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Dr Adcock is an analytical chemist primarily interested in the study of lipids and lipid oxidation. Lipids (oils and fats) are a diverse group of molecules, most commonly known for their roles in cell membrane structure and energy storage, but are also vital signalling molecules whose importance is only recently being fully recognised. Lipids are also a component of many foods and a vital part of a healthy diet.

Dr Adcock is currently investigating lipid oxidation in food systems, specifically focussed on developing new methods to measure lipid oxidation and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms driving oxidation. Increased understanding of lipid oxidation can be used to increase food stability and safety. She has also developed chromatographic methods for the analysis of other common lipid types such as fatty acids, sterols and tocopherols. Dr Adcock has synthesised novel lipid compounds using enzymatic reactions, and developed chromatographic methods for the analysis of these compounds. Her work is specifically focussed on omega-3 fatty acids and the anti-inflammatory compounds that can be synthesised from them. These compounds may be beneficial in the treatment of many inflammatory diseases, including arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, periodontal disease and allergies.

Previously, Dr Adcock has developed a wide range of new methodology for the analysis of foods, biological fluids, industrial process samples, pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs. During her postdoctoral fellowship at RMIT University, Dr Adcock developed advanced separation techniques, based on comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, for the rapid analysis of essential oil and perfume products, and worked in the R&D department at Firmenich - the world's second largest flavour and fragrance company - located in Switzerland.

Associate Professor Luis Afonso is currently the Deputy Director of the
Bachelor of Science at Deakin University. Recently, between February 2022 and
May 2023, Luis had been the Faculty of SEBE HDR Coordinator, and between
2016-2019 the Director, International Research Training (Deakin Research).
Luis has been the cluster leader for the 2-digit Division 30 Agricultural,
Veterinary and Food Sciences - ERA 2023 (2022-2023). Since 2018, he has been a
member of the University's Autonomous Sanctions Risk Assessment Panel. Since
2012, Luis leads the fish stress physiology research program at Deakin
University. Previously, Luis had been HDR Coordinator (Warrnambool Campus
2014-2016) and the Director of the Bachelor of Fisheries and Aquaculture
(2013-2014). Prior to his work at Deakin, Luis held a research chair position
in Aquaculture and Environment at the British Columbia Centre for Aquatic
Health Sciences, Canada (2009-2012).
Associate Professor Luis Afonso has made significant contributions to both
fundamental and applied research in fish physiology and aquaculture. His
research program addresses areas such fish stress, health, and welfare,
smoltification and reproductive physiology. He has been using an integrative
approach (immunology, endocrinology, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics)
to investigate the areas above, including important fish health and welfare
issues caused by long-term stress. This has resulted in further collaborative
work and being recognized and accepted by peers in other related areas such
applied nanobiotechnology and ecotoxicology. In Canada and Australia, Luis has
led several projects in collaboration with the Aquaculture Industry, as he
believes that an interdisciplinary team-based approach (academics and industry
partners) is vital for understanding, maintaining, and advancing our knowledge
in life sciences.
In teaching and learning, Associate Professor Luis Afonso is recognized for
the development of creative practical assessments, and for improving students'
learning experiences and networking by embedding work integrated learning
(bringing the Aquaculture Industry to the classroom). Luis has been teaching
in areas such as comparative animal physiology, fish physiology, reproduction
and health, and career education and work-integrated learning units.

Research Groups
Internal collaboration: Dr.David Cahill's: nanomaterial and nanoscience
Internal collaboration: Dr. Aaron Schultz: Aquatic organisms physiology and
ecotoxicology
Internal collaboration: Dr. Andrew Oxley: aquatic organisms microbiome
External collaboration: Dr. Pushplata Singh, TERI-Deakin, India
External collaboration: Dr. Toshiki Nakano, University of Tohoku, Japan
External collaboration: Dr. Stephen McCormick - Conte Anadromous Fish Research
Laboratory, USA
External collaboration: Dr. Christine Hyunh - Petuna Ltd., and Nautilus
Collaboration, Australia
External collaboration: Dr. Bradley Evans - Tassal Group, Australia
External collaboration: Dr. Morgan Brown - CSIRO, Australia

I am a Lecturer in Environmental Sustainability and an ARC Early Career Industry Fellow in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University, where I work on one of the most urgent challenges in conservation: how do we protect wildlife when the food we eat, the farms we rely on, and a warming climate are all reshaping the land at once?

