Jordan McGrath

Lunga Kija descendent
Bachelor of Science Advanced (Honours),
majoring in Applied Mathematics and Wildlife Biology School of Environment and Science,
Griffith University

Jordan McGrath is a proud Lunga Kija descendent with a passion for protecting ecosystems in Australia and across the world. He therefore jumped at the opportunity to intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, an institution that uses incredible space-based approaches to conservation.

At JPL I will be a part of the Radar Concepts and Formulation team. The team is developing a new high-level tracking system to address the needs of the ecological community, giving vital information that will help to address current challenges. My job will be to engage with academics and literature to produce a paper supporting the scientific outcomes of this project.

Jordan expresses his excitement for trying new things in research, as he feels there is still so much to explore, and a diversity of innovative approaches is needed to address the complexity of current conservation challenges.

This will be a new experience for me, where I can see firsthand some of the crazy developments being made in radar technology. This will allow me to more deeply appreciate new ways of doing global conservation, as well as create lasting networks with key academics.

More than the project itself, Jordan adores the goals of the National Indigenous Space Academy. He feels empowering First Nations people is incredibly important and is involved with support for First Nation scholars overseas. He looks forward to meeting and working with four other like-minded First Nation students.

Why mathematical ecology?

Jordans passion for wildlife and environment came from a childhood full of hours spent outdoors. As he grew, he saw the need to protect wildlife, and so together with his interest in mathematics, he took to university to better understand how he can address this issue.

With these interests of biology and mathematics combined, he discovered more mathematical approaches to ecology. He fell in love with this approach to conservation, as he feels using models to understand current challenges, and optimising the use of limited resources, is the way of future conservation.

How previous experience links with JPL

Jordan’s study at Griffith University has left him little time to lay around. He is continually involved with research projects throughout his undergraduate degree, from fertiliser run-off impacts on the Great Barrier Reef network, to experimental frog research, and further still to spatial prioritisation of protected areas in Australia. These experiences continually push Jordan to new passions and understanding.

Moving internationally, Griffith also supported Jordan’s New Colombo Plan application, of which he was successful. On this Journey he visited six countries and lived in three of them. He spent six months in Singapore taking mathematics subjects, engaging with nature-based conservation, and understanding theoretical ecology. He then spent four months in Vietnam understanding the benefits and challenges of wildlife rescue work, where he worked closely with rescued animals. Finally, he spent three months in Japan, learning the language and understanding bear tracking and bear-human conflict in a regional town.

Jordan’s previous university and international experience, coupled with Griffith’s and Monash’s support, makes him well equipped to an international internship at JPL. He is looking to the next step of understanding space-based animal tracking and will continue to push the limit of his understanding in years to come.