Smithson Environmental - highly qualified and experienced professionals!

Dr Ann Smithson

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B.Sc. Hons (Biological Sciences, Ecology)

M.Res (Distinction) (Molecular Genetics)

PhD (Plant-Insect Interaction Ecology)

Full Member: Environmental Institute of Australia & New Zealand

Some recent projects Ann has completed include:

  • Testing samples from birds being rehabilitated at Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre for Psittacine Beak and Feather disease
  • Range of client vegetation impact and Black Cockatoo surveys
  • Bushfire attack level assessments of vegetation around proposed developments
  • Microbial diversity and soil health assessments of agricultural soils
  • Surveys of genetic variation in native Western Australian plants
  • DNA barcode sequence identification of plants, animals, diseases and microbes

Some things Ann has achieved:

  • Worked at Kings Park Botanic Gardens in Perth for 5 years to develop best practice native vegetation restoration strategies in response to climate change, alongside university and mining industry partners
  • Has conducted many vegetation surveys throughout Perth region as a consultant, including Perth Hills, across Pilbara, and in the Helena and Aurora Ranges
  • 15 years experience leading environmental genetics laboratories and facilities, as a university lecturer in genetics and ecology, and extensive practical experience in the application of genetics techniques to wildlife
  • Native orchid enthusiast, with 10 years experience in seed germination, pollination and ecology
  • Conducting wildlife surveys across many locations in WA, and extensively overseas (UK, Scandinavia, Alps ..)
  • Australian canoeing kayak and sea kayak instructor, keen rogainer
Contact Ann

Some of Ann's research publications:

  • Edger P., Heidel-Fischer H. M., Bekaert M., Rota J., Glöckner G, Platts A. E., Heckel D. G., Der J. P., Wafula E. K., Tang M., Hofberger J. A., Smithson A., Hall J. C., Blanchette M., Bureau T. E., Wright S. I., dePamphilis C. W., Schranz M. E., Barker M. S., Conant G. C., Wahlbergn N., Vogel H., Pires J. C., Wheat C. W. (2015).  The butterfly plant arms-race escalated by gene and genome duplications.  PNAS 112, 8362-8366.
  • Augustin M. M., Dan R. Ruzicka D. R., Shukla A. K., Augustin J. M., Starks C. M., O'Neil-Johnson M., McKain . R., Bradley S. Evans B. S., Barrett M. D., Smithson A., Wong G. K., Deyholos M. K., Edger P. P., Pires J. C., Leebens-Mack J. H., Mann D. A., Kutchan T. M. (2015).  Elucidating steroid alkaloid biosynthesis in Veratrum californicum: production of verazine in Sf9 cells.  The Plant Journal 82, 991–1003.
  • Bradbury D., Smithson A., Krauss S. L. (2013).  Signatures of diversifying selection at EST-SSR loci and association with climate in natural Eucalyptus populations.  Molecular Ecology 22, 5112–5129.
  • Smithson A., Juillet N., Gigord L. D. B. & Macnair M. R. (2007). Is there a positive relationship between phenotypic diversity and reproductive success in rewardless orchids? Ecology 88, 434-442.
  • Internicola A., Juillet N., Smithson A. & Gigord L. D. B. (2006). Experimental investigation of spatial aggregation-dependent reproductive success in a rewardless orchid. Oecologia 150, 435-441.
  • Smithson A. (2006). Pollinator limitation and inbreeding depression in orchid species with and without nectar rewards. New Phytologist 169, 419-430.
  • Gravendeel B., Smithson A., Slik F. and Schuiteman A. (2004) Epiphytism and pollinator specialization - drivers for orchid diversity? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 359, 1523-1535.
  • Smithson A. and Gigord L. D. B. (2003). The evolution of empty flowers revisited. American Naturalist 161, 537-552.
  • Smithson A. and Macnair M. R. (2003). Have recent developments in molecular techniques led to greater insight into evolutionary and ecological processes in plant populations? Genes in the Environment, Eds. R. S. Hails, J. E. Beringer and H. C. J. Godfray. Blackwell Publishing.
  • Arntzen, J. W., Smithson A. and Oldham R. S. (1999). Marking and tissue sampling effects on body condition and survival in the newt Triturus cristatus. J. Herpetol. 33, 567-576.
  • Leckie D., Smithson A., Crute I. R. (1993). Gene movement from oilseed rape to weedy populations - a component of risk assessment for transgenic cultivars. Asp. App. Biol. 35, 61-66.