Dr Brad Law is a Research Scientist and Wildlife Ecologist with State Forests of New South Wales.

Ecology/Zoology - researching the habitat requirements of fauna (especially bats) in forests and looking at the effects of logging on fauna.

When I was a child I was fascinated by animals and my older brothers told me if that was the case then I should become a Zoologist. Studying science at University expanded my horizons to ecology.

I started with a BSc (Honours) which is a four year degree. I selected a range of subjects (eg psychology, microbiology, biochemistry), but I knew that I wanted to specialise in zoology, so this was my core work plus a few extra subjects in botany. Of course animals need plants! After this four year degree I was able to find short term employment at the Australian Museum and National Parks and Wildlife Service where I assisted with various research programs. An example was radio-tracking small honeyeaters to determine what their home range was (this was part of a larger research project). Full-time work is not easy to find in zoology, but luckily I was able to fall back on other options that I had picked in science at University. I worked as a research assistant in the Dept of Microbiology looking at bacteria that fix nitrogen in association with wheat roots. However, being tied to the laboratory wasn't for me, so after 2 years I returned to university to do a 3-4 year PhD in zoology. This was fantastic as I had the opportunity to select my own research program, under the guidance of a supervisor, on virtually any zoological topic. And I had 3 years to complete it! I chose to work on tiny blossom bats, which are nectar-feeders that live in coastal Queensland and northern NSW. The bats are responsible for pollinating many native plants. I haven't looked back since.

How long did it take you to get the necessary qualifications?

In total, 8 years of study at University.

Early on it was very difficult to obtain paid employment in my field. I was rather unsuccessful with a BSc (Hons), so after two years in various short-term jobs I decided to return to university to do a PhD. This made an enormous difference and my career has progressed well since then.

I have worked in many varied places. My PhD research was in coastal heathland and rainforest in northern NSW. This allowed me to spend much time in relatively unspoiled areas on our fantastic coast-line. I was a post-doctoral research fellow in northern Queensland, on the Atherton Tablelands, which allowed me to work in spectacular tropical rainforests. My current job takes me to various types of eucalypt forest, including the tall wet sclerophyll forests of northern NSW, magnificent river red gum forests along the Murray river and cold forests in southern NSW.

A typical day is very different depending on whether I am in the forest doing field work or in the office analysing data. During warmer months I spend about 1 week a month in the field, trapping or radio-tracking animals. This can involve plenty of walking and a fair amount of innovative thinking to work out what are the essential natural resources in the lives of my study animals. Unusual hours (quite often at night, especially if working on bats) are typical, but I find this a refreshing change from routine. At the office, I spend much time analysing data collected in the field and preparing it for communication to others, including fellow managers and policy writers within my organisation, the general public and the scientific community. This means the use of statistics, graphical software and writing.

The skills required are very varied. Scientists need to be able to think critically and communicate effectively. However, a field scientist also needs to be very practical and to be perceptive in their observations of animals in the natural environment. Naturally, a good knowledge of the ecology of forests is essential.

Deciding on a problem and being able to carry out original research to solve it. Particularly when this relates to a practical problem concerning wildlife in the forest.

My favourite work-site was the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland. This was not only because of the exotic animals, but for me the whole experience of working in the tropics was invigorating. I loved the climate, the feeling that I never knew what I was going to see whenever I went out into the rainforest and I suppose just the fact that everything was so knew to me. It was a real challenge coming to grips with recognizing all the different types of trees in the forest - of course I couldn't do this in the one year that I had, but I did do pretty well on the steep learning curve. I was based at CSIRO for this work and I really enjoyed interacting with the other scientists located there.

It is very hard to beat field work in remote or beautiful locations with unusual animals. Trapping animals is exciting because you never know what you are going to catch. Radio-tracking an animal takes this one step further because you get to follow an individual as it goes about its normal life. I guess my career highlight would be being awarded a post-doctoral fellowship and carrying out this research on the Atherton Tablelands. I have always had a passion for rainforests and have traveled to places like Borneo, so it was a wonderful experience to have the chance to do my own research in an area where there were exotic creatures like cassowaries, tree kangaroos, huge pythons and not to mention a diverse bat fauna.

Working late nights and long hours in the field can be very draining. I particularly dislike getting infested with ticks, which happens on a number of occasions. More generally I often get fed-up with the poor funding of science in Australia.

Working in beautiful and remote locations and observing animals that few people ever get to see.

Low job security and poor funding of scientific research means that there is always a lot of pressure to perform and even just to hold onto a position.

Most of my work focuses on bats which are a very poorly known group of animals. I have the satisfaction that my research has improved our understanding of this group and in particular that they receive a higher profile when land-use decisions are being made. This has had most impact in my job as I am working towards improving the ecological sustainability of forests which are available for logging.

Hopefully doing the same job with a successful research team. I think it would be hard to beat the sort of work I do. Hopefully with a much better understanding of the forest environment in which I work.

If you wish to ask Brad for additional information, you can email UniServe Science and we will contact Brad for you. Make sure you include Brad's name and occupation in the Subject line.

You can find out more about forest management from the State Forest of New South Wales web site.

You can find out more about Brad's work from the archives of The Bush Telegraph the magazine about forestry, wildlife and environmental matters produced by State Forests of NSW.

You can find out more about bats and their conservation from

The Australasian Bat Society Home Page

Bat Atlas - at The Australian National University

Flying Foxes - from Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria

Bats in Australia - from The Australian Museum Online

Flying Foxes Face a Ticking Time Bomb - article published in Australian Science Magazine

Flying Fox Karma Sutra - from Scribbly Gum, ABC

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