Gunnar Keppel is an Associate Professor in Environmental Biology at the University of South Australia.
I have a broad background in vegetation ecology, island biogeography and conservation biology. I am particularly interested in islands and island-like environments, and in what determines patterns of biodiversity in Oceania. More information about my current position is available on this web page.
I was born in Rotenburg an der Fulda in Hessen, Germany, but moved to Fiji at a young age. I studied at the University of the South Pacific, where I also worked as a lecturer for 4 years. During my Masters I investigated the population genetics and conservation of the Pacific cycad, Cycas seemannii. My PhD project at the University of Queensland looked at the ecology and biogeography of rain forests on islands in the South-west Pacific.
From 2010, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Curtin University on a project investigating the potential of granite outcrops to function as refugia from climate change. The project was led by Assoc. Prof. Grant Wardell-Johnson. I was an Alexander von Humboldt fellow at the University of Goettingen for 12 months (2017/18), working on the role of environmental heterogeneity in determining species diversity on islands.
Biodiversity in Oceania 