MEDIA AND OUTREACH

I have strong experience communicating science across television, radio, podcasts, news media and social platforms where my research has attracted national and international attention. In 2025, I was selected for the ABC Top 5 Emerging Thinkers and Communicators program were I completed a 2-week intensive media training residency at the ABC. Since, I have regularly contributed expert commentary across national media and have also co-produced podcast episodes, helping translate ecological research into engaging stories for broad audiences.

For media inquiries, please contact me at patrick.finnerty@sydney.edu.au

News & Digital

  • 2026 – Ambushes, conscripts and amphibious assault: The guerilla war in Sydney’s backyard – Sydney Morning Herald, double-page spread

  • 2026 – Australian bush rats reintroduced to Sydney's parks with help of scented towels – ABC News

  • 2026 – What happens when an animal dies high in the mountains? – The University of Sydney

  • 2025 – Rewilding success in the urban jungles – COSMOS Magazine

  • 2025 – Urban Rewilding Makes Cities More Biodiverse And Better For Our Health – Forbes

  • 2024 – A novel way to stop animals eating your plants – The Weekend Australian Magazine

  • 2024 – ‘Smell misinformation’ used to stop animals eating threatened plant species – Australian Geographic

  • 2023 – Gently Nudging Giants – Bela-Bela Times, South Africa

Podcasts

Radio

  • 2026 – Why feral horses should not be in National Parks – ABC Radio National, Drive

  • 2026 – The future of urban rewilding – ABC Radio National, Breakfast

  • 2026 – We want rats in our cities? – ABC Radio Nation, Breakfast

  • 2025 – How ‘urban rewilding’ is helping endangered species – ABC Radio National, Drive

  • 2025 – How can we reintroduce eastern quolls back into mainland Australia? – 2GB, Morning Show

  • 2024 – Harnessing mesas as a new tool to reintroduce threatened species in Australia ‘beyond the fence’ – 2GB, Morning Show

  • 2024 – Bringing rewilding ‘beyond the fence’ in Australia – ABC Radio Sydney, Richard Glover’s Self-Improvement Wednesdays

  • 2024 – Using smell to protect native plants from herbivores – ABC Radio Sydney, Richard Glover’s Self-Improvement Wednesdays

  • 2024 – ‘Olfactory misinformation’ as a new tool to protect plants from pesky herbivores – ABC Radio Canberra & ABC Radio National

Television

Social media

I also work closely with the University team to develop engaging digital content around my research. This includes self-filming fieldwork, interviews and research updates, capturing footage from remote field sites, and helping shape stories for social media and other digital platforms. I enjoy bringing audiences behind the scenes of ecological research and finding accessible, visual ways to communicate how science is actually done.

Outreach

I’m passionate about making ecology and conservation accessible beyond academia and regularly speak with community groups, schools and public audiences about wildlife, rewilding and environmental change.

Public Speaking & Community Events

I regularly give public talks on wildlife conservation and ecology. Recent events include a Biodiversity Council pub talk on the state of the Australian environment (2026), Pint of Science (2026), the Royal Zoological Society of NSW’s Wildlife at the Watering Hole series (2024), and a public evening talk at Willoughby Council’s Chatswood Library (2024). I have also presented to the Australian Plants Society NSW and delivered seminars for the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

School Engagement

From 2020–2023, I helped lead the University of Sydney’s Unearthing Science and Biology high-school outreach programs, working with school students to introduce ecological research, wildlife conservation and pathways into science.

Science Communication & Researcher Engagement

I also develop and lead workshops helping scientists communicate their work more effectively. In 2026, I co-organised Science for effective wildlife management through the the Australasian Wildlife Management Society. In 2026, I organsied a full-day students careers day, lining up several panelists across academia, govenment, and private sectors. In 2025, I co-organised From Fieldwork to Front Page – Getting Your Science into the Media through the Australasian Wildlife Management Society and Royal Zoological Society of NSW, and previously led a workshop on creating effective graphical abstracts and visual science communication.

Interested in having me speak at a community event, school or public forum? Please get in touch.