Paola Raupp

Western Sydney University

Paola is a first-year PhD student at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, based at Western Sydney University. She holds a Master's degree in Ecology and Conservation of Natural Resources (2021), preceded by a Bachelor’s degree in Biology (2018) and an Associate's degree in Agriculture (2014). She worked as an Ecological Restoration Technician (2022) on the diagnosis, planting, and monitoring of areas under restoration in Brazil, mainly by the direct seeding method. She is particularly fascinated by studying and exploring ways to overcome environmental and social barriers in ecological restoration.

Paola is part of a collaborative research program supporting the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan (CPCP) through the development of a study that will positively impact western Sydney’s ecological heritage. Her project, titled Barriers to Success in Ecological Restoration: Soil Health Promoting Ecosystem Function and Resilience, aims to identify and overcome soil physicochemical and biological barriers to improve the ecological restoration success of degraded areas. Specifically, she will explore the most effective soil preparation and manipulative restoration treatments to recover soil health and the vegetation of threatened ecological communities (TECs), such as Woodlands. The experiments will include controlled environment experiments and field studies within the planned area of the CPCP. Overall, this project will inform better below and aboveground restoration outcomes, which is a baseline for future bush regeneration projects in the Cumberland region and worldwide.