Dr Christopher O'Bryan
Associate Lecturer
School of the Environment
Researcher biography
Chris works on a broad range of topics related to conservation biology. His recent work is focused on invasive species management and how governments can make better decisions to maximise cost-effectiveness to protect biodiversity and social values.
Chris also researches human-wildlife conflict and coexistence, and he has developed a series of global spatial analyses that illustrate the effects of human footprint on threatened species and their habitats. His research has been published in a number of high-impact journals and has been featured on media outlets such as The Guardian, ABC News, Scientific American, and The Conversation.
Before his work at UQ, Chris was a Wildlife Biologist for the State of Florida in the USA where he developed habitat management plans and liaised with private landowners on conservation easement lands. He has a PhD in Conservation Biology from UQ, an MSc in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Clemson University, and a BA in General Biology from Austin Peay State University.
Journal Articles
Abeysinghe, Nisansala, Guerrero, Angela M., Rhodes, Jonathan R., McDonald-Madden, Eve and O'Bryan, Christopher J. (2023). How success is evaluated in collaborative invasive species management: A systematic review. Journal of Environmental Management, 348 119272, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119272
Abeysinghe, Nisansala, O'Bryan, Christopher J., Guerrero, Angela M., Rhodes, Jonathan R. and McDonald‐Madden, Eve (2023). Unravelling how collaboration impacts success of invasive species management. People and Nature. doi: 10.1002/pan3.10544
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Rhodes, Jonathan R., Osunkoya, Olusegun O., Lundie-Jenkins, Geoff, Mudiyanselage, Nisansala Abeysinghe, Sydes, Travis, Calvert, Moya, McDonald-Madden, Eve and Bode, Michael (2023). Setting conservation priorities in multi-actor systems. BioScience, 73 (7), 522-532. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biad046
Braczkowski, Alexander R., O'Bryan, Christopher J., Lessmann, Christian, Rondinini, Carlo, Crysell, Anna P., Gilbert, Sophie, Stringer, Martin, Gibson, Luke and Biggs, Duan (2023). The unequal burden of human-wildlife conflict. Communications Biology, 6 (1) 182, 182. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04493-y
Sonter, Laura J., Lloyd, Thomas J., Kearney, Stephen G., Di Marco, Moreno, O'Bryan, Christopher J., Valenta, Richard K. and Watson, James E. M. (2022). Conservation implications and opportunities of mining activities for terrestrial mammal habitat. Conservation Science and Practice, 4 (12) e12806, 1-11. doi: 10.1111/csp2.12806
O’Bryan, Christopher J., Allan, James R., Suarez-Castro, Andres Felipe, Delsen, Dobrochna M., Buij, Ralph, McClure, Christopher J. W., Rehbein, Jose A., Virani, Munir Z., McCabe, Jennifer D., Tyrrell, Peter, Negret, Pablo J., Greig, Chris, Brehony, Peadar and Kissling, W. Daniel (2022). Human impacts on the world’s raptors. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10 624896, 1-14. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2022.624896
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Hamed, M. Kevin, Laughlin, Thomas F. and Coffey, J. Wallace (2022). Body-size and aerial basking dynamics of the Spiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera) in a human-modified landscape in Tennessee, USA. Journal of North American Herpetology, 2022 1, 8-13.
