Craig Thornton, Project Leader
Meet Craig Thornton, a senior scientist from the Department of Environment and Science in Rockhampton. With a love of the great outdoors, an affinity for conservation and an interest in agriculture, Craig completed a Bachelor of Land Resource Science in 1998 at the University of Queensland, St Lucia. He then commenced work with the Department of Natural Resources in Biloela where he worked on both the Brigalow Catchment Study and the Biloela Tillage Trial over the next 10 years. In 2008, he took over as project leader for the Brigalow Catchment Study full-time and led the study during its adaptive land management phase. After swearing to never go back to university, Craig completed a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in 2012 which examined how peak runoff rates at the Brigalow Catchment Study changed with land development. He also completed Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) on the effects of land development on soil fertility and water quality in 2022. One aspect Craig enjoys about his job is that the knowledge generated from the study helps to guide agricultural best management practice towards long-term sustainability. He is constantly perplexed that not everyone considers the study to be the centre of the universe.
Contact Craig directly by email or phone (07 4837 3373).
Amanda Elledge, Project Officer
Meet Amanda Elledge, a scientist from the Department of Environment and Science in Rockhampton. She has always loved spending time with animals and in nature, which has led her on a diverse career path. In high school, Amanda did casual work in vet clinics and then went on to complete a Bachelor of Applied Science in wildlife biology. Based at the University of Queensland agricultural campus at Gatton, most of her degree was focused on production animals. She then moved into the area of vertebrate pest management for her postgraduate studies, investigating methods for assessing dingo purity for her Honours degree (Hons) and then the habitat preferences and environmental impacts of feral pigs in north-eastern Australian rainforests for her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). After nine years at university, Amanda accepted a job with the Department of Environment and Resource Management in 2011 to work on the Brigalow Catchment Study. One aspect Amanda enjoys about her job is travel for fieldwork, which allows her to view some of Queensland’s beautiful landscapes and provides opportunities for her to stop and spend time with both working dogs and cattle. Projects like the Brigalow Catchment Study are rare internationally, and Amanda feels it has been a great privilege to have been a custodian of the data collection and resulting publications for over a decade.
Contact Amanda directly by email or phone (07 4837 3379).