 

My research sits at the intersection of biodiversity conservation, environmental policy, climate change and food systems. I develop practical, evidence-based tools that help industries, land managers, and governments act on nature, identifying which species are most at risk from agriculture and climate change ^[1,2], what conservation actions work on working farms ^[3,4,5], and how those actions can be scaled up under different futures ^[6,7]. Much of this work is grounded in private land conservation and understanding how farmers and landholders can be supported to protect species and landscapes alongside productive agriculture ^[4,5,8].

 

I am currently leading an ARC Early Career Industry Fellowship with WWF-Australia (2026–2029) to embed biodiversity outcomes alongside agricultural production, building the kind of decision-ready science that links agriculture's footprint to real outcomes for species and people on the ground. I also serve as an Associate Editor for Conservation Science and Practice and teach into Deakin's Bachelor of Environmental Science (BESS) and Wildlife Conservation programs as well as the Master of Sustainability programs, including units in GIS, research methods, and global environmental change.

 

Before Deakin, I completed my PhD at the University of Queensland (conferred in 2020) and held a postdoctoral position examining private land conservation for koalas under climate change. My work has contributed to national conservation and land-use planning initiatives through partnerships with Climateworks Centre, CSIRO, Biodiversity Conservation Trust and WWF-Australia, and I have published across conservation science and environmental policy ^[9,10,11,12].

 

🌱 Conservation Crossroads Lab

I lead the Conservation Crossroads Lab, where we work at the intersection of conservation, climate, and communities. Our research spans ecology, spatial modelling, sustainable agriculture, social science, and policy across Australia and beyond. Collaboration is central to everything we do, whether that means working alongside researchers across disciplines or co-designing tools and outcomes with industry partners, NGOs, and land managers who will put them into practice. We believe the best science is both rigorous and genuinely useful in the real world. I am also affiliated with Deakin's Planet-A Sustainability Science Group, a multidisciplinary team advancing integrative science for a healthier planet. I supervise a growing group of research students across PhD, Masters, and Honours levels, including a cotutelle PhD student jointly conferred by Deakin and IIT Madras. Please review the My Research page for potential Honours and Masters research projects. 

 

Selected publications

 

A complete and up-to-date publication list can be found in the My Research Outputs tab. 

 

1. Hu T, Archibald CL, Wang J et al. (2026). Historical land cover composition and recent land cover change drive disproportionate range exposure across Australian species. Biological Conservation 319, 111889.
2. Archibald CL, Summers DM, Graham EM, Bryan BA (2024). Habitat suitability maps for Australian flora and fauna under CMIP6 climate scenarios. GigaScience 23, giae002.
3. Archibald CL, Dade MC, Sonter LJ et al. (2021). Do conservation covenants consider the delivery of ecosystem services? Environmental Science & Policy 115, 99–107. 
4. Archibald C, Fielding K, Bekessy S et al. (2025). Can conservation covenants help sustain nature and livelihoods? Factors associated with conservation covenant adopters in Australia. People and Nature 7(8), 1851–1864. 
5. Archibald C, Williams BA, Tulloch AIT et al. (2025). Systematic conservation planning for private land can no longer overlook people. SSRN preprint. 
6. Pan X, Wang J, Hadjikakou M, Williams N, Archibald CL et al. (2025). Achieving nature-positive net-zero pathways and a thriving agri-food industry in Australia without stressing water catchments. ESS Open Archive.
7. Clark M, Pienkowski T, Jagadish A, Archibald CL et al. (2024). Forecasting adoption with epidemiological models can enable adaptively scaling out conservation. One Earth 7(10), 1820–1832.
8. Williams B, Archibald CL, Brazill-Boast J et al. (2024). Optimal investments in private land conservation depend more on landholder preferences than climate change. Environmental Research Letters.
9. Archibald CL, Barnes MD, Tulloch AIT et al. (2020). Differences among protected area governance types matter for conserving vegetation communities at risk of loss and fragmentation. Biological Conservation 247, 108533.
10. Archibald C, Friedman R (2023). Weaving nature into social safety nets. Nature Sustainability.
11. Zyngier RL, Archibald CL, Bryan BA et al. (2024). Knowledge co-production for identifying indicators and prioritising solutions for food and land system sustainability in Australia. Sustainability Science 19(6), 1897–1919.
12. Mills M, Bode M, Mascia MB, Archibald CL et al. (2019). How conservation initiatives go to scale. Nature Sustainability 2(10), 935–940.