Stephen Charles Donnellan (born 1954) is the Chief Research Scientist of the Evolutionary Biology Unit at the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultur ...

. He is also an Affiliate Professor at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

. Donnellan moved from New South Wales to South Australia in 1985 to undertake research recovering the evolutionary history of Australia's lizards. This work led to the establishment of a comprehensive collection of reptile and frog tissues from Australia and New Guinea. In 1990 Donnellan joined the South Australian Museum's staff and established the DNA laboratory there. His research since has focused on the evolution and biogeography of Australasian fauna. Donnellan has used molecular genetic methods to examine issues in the population genetics,

phylogeography Phylogeography is the study of the historical processes that may be responsible for the past to present geographic distributions of genealogical lineages. This is accomplished by considering the geographic distribution of individuals in light of ge ...

and phylogenetic relationships of vertebrates and selected invertebrate groups. Many of his research projects have been supported by the

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

(ARC). His work has been published in numerous scientific journals, including ''Biological Conservation'', ''

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

'', '' International Journal for Parasitology'', '' PLOS One'', ''Restoration Ecology'', ''

Zoologica Scripta ''Zoologica Scripta'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal on systematic zoology, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It was established in 197 ...

'' and ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...

''.

Giant Australian cuttlefish

In the 2000s, Donnellan studied ''Sepia apama'', the Australian

giant cuttlefish The giant cuttlefish (''Ascarosepion apama''), also known as the Australian giant cuttlefish, is the world's largest cuttlefish species, growing to in mantle (mollusc), mantle length and up to in total length (total length meaning the whole ...

, in South Australian waters with Bronwyn Gillanders from the

. While analysing its population structure and movement patterns, he developed a fondness for the animal. He has described its mass breeding aggregation at Point Lowly near Whyalla as "a fantastic natural phenomenon." Donnellan ultimately determined that a genetically distinct population of the species exists, confined to the waters of Northern Spencer Gulf. In 2011, Donnellan expressed concern over the diminishing population forming the breeding aggregation at Point Lowly, and said that he believed constructing a new desalination plant nearby could have further adverse impacts.

Education

Donnellan has a science degree with honours from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

(1976) and a PhD from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

(1985).

Memberships

* Australian Society of Herpetologists * Genetics Society of AustralAsia * Society of Australian Systematic Biologists *

Society for the Study of Evolution The Society for the Study of Evolution is a professional organization of evolutionary biologists. It was formed in the United States in 1946 to promote the study of evolution and the integration of various fields of science concerned with evolution ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnellan, Steve Australian scientists Living people University of New South Wales alumni 1954 births Australian herpetologists