Brett M. Bennett is a Senior Lecturer in Modern History at Western Sydney University. He is also a Senior Research Associate of the University of Johannesburg and a former Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow. His research uses historical methods to investigate how the interaction of human actions and natural processes create contemporary ecosystems, scientific ideas, and conservation policies. He is particularly interested in the history of alien species introductions, naturalisation and invasion from global and South African perspectives.
During his C·I·B Fellowship, Bennett collaborated with Dave Richardson, John Wilson and John Measey. His projects include merging historical and scientific understandings of biological invasion, pursuing a history of weed legislation in South Africa, and beginning a study of the distribution of trout throughout South Africa. Bennett will work on a co-edited book (to be submitted to University of North Carolina Press) on biotic exchange and ecological change in European empires. During his tenure he also established relationships with leaders in key institutions – C·I·B, University of Johannesburg, South African National Biodiversity Institute, South African Environmental Observational Network, Skukuza Science Leadership Initiative via the Nsasni Trust — to create a robust interdisciplinary historical network that can provide analysis of contemporary environmental problems using interdisciplinary perspectives.
