Biography

Dianne Gleeson grew up in rural Northland, New Zealand and obtained her undergraduate degree in Science at the University of Auckland before undertaking a PhD at the Australian National University on the genetics of sheep blowfly.  She then returned to New Zealand and established an Ecological Genetics Laboratory at Landcare Research, a Crown Research Institute. There she held a number of leadership positions and was the founder of a successful business unit, EcoGene, resulting in a national award for Women in Science Entrepreneurship. After 16 years back in NZ, she returned to Australia in 2012 where she currently leads a team at the Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, which is focused on the development eDNA technologies and their application in the management of freshwater environments. Dianne’s career has been focused on the translation of fundamental research into applied outcomes, and working with agencies and policy makers to ensure the research meets the needs of those stakeholders by being relevant and timely. Dianne is also passionate about mentoring of early career researchers, and particularly advocating STEM as a viable career option for women.