Margaret Stanley | |
|---|---|
 Stanley in 2025 | |
| Born | 1975 (age 49–50) |
| Awards | Callaghan Medal (2025) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Monash University |
| Thesis | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Ecology |
| Institutions | University of Auckland |
Margaret Christine Stanley (born 1975) is a New Zealand ecologist,and is a full professor at the University of Auckland,specialising in understanding and mitigating human environmental impacts,including the impacts of urban intensification and of introduced pests and weeds.
Born in 1975, [1] Stanley grew up in Dunedin, [2] and studied zoology at the University of Otago,graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree with first-class honours in 1997. [3] She completed a PhD titled Factors influencing fruit choice and seed dispersal by the silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) at Monash University. [1] Stanley joined the faculty of the Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland in 2007,rising to full professor in 2023. [4] [2]
Stanley is interested in understanding how humans impact on natural environments,and how those impacts can be reduced or mitigated. [5] Stanley has written about the lack of long-term monitoring of New Zealand biodiversity,particularly insect populations, [6] and on research that showed hundreds of pet birds escaped each year,leading to suggestions that pet parrot sales should be banned to protect native birds. [7] Stanley has also talked about the importance of pest control of hedgehog and wallaby populations,and the need for nationwide cat control. [8] [9] [10] [11] Stanley also works on weeds,collaborating with cartoonist Pepper Raccoon to produce science communication aimed at improving public understanding of the need to weed control and prevention. [12] [13] [14] She also advises on how people can increase the biodiversity in their backyard through planting,and how better planting in private and public places can create 'sponge cities' to avoid flooding. [15] [16] [17]
In 2025,Stanley was awarded the Callaghan Medal of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. [18]
