Associate Professor Kate Helmstedt

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Co-Leader, Environment and Natural Systems Domain; Senior Lecturer, School of Mathematical Sciences

PhD (University of Queensland), Bachelor of Science with Honours Class Honours Class 1 (University of Queensland), Bachelor of Science (University of Queensland)

Dr Helmstedt's research expertise is in using operations research to guide smart decision making for natural resource and environmental management with the ultimate goal of guiding future management decisions towards cost-efficiency, transparency and defensibility. Ecological systems are incredibly complex, and changing how those systems interact and evolve can have unexpected implications. Dr Helmstedt builds mathematical models of coupled ecological, land-use, and economic systems to understand the mechanisms driving success, failure, and efficiency of management actions. Carefully, transparently, and defensibly planning management and policy interventions while acknowledging those complexities and the associated risks helps achieve better outcomes for the environment and society. Dr Helmstedt completed her PhD in 2015 at the University of Queensland under the supervision of Professor Hugh Possingham. She then spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Berkeley before joining QUT as a Lecturer. For more information, see Dr Helmstedt's website, twitter, or Google Scholar profile.

Additional information

Dr Helmstedt collaborates with diverse groups of scientists including mathematicians, statisticians, economists, ecologists, biologists, agricultural and marine scientists. These collaborative networks span Australia and internationally across the US and Europe (and, pending Brexit, the UK). Through ongoing collaborations with the Australian Antarctic Division and the Tasmanian state government, she helps guide decision-making about how to tackle the huge environmental problem of invasive species on islands.

Title
Mathematically Optimal Rand D for Coral Reef Conservation
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
DE200101791
Start year
2020
Keywords
Title
Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
SR200100005
Start year
2020
Keywords
  • Development of a Novel Sustainability-Based Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach for Organic Waste Processing Technolgies in the Meat Industry
    PhD, Associate Supervisor
    Other supervisors: Adjunct Professor Robert Speight, Professor Ian O'Hara
  • Operations research to optimise logistical deployment of emerging reef restoration technologies
    PhD, Associate Supervisor
    Other supervisors: Associate Professor Paul Corry, Adjunct Professor Mark Gibbs
  • Structure and Dynamics of Antartic Governance
    PhD, Associate Supervisor
    Other supervisors: Professor Michael Bode, Professor Kerrie Wilson
  • Optimal management and development of new technologies to preserve endangered ecosystems in the face of uncertainty
    PhD, Principal Supervisor
    Other supervisors: Dr Matthew Adams
  • aximising the potential for species distribution modelling to inform Antarctic conservationplanning
    PhD, Associate Supervisor
    Other supervisors: Dr Justine Shaw
  • Modelling and Optimising Food Systems Impacts on Biodiversity, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Enable Sustainable Development
    PhD, Principal Supervisor
    Other supervisors: Dr Ayesha Tulloch
  • Data Science to Support Sustainability in Viticulture
    MPhil, Associate Supervisor
    Other supervisors: Distinguished Professor Kerrie Mengersen