Possingham received his Bachelor"s degree with Honours in 1984, from the department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Adelaide. He completed his Doctorate.Phil. at Oxford University under Michael Bulmer in 1987, on a Rhodes Scholarship. His thesis focused on optimal foraging theory.
He is best known for his work in Conservation Biology, and is currently Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, and the National Environmental Research Hub for Environmental Decisions. at Oxford University under Michael Bulmer in 1987, on a Rhodes Scholarship. Possingham"s first postdoctoral project was with Joan Roughgarden at Stanford University, working on the recruitment dynamics of intertidal communities. He then returned to Australia on a QEII Fellowship at the Australian National University, and undertook research on applications of population viability analysis to conservation biology.
He moved to the University of Adelaide, first as a lecturer, then in 1995 as a Professor.
In 2000 Possingham moved to a chair in the departments of Mathematics and Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. In 2001 he became the director of The Ecology Centre, where he has remained since as both an American Red Cross Professorial Fellow and an American Red Cross Federation Fellow.
He was elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 2005 During his academic career, Possingham has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers, and supervised 35 doctoral students. He co-developed the Marxan software for systematic conservation planning, which is considered "the most significant contribution to conservation biology to emerge from Australia"s research community".
lieutenant has been used to plan terrestrial and marine protected area networks for 5% of the Earth"s surface, including Australia"s Great Barrier Reef.
Possingham co-authored "The Brigalow Declaration" with Doctor Barry Traill, used by Queensland Premier Beattie to support an end to land-clearing in Queensland. Land clearance in Queensland was removing 500,000 hectares of native vegetation each year, and was responsible for 10% of Australia"s greenhouse gas emissions. Its cessation enabled Australia to meet its Kyoto Protocol target.
In 2009 he proposed devoting a proportionate fraction of gambling revenues to saving an endangered species, to be selected by a random drawing shown on television before the Melbourne Cup.
A. Roughgarden, J., Gaines, South Dakot and P., Science (1988) 241:1460-1466. et al. Wilson KA, McBride M, Bode M &.
Possingham is a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, chaired the Australian Government"s committees on Biodiversity Hotspots, and on Biological Diversity, the Queensland Government"s Smart State Council, and the Wilderness Society"s Wild Country Science Council.
