Email: espe7638@uni.sydney.edu.au
Location: Room 325, A08 – Heydon-Laurence Building, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia

I started working with the Desert Ecology Research Group (DERG) as an honours student in 2012. During this time, I studied the use of predator odour as a cue for predation risk by small mammals in the Simpson Desert and conducted a short-term dietary analysis of predators present in the system.

I am now employed as a research assistant with DERG, investigating long-term dietary fluctuations and prey selectivity by foxes, cats and dingoes, in the Simpson Desert. My current research interests are predator diet, mesopredator interactions, dingo ecology and behavioral anti-predator mechanisms. 

Publications

Spencer EE, Crowther MS, Dickman CR (2014) Risky Business: Do Native Rodents Use Habitat and Odor Cues to Manage Predation Risk in Australian Deserts? PLoS ONE 9(2): e90566. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090566