Prof Ross Thompson

Professor Ross Thompson is a freshwater ecologist with wide-ranging interests in community and ecosystem ecology and since 2025 has held the Dame Carolyn Burns Research Chair in Freshwater Ecology at the University of Otago. The fundamental part of Ross' research program is in food-web ecology; seeking the rules that determine how natural communities assemble and persist. His applied research addresses the ways in which food webs can be influenced by anthropogenic factors including urbanisation, land clearance, pharmaceutical contamination, invasion and river flow management. Ross' work has strong links to government, industry and Indigenous groups. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and supervised more than 20 PhD students and 15 post-doctoral fellows. His work has been recognised by the Hilary Jolly medal from the Australian Freshwater Sciences Society, the GN Alexander Medal from Engineers Australia and the Elton Prize from the British Ecological Society. He was President of the Australian Freshwater Sciences Society from 2015-2018 and has been a member of the Science and Technology Australia Board, the Australian Research Council College of Experts and the NZ Marsden Grant review panel.  He holds an Honorary Professorship at the University of Jordan.