Lori Lach

My introduction to ecology and conservation came as a study abroad experience in Queensland's rainforests, after which I found that plans for medical school paled in comparison to an environmentally-oriented career. I earned a Masters in Public Health degree in Environmental Health at the University of California-Berkeley and consulted for a non-profit environmental organization for three years. I interned at a field study school in Kenya for a year, then traveled around the world before settling down to earn my Ph.D. at Cornell University. While there, I became interested in biological invasions as a conservation issue, particularly invasions by easily overlooked creatures. Upon completing my Ph.D., I went to Mauritius on an NSF fellowship to research ant invasions in a restoration context. An ARC-Discovery grant on biological invasions and conservation in an urban context brought me to Western Australia in 2005.

I started at JCU in 2013, first as a DECRA recipient researching ecological effects of bee disease. I have since contributed to various projects that apply ecological theory to addressing real-world challenges.

I currently head the Centre for Tropical Biosecurity at JCU and am a Deputy Director in the ARC Plant Biosecurity Training Centre.

Researchers in my Insect Ecology group generally work in the following areas:

• Insect detection and ecology in the context of plant biosecurity and invasion ecology
  
• Developing environmental DNA (eDNA) for the detection of invasive ants
• Environmental stressors on native bees
• Effects of drought on insects
• Ant ecology
• Scientific support and research for the Yellow Crazy Ant Eradication Program run by the Wet Tropics Management Authority (monitoring effects on non-target species, permit compliance, improving and testing detection methods, general scientific advice)

Prospective students

If you are interested in applying to be part of my lab as an MPhil or PhD student, please visit the Graduate Research School website to familiarize yourself with entry requirements and applications and scholarship deadlines. Please email me with a statement of your research interests and how they align with one of the above topics, your CV, and your motivation for pursuing a degree.

Select media coverage/interviews/podcasts

• That's What I Call Science https://thatsscience.org/ 1 December 2024.
  
• New ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity August 2023.
• Fire ants approaching NSW ABC online and ABC radio New England, North Coast, Gold Coast, 27 July 2023
• Scientists track one of the world's most invasive ants in waterways, ABC, 7News, 20 April 2023
• Crazy ants' strange genomes are a biological first, Nature13 April 2023
• Response to yellow crazy ant funding announcement, ABC, 7News, 10 News, 11 May 2022.

• Electric ants in the Daintree, radio interviews with ABC, Noongar Radio, EastSide FM https://eastsidefm.org/mondaydrive/; April 2022

• Electric ants discovered at doorstep of Daintree Rainforest World Heritage area, ABC News 5 April 2022 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-04/electric-ants-at-doorstep-of-daintree-rainforest/100958820

• Yellow crazy ant impacts on skinks. Australian Associated Press and >120 media outlets online, in print, TV, and radio. January 2022

• Fact check: David Attenborough wrongly linked to false online claim about 'black and red ants in a jar' RTL Today, Luxembourg 2 November 2021 https://today.rtl.lu/news/fact-check/a/1810849.html

• Yellow crazy ants threaten ecosystems and agriculture along Queensland coast, The Science Show, ABC 21 August 2021 https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/yellow-crazy-ants-threaten-ecosystems-and-agriculture-along-que/13507516

• According to authorities fighting the invasive yellow crazy ants in Far North Qld, they are winning, ABC News (all capital cities and Queensland regions).

• Yellow crazy ants, ABC Radio Sydney 19 May 2021.

• Yellow crazy ant eradication plan puts paws in the paddock as Far North Queensland fight ramps up ABC Far North on air and online 19 May 2021 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-19/war-on-yellow-crazy-ants/100146130

• New tech targets crazy ant invaders; Using eDNA to track crazy ants 7News, WIN news 17 May 2021

• Tiny Singapore ant causing big problems in Queensland, chewing through car and home wiring, ABC News TV and online 8 May 2021, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-08/singapore-ants-chew-wiring-gulf-queensland/100123396

• Motherhood makes ants lazy, interviews with ABC Far North, 4BC Brisbane 1 April 2021

• Ants interview, ABC Far North Drive with Adam Stephen, 21 September 20; also broadcast on four other Qld stations

• Sausages and dogs leading the fight against invasive electric ants in Far North Queensland. ABC Far North on air and online 21 January 2020 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-21/sausage-and-dogs-leading-fight-against-electric-ants-fnq/11885068

• Insect threat to drought hit areas. Cairns Post 19 December 19

• Native bees die three times faster (and variations thereof) August 2019 WIN News, ABC Far North (radio) and ABC online, Mirage News, multiple online news outlets

• The fight against fire ants. ABC Sunday Extra and ABC online, 4 August 2019

• Chinese researchers could hold answers to northern Australia’s crazy ant invasion, China.org.cn, Xinhua News, 2 August 2019.

• The invasive yellow crazy ant problem sweeping far north Queensland. News.com.au 30 July 2019.