Dr Margaret Byrne

Dr Byrne is currently Acting Director of the Science Division in the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation where she is active in the interface between science and policy in biodiversity conservation and environmental management. She obtained a PhD in plant genetics from The University of Western Australia in 1991, and then moved to CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products where she undertook genetic mapping and quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis in eucalypts. In 1996 she returned to Perth to establish a molecular genetics laboratory in the then Department of Conservation and Land Management. Her research has focussed on plant genetic research to inform conservation strategies for rare and threatened plants, as well as biodiversity conservation at community and landscape scales in relation to remnant viability and revegetation. She has expertise in population genetics, conservation genetics, phylogenetics and evolutionary patterns in the Australian flora with over 100 refereed publications.  Her current research interests are directed towards application of genetics in developing climate change adaptation strategies.