Staff profile

Dr Fiona Bird

Head, Department of Zoology

Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering

School of Life Sciences
Department of Zoology

Biological Sciences Building 2, Room 353, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

B.Sc. Hons University of Melbourne, PhD Victoria University, Graduate Certificate in Higher Education La Trobe University

Membership of professional associations

Higher Education Research & Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA)

Area of study

Zoology

Brief profile

Dr Fiona Bird is the Head of the Department of Zoology at La Trobe University. She has published internationally on the ecology of marine mudflats, with a particular emphasis on burrowing ghost shrimp. Dr Bird is also the Director of Teaching and Learning of the School of Life Sciences and is currently investigating educational research questions about moderation of assessment and student learning in virtual environments. Her outstanding contribution to teaching and learning of biology has been recognized by several awards, the most recent being the 2012 La Trobe University Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

Teaching units

BIO1AD Animal Evolution & Diversity (Subject coordinator)

ZOO3EPB Zoology B (Coastal Marine Ecology)

 

Recent publications

Science education publications

  • Bird, FL. And Yucel R. (2011). Improving marking reliability of scientific writing with the Developing Understanding of Assessment for Learning program. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education (Published online DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2012.658155).
  • Bird, F.L. (2010). A comparison of the effectiveness of an interactive, online module versus a laboratory based exercise. Proceedings of the 16th UniServe Science Annual Conference, University of Sydney, 29 September to 1 October. Pp. 13-17.
  • Yucel R., Bird FL., Blanksby TM., Valenta K., Gendall AR., Plummer, KM., Malone, BS., and Harvey, AS. (2009). A broad based, grass-roots, community of practice achieving curriculum reform in first year biology. Journal of Academic Language & Learning 3 (2), A1-A10.  

Scientific publications

  • Maginn, H., & Bird, FL (2011) Functional burrow morphology of Laomedia healyi (Crustacea: Decapoda: Thalassinidea) in Western Port Bay, Victoria. Victorian Naturalist 128 (1), 4-10.
  • Butler, SN, Reid M., & Bird, FL (2009) Population biology of the ghost shrimps, Trypaea australiensis and Biffarius arenosus (Decapoda: Thalassinidea), in Western Port, Victoria. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 66: 43-59
  • Butler, SN & Bird, FL (2008) Temporal changes in burrow structure of the thalassinidean ghost shrimps Trypaea australiensis and Biffarius arenosus. Journal of Natural History 42: 2041-2062.
  • Harvey, AS & Bird, FL (2008) Community structure of a rhodolith bed from cold-temperate waters (southern Australia). Australian Journal of Botany 56, 437-450
  • Butler, S & Bird, FL (2007) Estimating density of intertidal ghost shrimps using counts of burrow openings. Is the method reliable? Hydrobiologia 589, 303-314.
  • Contessa, L & Bird, FL (2004) The effect of bait pumping on ghost shrimp (Trypaea australiensis) populations at Coronet Bay, Western Port. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 304, 75-97.
  • Katrak, G & Bird, FL (2003) Comparative effects of the coexisting bioturbators, Trypaea australiensis and Heloecius cordiformis, on intertidal sediments. Marine and Freshwater Research 54, 701-708.
  • Stapleton, KL, Long, M, & Bird, FL (2001) Comparative feeding ecology of the ghost shrimps Biffarius arenosus and Trypaea australiensis (Decapoda: Callianassidae). Ophelia 55, 141-150.
  • Bird, FL, Boon, PI, & Nichols, PD (2000) Physicochemical and microbial properties of burrows of the deposit-feeding thalassinidean ghost shrimp Biffarius arenosus (Decapoda: Callianassidae) in Western Port, Victoria, Australia. Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science 51, 279-291
  • Bird, FL, & Poore, GCB (1999) Functional burrow morphology of Biffarius arenosus (Decapoda: Callianassidae) from southern Australia. Marine Biology 134, 77-87.
  • Bird, FL, Ford, PW, & Hancock, GJ (1999) The effect of burrowing macrobenthos on the diffusive flux of dissolved substances across the water-sediment interface. Marine and Freshwater Research 50, 523-532
  • Bird, FL & Jenkins, GP (1999)  Abundance, biomass and estimated production of invertebrate fauna associated with seagrass, Heterozostera tasmanica in Swan Bay and an adjacent area of Port Phillip Bay. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 111, 1-13.
  • Boon, PI, Bird, FL, & Bunn, S (1997) Organic carbon sources used by intertidal callianassid shrimps in Western Port (southern Australia), determined with multiple stable isotope analyses. Marine and Freshwater Research 48, 503-11.