Tatsuya Amano

Through the translatE project I have not only been producing scientific outcomes, but also transforming people’s views of the problem through dissemination activities. Our research is extremely wide-reaching. For example, one of our recent papers has been viewed over 80,000 times to date. Since 2019 our work has been featured in over 300 media outlets globally including Nature, Science, The Guardian, Scientific American, Le Monde, Japan Times, and the ABC, a number of policy documents (including those by the OECD and International Union for Conservation of Nature), and so on. I have delivered over 30 invited/keynote presentations so far in Australia, Germany, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, UK, and USA.

I am also committed to devising, proposing, and implementing solutions to the issue of language barriers in science. For example, I published a list of ten tips for overcoming language barriers in science (on UQ website and in Amano et al 2021 Nature Human Behaviour), proposed ideal policies and supports for non-native English speakers in academic journals by reviewing guidelines across more than 700 biological science journals (Arenas-Castro et al 2024 Proc R Soc B), released two interactive tools to raise awareness of language barriers in conservation (Bird language diversity shiny app and a database of non-English-language evidence for conservation), organised two workshops at UQ on overcoming language barriers in science involving academics and journal editors, and supported the launch of an English writing workshops at the UQ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science. Our project has driven a number of positive movements in overcoming language barriers in science and the implementation of solutions in various sectors, thereby contributing to enhancing diversity, inclusion, and integrity in science.

I have also led collaborations with non-academic organisations (Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and Birdlife Australia) in evaluating the latest status of migratory shorebird species in Australia. The project’s outcomes, now published as a report to the National Environmental Science Program, provide comprehensive assessments of population status of 14 migratory shorebird species, some of which are seriously endangered. The results have directly informed the Federal Government’s Threatened Species Listing decisions, and Birdlife International/International Union for Conservation of Nature’s latest revision to global bird species conservation status.