2. 2023. CABAH Mentoring program, professional development grant. $1500 to attend the International Congress of Entomology in Kyoto Japan 2024.

3. 2023. Ecological Society of Australia Annual Conference Darwin 2023 student travel grant $435 for conference registration.

4. 2021. Linnean Society of New South Wales, Joyce W Vckery Scientific Research Fund grant $1372 for Leaf-litter beetle collecting on Flinders Island, Tasmania.

5. 2021. CABAH RT&E Researcher Exchange Grant $1615 to visit the molecular genetics lab at the University of Adelaide.

TOTAL: $54922
 

Peer-reviewed publications

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Taxonomy and Palaeoecology

1. McDowell, MC, Eberhard, R, Smith, TR, Wood, R, Brook, BW, Johnson, CN (2022) Climate change without extinction: Tasmania's small-mammal communities persisted through the Last Glacial Maximum–Holocene transition. Quaternary Science Reviews 291, 107659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.10765

2. Porch, N., Smith, T. R., and Grieg, K. (2020). Five new Pycnomerus Erichson (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Pycnomerini) from Raivavae, French Polynesia. Zootaxa 4718 (2): 239–250. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4718.2.5

3. Porch, N. & Smith, T. R. (2017). New Pycnomerus Erichson (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Pycnomerini) from Rimatara, French Polynesia. Zootaxa 4327(1): 15. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.344557

 

Ecology and Invasive Species Biology

1. Mata, L., Hahs, A.K., Palma, E., Backstrom, A., King, T., Olson, A.R., Renowden, C., Smith, T.R. and Vogel, B., (2023). Large positive ecological changes of small urban greening actions. Ecological Solutions and Evidence. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12259

2. Mata, L., Andersen, A., Morán Ordóñez, A., Hahs, A., Backstrom, A., Ives, C., Bickel, D., Duncan, D., Palma, E., Thomas, F., Cranney, K., Walker, K., Shears, I., Semeraro, L., Malipatil, M., Moir, M., Plein, M., Porch, N., Vesk, P., Smith, T., Lynch, Y. (2021). Indigenous plants promote insect biodiversity in urban greenspaces. Ecological applications: https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2309

3. Benno A. Augustinus, Suzanne T.E. Lommen, Silvia Fogliatto, Francesco Vidotto, Tessa Smith, David Horvath, Maira Bonini, Rodolfo F. Gentili, Sandra Citterio, Heinz Müller-Schärer, Urs Schaffner (2020). In-season leaf damage by a biocontrol agent explains reproductive output of an invasive plant species. NeoBiota 55: 117-146. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.55.46874

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Book reviews

1. Smith TR (2024), Review of: The Jewel Box by Tim Blackburn, Austral Ecology, In press.

 

Management Reports

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Urban Ecology and Invasive Species

1. Kirk H, Smith T, Backstrom A, Morán-Ordóñez A, Garrard GE, Gordon A, Ives CD, Bekessy SA, Mata L. (2017). Our City’s Little Gems – Butterfly diversity and flower-butterfly interactions in the City of Melbourne. Report prepared for the City of Melbourne. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.32050.30409

2. Mata L, Ives CD, Garrard GE, Gordon A, Backstrom A, Cranney K, Smith TR, Stark L, Bickel DJ, Cunningham S, Hahs AK, Hochuli D, Malipatil M, Moir ML, Plein M, Porch N, Semeraro L, Standish R, Walker K, Vesk PA, Parris K, Bekessy SA (2015) The Little Things that Run the City – How do Melbourne’s green spaces support insect biodiversity and promote ecosystem health?  Report prepared for the City of Melbourne. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.18628.53120

 

Scientific outreach materials

1. National Science Week 'Vaginas' event, 2023. Wrote a shakespearan poem about the reproduction of the Red-backed Water Strider (Gerris gracilicornis) that was read out to over 100 adults. North Hobart, TAS. Read it here.

2. National Science Week 'Vaginas' event, 2022. Wrote a romantic book parody called 'Tension and Tenderness' about the reproduction of the Red-backed Water Strider (Gerris gracilicornis) that was read out to over 100 adults. North Hobart, TAS. Read it here.

3. Science in the Park/Science in the Dark, 2021. Created 12 Insect-themed geocaches hidden around the Thomas Crawford Trail, Sandy Bay and Tolosa Park, Glenorchy, TAS for families to find.

4. The Poetry of Science competition, 2021. Created and sung a sea-shanty 'Pippette away me Tessa!' on the topic of insect DNA  extraction. Hobart, TAS. Read it here.

5. TMAG Liftoff! Festival, 2021. Hobart area bug search worksheets featuring 8 invertebrates created for the TMAG Liftoff! festival's 'Explore Science in the Natural World' stall. Hobart, TAS.

6. Festival of Bright Ideas, 2019. Created work sheets based around the research of the Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) for children aged 6-12. Hobart, TAS.

 

Specimen contributions

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Australia

1. Animalia: Arthropoda: Arachnida: Opiliones (undetermined species), 1600 specimens. Origin: Litter sieving-Berlese extraction, Tessa Smith and volunteers, Tasmania, 2020-2022.

2. Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia, Aves (various species). Origin: Subfossil cave deposit, joint team with Dr Matthew McDowell and Rolan Eberhard, Tasmania, 2018-2019.

3. Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia, Aves (various species). Origin: Roadkill, Tessa Smith and volunteers, Tasmania, 2018-2019.

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University of Hawai'i Manoa, Insect Museum, USA

1. Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Lepidoptera (various species). Origin: Hand collection of cases and light trapping, Kyhl Austin and volunteers, O'ahu island, Hawai'i, 2022.

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Citizen Science contributions

1. Survey leader, Bob Brown Foundation takayna Bioblitz 2019, 2020, 2022. Led groups of 3-15 in activities recording occurrences of terrestrial invertebrates and uploading to iNaturalist over a weekend. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/takayna-bioblitz-2022

2. Campus leader, Intervarsity BioBlitz Challenge, 2021. Led UTas students and staff (with the help from Kawinwit 'Ink' Kittipalawattanapol) to collect 245 observations into iNaturalist on university campuses over a two week period. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/intervarsity-bioblitz-challenge-university-of-tasmania

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