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Elise Oakman

Elise Oakman

Australian insect ecologist and science communicator; PhD graduate of the University of Sydney researching insect pollinators in the Cumberland Plain Woodland.

Sep 17, 2026

5:56
Can you tell us about the research you have done about native insects?
6:00
So I worked in an area called the Cumberland plain woodland.
6:04
So this is a community.
6:05
So that's where you're looking at the plants and the animals and how they interact together.
6:11
And this used to be all across the whole greater Sydney region, but because of a lot of impacts, we don't have a lot of it anymore, but I looked at the insects that visit flowers.
6:21
And whether the actions that we're doing, like putting new plants in and removing weeds, are having positive impacts on them.
6:27
So I found that a common insect that we often see about, which is the European honeybee, probably still plays a very big role, even though it's not supposed to be in Australia, it is introduced.
6:59
What are the main threats to native insects?

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