O’Bryan, Christopher J., Patton, Nicholas R., Hone, Jim, Lewis, Jesse S., Berdejo‐Espinola, Violeta, Risch, Derek R., Holden, Matthew H. and McDonald‐Madden, Eve (2021). Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) as a human‐mediated source of soil carbon emissions: Uncertainties and future directions. Global Change Biology, 28 (3), e1-e3. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15992
de Andrade Junior, Milton A. U., Watson, James E. M., Williams, Brooke A., Allan, James R., O'Bryan, Christopher J. and Maxwell, Sean L. (2021). How to halve the carbon and biodiversity impacts of biofuel-driven land-use change in Brazil. Biological Conservation, 260 109214, 109214. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109214
O’Bryan, Christopher J., Patton, Nicholas R., Hone, Jim, Lewis, Jesse S., Berdejo‐Espinola, Violeta, Risch, Derek R., Holden, Matthew H. and McDonald‐Madden, Eve (2021). Unrecognized threat to global soil carbon by a widespread invasive species. Global Change Biology, 28 (3) gcb.15769, 1-6. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15769
Braczkowski, Alexander, Fattebert, Julien, Schenk, Ralph, O'Bryan, Christopher, Biggs, Duan and Maron, Martine (2020). Evidence for increasing human-wildlife conflict despite a financial compensation scheme on the edge of a Ugandan National Park. Conservation Science and Practice, 2 (12) e309. doi: 10.1111/csp2.309
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Garnett, Stephen T., Fa, John E., Leiper, Ian, Rehbein, Jose, Fernández‐Llamazares, Álvaro, Jackson, Micha V., Jonas, Harry D., Brondizio, Eduardo S., Burgess, Neil D., Robinson, Catherine J., Zander, Kerstin K., Venter, Oscar and Watson, James E.M. (2020). The importance of indigenous peoples’ lands for the conservation of terrestrial mammals. Conservation Biology, 35 (3) cobi.13620, 1002-1008. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13620
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Braczkowski, Alexander R., Magalhães, Ricardo J. Soares and McDonald-Madden, Eve (2020). Conservation epidemiology of predators and scavengers to reduce zoonotic risk. The Lancet Planetary Health, 4 (8), e304-e305. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30166-2
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Allan, James R., Holden, Matthew, Sanderson, Christopher, Venter, Oscar, Di Marco, Moreno, McDonald-Madden, Eve and Watson, James E.M. (2020). Intense human pressure is widespread across terrestrial vertebrate ranges. Global Ecology and Conservation, 21 e00882, e00882. doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00882
Braczkowski, Alexander, Ruzo, Andrés, Sanchez, Fatima, Castagnino, Romi, Brown, Chip, Guynup, Sharon, Winter, Steve, Gandy, Devlin and O'Bryan, Christopher (2019). The ayahuasca tourism boom: an undervalued demand driver for jaguar body parts?. Conservation Science and Practice, 1 (12) e126. doi: 10.1111/csp2.126
Allan, James R., Watson, James E M, Marco, Moreno Di, O'Bryan, Christopher J., Possingham, Hugh P., Atkinson, Scott C. and Venter, Oscar (2019). Erratum: Correction: Hotspots of human impact on threatened terrestrial vertebrates (PLoS biology (2019) 17 3 (e3000158)). PLoS Biology, 17 (12) e3000598. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000598
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Holden, Matthew H. and Watson, James E.M. (2019). The mesoscavenger release hypothesis and implications for ecosystem and human well‐being. Ecology Letters, 22 (9) ele.13288, 1340-1348. doi: 10.1111/ele.13288
Allan, James R., Watson, James E. M., Di Marco, Moreno, O’Bryan, Christopher J., Possingham, Hugh P., Atkinson, Scott C. and Venter, Oscar (2019). Hotspots of human impact on threatened terrestrial vertebrates. PLOS Biology, 17 (3) e3000158, e3000158. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000158
Braczkowski, Alexander, Holden, Matthew H., O'Bryan, Christopher, Choi, Chi-Yeung, Gan, Xiaojing, Beesley, Nicholas, Gao, Yufang, Allan, James, Tyrrell, Peter, Stiles, Daniel, Brehony, Peadar, Meney, Revocatus, Brink, Henry, Takashina, Nao, Lin, Ming-Ching, Lin, Hsien-Yung, Rust, Niki, Salmo, Severino G., Watson, James Em, Kahumbu, Paula, Maron, Martine, Possingham, Hugh P. and Biggs, Duan (2018). Reach and messages of the world's largest ivory burn. Conservation Biology, 32 (4), 765-773. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13097
