His research is characterised by the development of quantitative methods, and insights into key issues facing the discipline, including national and global leadership in conservation science and practice. He is interested in uncertainty and conservation decision making and has published on a wide range of technical and policy issues around conservation and natural resource management, including optimal conservation investment, optimal monitoring and adaptive management, systematic conservation planning, population viability analysis, and habitat modelling and mapping.

Brendan’s expertise is recognized both internationally and closer to home in Australia: he has been invited to lead work for the IPBES assessment, serve as a delegate to the CBD, and is regularly sought after by government, civil society, popular media, industry and NGOs to provide expertise, serve on technical working groups, give interviews, sit on advisory panels, brief Ministers, and participate in Parliamentary inquires. Brendan values working in a respectful, diverse and inclusive environment, and through his research embraces the opportunity to collaborate with brilliant researchers and practitioners that span all career stages, and who represent a huge variety of cultures and orientations.