Associate Professor Martin Breed

Associate Professor in Biology (Ecology/Organismal Biology)

College of Science and Engineering

place Earth Sciences
GPO Box 2100, ADELAIDE, SA, 5001

Brief bio: Martin is a scholar of restoration ecology, ecosystem health, and genomics at Flinders University. Some career highlights include working with the UN and WHO on the links between biodiversity and human health via the microbiome, serving as a patron for the IUCN Species Survival Commission, and teaching amazingly resilient and optimistic students during COVID-19. He runs a close-knit research group that develops solutions to pressing global issues. Examples of their work include working on optimising biodiverse urban green spaces to maximise human health and biodiversity; pioneering the use of genomics to improve ecosystem restoration; and harnessing the power of plant-microbe interactions to improve ecosystem outcomes under global change. He is a passionate university educator who aims to enable the next generation to turn around the global environmental tide from decline and degradation to repair and restoration. He is course coordinator for the BSc(Biodiversity & Conservation) and has a number of additional teaching coordination and delivery duties.  

Get in touch!


Research: I am a leading restoration ecologist, recognised for my contributions to monitoring soil biodiversity, repairing soil ecosystems, and climate-resilient restoration. My team collaborates widely across management agencies, policymakers, innovators and has reshaped the practices and policies of how ecosystems are monitored and repaired. Here, I outline my significant impact to three select areas:
- Monitoring soil biodiversity: My team merges restoration ecology with soil science, statistics, computer science, genomics, and ecoacoustics to measure changes in soil biodiversity and its composition and functions. New advances include complex models to estimate soil biodiversity recovery times, soil ecoacoustics to characterise soil biodiversity, and a theoretical framework for quantifying soil health through soil metagenomes.
- Repairing soil ecosystems: We pioneer new methods to accelerate soil biodiversity recovery. Highlights include acoustic manipulation of functional fungi (e.g., plant growth promoters, fungal pathogens), ecological phage therapy to suppress undesirable soil bacteria, and new inoculation techniques that build resilient restoration ecosystems.
- Enhancing climate resilience: We improve native seed management to boost restoration sustainability. Notable advancements include quantifying the risks of using seed from fragmented populations, developing new frameworks to enhance climate resilience, and championing long-term field trials for restoration plantings.

Qualifications

2013 PhD in Bioscience (Dean’s Commendation), Adelaide University, Australia
2008 MSc in Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Sweden
2006 BAppSci in Environmental Science & Zoology, James Cook University, Australia

Honours, awards and grants

2024 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Mid-Career Research Impact & Engagement, Flinders University
2024 SA Environment Award Pelzer Prize Finalist (Commendation of Merit for urban ecological research)
2023 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Mid-Career Researcher, Flinders University
2023 Bradshaw Medal, International Society for Ecological Restoration
2022 Highly commended for student-nominated Dean(Education) Teaching Award, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University
2021 Research Mentorship Award, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University
2019 Bradshaw Medal, International Society for Ecological Restoration
2018 Signed MOU with the UN Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity
2016 Outstanding Early Career Alumnus, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University
2015 Awarded Tall Poppy Science Award for Academic & Science Communication Excellence, Australian Institute of Policy & Science
2013 Science Excellence Award, PhD Research Excellence Life & Environmental Sciences, South Australian Government
2013 Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence, University of Adelaide

Teaching interests

My main teaching area is restoration ecology - the study of repairing degraded ecosystems through human intervention.

This is a very topical subject, since the world has billions of hectares of degraded ecosystems and faces a biodiversity crisis. Furthermore, people's health is closely linked to the health of environments.

The UN has declared 2021 to 2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the global community has set aspirational targets to restore 350 million hectares by 2030 under The Bonn Challenge. But, restoration ecology is a young discipline. The science of restoration is by no means settled and emerging technologies are pushing the boundaries of the very identity of what restoration is. Great debates and punctuated shifts in norms have resulted.

I like to teach about how to investigate why and how to restore today’s ecosystems and biodiversity. I hope to equip students with the skills and knowledge that will enable them to be the next generation of restoration ecologists; a cohort that will ultimately be responsible for turning the global environmental tide from decline and degradation to repair and restoration.

Topic coordinator
BIOL3701 Restoration Ecology
Topic lecturer
BIOL1001 Introduction to plant science
BIOL3722 Ecological Genetics
BIOL3701 Restoration Ecology
BIOL2712 Diversity of Life
BIOL3711 Plant Biology
BIOD1102 Introduction to Biodiversity and Conservation
Interests
  • Biophilia
  • Conservation biology
  • Ecohealth
  • Ecological genomics
  • Ecosystem restoration
  • Genomics
  • Microbial ecology
  • Restoration ecology
The Conversation