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Braczkowski, Alexander R., Beyer, Hawthorne L., Carter, Neil H., Watson, James E. M. and McDonald-Madden, Eve (2018). Author correction: The contribution of predators and scavengers to human well-being. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2 (5), 911-911. doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0527-1
Braczkowski, Alexander R., O'Bryan, Christopher J., Stringer, Martin J., Watson, James E. M., Possingham, Hugh P. and Beyer, Hawthorne L. (2018). Leopards provide public health benefits in Mumbai, India. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 16 (3), 176-182. doi: 10.1002/fee.1776
O’Bryan, Christopher J., Braczkowski, Alexander R., Beyer, Hawthorne L., Carter, Neil H., Watson, James E. M. and McDonald-Madden, Eve (2018). The contribution of predators and scavengers to human well-being. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2 (2), 229-236. doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0421-2
O'Bryan, C. J., Homyack, J. A., Baldwin, R. F., Kanno, Y. and Harrison, A. -L. (2016). Novel habitat use supports population maintenance in a reconfigured landscape. Ecosphere, 7 (3) e01228, e01228. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.1228
Homyack, Jessica A., O'Bryan, Christopher J., Thornton, Jamie E. and Baldwin, Robert F. (2016). Community occupancy of herpetofauna in roadside ditches in a managed pine landscape. Forest Ecology and Management, 361, 346-357. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2015.11.037
O'Bryan, Chris J., Hamed, M. Kevin, Coffey, J. Wallace, Rowell, Brent and Laughlin, Thomas F. (2015). Apalone spinifera (Spiny Softshell). Herpetological Review, 46 (3), 214-214.
Homyack, Jessica A., O'Bryan, Christopher J., Thornton, Jamie E. and Baldwin, Robert F. (2014). Anuran assemblages associated with roadside ditches in a managed pine landscape. Forest Ecology and Management, 334, 217-231. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2014.08.035
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Gray, Matthew J. and Brooks, Chad S. (2012). Further presence of ranavirus infection in amphibian populations of Tennessee, USA. Herpetological Review, 43 (2), 293-295.
O'Bryan, Christopher J., Jones, Andrew W. and Coffey, J. Wallace (2008). Southwest Virginia's first winter nest record of barn owl (Tyto alba). The Raven, 79 1, 3-4.
Data Collection
Abeysinghe Mudiyanselage, Nisansala, McDonald-Madden, Eve and O'Bryan, Christopher (2023). Survey data for Unravelling how collaboration impacts success of invasive species management. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/07591a8
Thesis
O'Bryan, Christopher Joel (2020). The exposure and contribution of predators and scavengers to humans. PhD Thesis, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.204
Newspaper Articles
Braczkowski, Alexander Richard, O'Bryan, Christopher, Biggs, Duan, Fattebert, Julien and Maron, Martine (2021, 01 12). Why paying people to tolerate wildlife is not the magic bullet for conservation The Conversation
Braczkowski, Alexander Richard , O'Bryan, Christopher J., Biggs, Duan and Jansen, Raymond (2020, 06 07). Un esfuerzo pionero para salvar al pangolín de la extinción The Conversation
O'Bryan, Christopher J. and Watson, James (2020, 02 27). ‘Intense’ human pressure is widespread among terrestrial vertebrates, study finds Mongabay
Allan, James , O'Bryan, Christopher J. and Watson, James (2019, 03 13). Guns, snares and bulldozers: new map reveals hotspots for harm to wildlife The Conversation
O'Bryan, Christopher, McDonald-Madden, Eve, Watson, James and Carter, Neil (2018, 04 23). Helping farmers and reducing car crashes: the surprising benefits of predators The Conversation
O'Bryan, Christopher J. and Watson, James (2018, 03 09). We should embrace scavengers and predators Scientific American
O'Bryan, Christopher and Braczkowski, Alexander Richard (2018, 03 08). Leopards in a city park in India may help lower human injuries and deaths from stray dog bites The Conversation