Tom Schmidt

Tagline:ARC DECRA Fellow (University of Melbourne)

Melbourne VIC, Australia

personal photo of Tom Schmidt

Research

Invasive pests are a major global problem. I use genomic data to investigate recent evolutionary processes in pest populations, such as how insecticide resistance spreads across global regions and how pests move through human environments (like airports!).

I also develop and test protocols for using genetic data in conservation decision making and help develop new control strategies for mosquitoes.

Image

Academic Positions

  • ARC DECRA Fellow and Lecturer

    from: 2025, until: present

    Organization:University of Sydney

  • ARC DECRA Fellow

    from: 2023, until: present

    Organization:University of Melbourne

    Description:

    Population genomics of invasive insects

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    from: 2018, until: 2023

    Organization:University of Melbourne

    Description:

    Biosecurity genomics of mosquitoes || Wolbachia control programs in Australia and abroad || insecticide resistance evolution || dispersal biology

Teaching

  • Biosecurity: Managing Invasive Species

    From: 2023, Until: 2023

    Organization:University of MelbourneField:Biosecurity

  • Biology: Life's Complexity

    From: 2023, Until: 2023

    Organization:University of MelbourneField:Biology

  • Ecology in Changing Environments

    From: 2019, Until: 2024

    Organization:University of MelbourneField:Evolution and Ecology

Publications

  • Evolutionary consequences of long-distance dispersal in mosquitoes

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Current Opinion in Insect ScienceDate:2025
    Authors:
    Thomas L Schmidt

  • How Can Genomics Help or Hinder Wildlife Conservation?

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Annual Review of Animal BiosciencesDate:2024
    Authors:
    Thomas L Schmidt*Joshua A Thia*Ary A Hoffmann

  • Simulating Genetic Mixing in Strongly Structured Populations of the Threatened Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus)

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Evolutionary ApplicationsDate:2024
    Authors:
    John G BlackSteven JB CooperThomas L Schmidt*Andrew R Weeks*

  • Heterogeneous patterns of heterozygosity loss in isolated populations of the threatened eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii)

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Molecular EcologyDate:2024
    Authors:
    John G BlackAnthony RJ RooyenDean HeinzeRobbie GaffneyAry A HoffmannThomas L Schmidt*Andrew R Weeks*

  • Diversity and distribution of sodium channel mutations in Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Journal of Medical EntomologyDate:2024
    Authors:
    Nancy M Endersby-HarshmanThomas L SchmidtAry A Hoffmann

  • Global, asynchronous partial sweeps at multiple insecticide resistance genes in Aedes mosquitoes

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Nature CommunicationsDate:2024
    Authors:
    Thomas L SchmidtNancy M Endersby-HarshmanAnthony RJ RooyenMichelle KatuseleRebecca VinitLeanne J RobinsonMoses LamanStephan KarlAry A Hoffmann

  • Close kin dyads indicate intergenerational dispersal and barriers

    Journal ArticlePublisher:The American NaturalistDate:2023
    Authors:
    Thomas L SchmidtSamia ElfekihLi-Jun CaoShu-Jun WeiMohamed B Al-FageehMajed NassarAbdulaziz Al-MalikAry A Hoffmann

  • Evaluation of In2Care mosquito stations for suppression of the Australian backyard mosquito, Aedes notoscriptus (Diptera: Culicidae)

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Journal of Medical EntomologyDate:2023
    Authors:
    Véronique ParisNicholas BellThomas L SchmidtNancy M Endersby-HarshmanAry A Hoffmann

  • Urban population structure and dispersal of an Australian mosquito (Aedes notoscriptus) involved in disease transmission

    Journal ArticlePublisher:HeredityDate:2023
    Authors:
    Véronique ParisRahul V RanePeter T MeeStacey E LynchAry A HoffmannThomas L Schmidt

  • Genomic databanks provide robust assessment of invasive mosquito movement pathways and cryptic establishment

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Biological InvasionsDate:2023
    Authors:
    Thomas L SchmidtNancy M Endersby-HarshmanNina KuruczWilliam PettitVicki L KrauseGerhard EhlersMutizwa Odwell MuzariBart J CurrieAry A Hoffmann

Things I Like

Miles Davis

Shehan Karunatilaka

Dorothy Parker

Richard Weller

The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

Stewart Lee

Lou Reed

Robert E Howard

Withnail and I

The Jesus Lizard

The Kinks (1965-1972 era)

Merri Creek

Steve Albini

Sidney Nolan

Iggy Pop

Range expansions

Spatially explicit evolutionary models

Adam Curtis

Arthropoda

Nick Cave

Vertically-transmitted endosymbionts

Richard Brautigan

Mollusca

Hilary Mantel

Northrop Frye

HP Lovecraft

Monogenic genetic architectures

Jasmine Tea

Debussy

Marilyn Monroe

David Bowie

Federico Fellini

Michael Turelli

Brian Eno

Camille Paglia

Hokusai

Jarvis Cocker

Gareth Liddiard

The Gun Club

Jonathan Swift

The Golden Bough

Mark Rothko

Museo del Prado

Sewall Wright

Chopin

Irish, Norse, Greek, and Egyptian mythology

The Rolling Stones (1965-1972 era)

Echinodermata

Mogwai

Viz magazine

Robert Graves

Vincent van Gogh

Long distance dispersal

The Chills

Fat White Family

Leonard Cohen

Michelangelo Antonioni

Ennio Morricone

Umberto Eco

Tidyverse

David Mitchell

Jane Crawford

Iain M Banks' Culture series

Overdominance

Keats and Yeats

Parallel adaptation