Dr Matt Shaw

Dr Matt Shaw has always been interested in nature and joined the Queensland Naturalists’ Club soon after moving to Brisbane in early high school. After a Zoology degree at University of Queensland, he worked in the aquaculture industry and afterwards obtained research assistant work at Queensland Museum on spiders in 1992, followed by Collection Management work in Terrestrial Vertebrates in 1993.

When working on a rare Grass Owl that had died mysteriously, he discovered a paralysis tick on its neck. This provoked a chain of questions and detailed study of mites and ticks. Matt continued to work at Queensland Museum, mainly in public outreach roles until 2013, punctuated by a 1st class Honours degree on ticks at University of Queensland, a stint during 2005 as a researcher on molecular phylogeny of dermanyssoid mites at Lincoln University, New Zealand, and an ABRS-funded study of mite systematics (2006) and PhD studies of nest mites and dermanyssoid mites at University of Queensland. In 2013 he joined Canterbury Museum as Associate Curator, Natural History and in 2018 became Collection Manager in Terrestrial Invertebrates at South Australian Museum. Matt joined the Australian Museum Research Institute as Collection Manager (Arachnology) in July 2023.

• BSc (Hons), University of Queensland
• PhD, University of Queensland

Hoogstraal Award 2000