EDUCATION 

2012 – 2017 
Ph.D. in Zoology 
University of Melbourne, Department of Zoology  
Dissertation: The temperature and water dynamics of reptiles in changing climates 

2007 – 2011 
B.A (with first class honours) in Biology 
University of Nevada, Reno 
Concentrations: Wildlife Ecology 
Completion of voluntary honours thesis Aug 2010 – May 2011 
Dissertation: Patterns of dinosaur richness in relation to novel and existing extinction hypotheses 

AWARDS AND HONOURS  
Australia
Nominated for 2021 Bayer Researcher of the Year by AUSVEG collaborators 
Selected as one of four Australian Biosecurity Champion for the Australian Biosecurity 2030 Workshop
Awarded best talk of the inaugural 2019 Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative symposium 
Awarded best student talk at the Australia New Zealand Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference in 2012 and again 2015 

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS 
Full list available on google scholar
Maino, J. L., Pirtle, E. I., Baudrot, V., Ridland, P. M., & Umina, P. A. (2023). Forecasting the potential distribution of invasive leafminer pests, Liriomyza spp. (Diptera: Agromyzidae), and their natural enemies. Austral Entomology.
Pirtle, E. I., Umina, P. A., Hauser, C. E., & Maino, J. L. (2021). Using mock surveillance to quantify pest detectability prior to establishment of exotic leafminers. Crop Protection, 148, 105713. 
Pirtle, E. I., van Rooyen, A. R., Maino, J., Weeks, A. R., & Umina, P. A. (2021). A molecular method for biomonitoring of an exotic plant‐pest: Leafmining for environmental DNA. Molecular Ecology, 30(19), 4913-4925. 
Pirtle, Elia, Tracy Christopher, & Kearney, Michael R. “The impact of the effects of climate change on behaviour.” Lizard Behaviour. Evolutionary and mechanistic perspectives. Bels, Vincent L. and Russell, Anthony P (Eds). CRC Press. (2018) 
Kirkland, L.S., Pirtle, E.I., & Umina, P.A. (2018) Responses of the Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) and bird cherry oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi) to insecticide seed treatments in wheat. Crop and Pasture Science 69 (10), 966-973 
Xu, X., Ridland, P. M., Umina, P. A., Gill, A., Ross, P. A., Pirtle, E., & Hoffmann, A. A. (2021). High Incidence of Related Wolbachia across Unrelated Leaf-Mining Diptera. Insects, 12(9), 788. 
Ward, S., van Helden, M., Heddle, T., Ridland, P. M., Pirtle, E., & Umina, P. A. (2020). Biology, ecology and management of Diuraphis noxia (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in Australia. Austral Entomology, 59(2), 238-252. 
Ridland, P. M., Umina, P. A., Pirtle, E. I., & Hoffmann, A. A. (2020). Potential for biological control of the vegetable leafminer, Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae), in Australia with parasitoid wasps. Austral Entomology, 59(1), 16-36. 
Maino, J.M., Pirtle, E.I., & Kearney, M.R. (2016) “The effect of egg size on hatch time and metabolic rate in developing insect embryos”. Functional Ecology.  
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