I am a vegetation ecologist with a background in dendrochronology and environmental change. Current research includes examining the impacts of an invasive palm on Fiji’s rainforests and the role of ecosystems in disaster risk reduction, the results of which were published in Nature Sustainability. Recent publications focus on topics such as climate-induced forest mortality, relationships between naturalized and native plant species in SE Pacific, and mangrove management in Fiji. At The University of the South Pacific, I am course coordinator for GE101 Intro. to Physical Geography, GE201 Biogeography – Plants, Animals and The Human Environment, and GE301 Applied Pacific Island Biogeography and Ethnobiology. I also contribute towards the teaching of various other units and supervise MSc and PhD students.

Undergraduate Courses:

• GE101 Physical Geography: Global Biophysical Environment
• GE201 – Biogeography – Plants, Animals and the Human Environment
• GE301 – Applied Pacific Island Biogeography and Ethnobiology

• Biogeography
• disturbance ecology
• invasive species
• vegetation dynamics
• ecosystem services for disaster risk reduction
• dendrochronology/dendroecology.

• Association of American Geographers
• Biogeography and Conservation Research Group, USP
• Environmental, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Research Group, USP
• Geographical Society of Ireland
• International Union of Forest Research Organizations
• Irish Quaternary Association
• Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction
• Tree-Ring Society

• Sudmeier-Rieux, K, Galvin, S, Michael Nehren, U, Moos, C, Vicarelli, M, Walz, Y, Emerton, L, Triyanti, A, Doswald, N (2025) Editorial: Special issue: Nature-based solutions for reducing disaster risk. What is the evidence? Nature-Based Solutions 7:100207.  DOI: 10.1016/j.nbsj.2024.100207
• Boehmer, HJ, Galvin, S (2024) Climate-induced forest mortality in the tropical Pacific islands: what do we really know? Pacific Science 77:129-162. DOI: 10.2984/77.2.2.
• Cáceres-Polgrossi, L, Di Rico, M, Parra, D, Seebens, H, Galvin, S, Boehmer, HJ (2023) The relationship between naturalized and native plant species: insights from oceanic islands of the south-east Pacific after 200 years of records. Neobiota 86:21-43. DOI: 10.3897/ neobiota.86.102661.
• Forey, E, Lodhar, S, Galvin, S, Lowry, J, Gopaul, S, Hanson, G, Carboni, G, Chauvat, M, Boehmer, HJ (2023) Alien palm invasion leads to selective biotic filtering of resident plant communities towards competitive functional traits. Biological Invasions 25:1-20. Doi: 10.1007/s10530-022-02991-4.
• Rubayat, A, Rollings, N, Galvin, S, Mitloehner, R, Boehmer, HJ (2023) Tree diversity and vegetation structure and management of mangrove systems on Viti Levu, Fiji Islands. Southern Forests. DOI: 10.2989/20702620.2023.2218560.
• Sudmeier-Rieux, K, Arce-Mojica, T, Boehmer, HJ, Doswald, N, Emerton, L, Freiss, D, Galvin, S, Hagenlocher, M, Laban, P, Lacambra, C, Lange, W, McAdoo, BG, Moos, C, Mysiak, J, Narvaez, U, Nehren, U, Peduzzi, P, Renaud, FG, Sandholz, S, Schreyers, L, Sebasvari, Z, Triyanti, P, Van Eijk, P, Van Staveren, M, Vicarelli, M, Walz, Y (2021) Scientific evidence for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction. Nature Sustainability 4:1-8. Doi: 10.1038/ s41893-021-00732-4.
• da Silva, C, Beaman, J, Dorey, J, Barker, S, Congedi, N, Elmer, M, Galvin, S, Tuiwawa, M, Stevens, M, Alton, L, Schwarz, M, Kellermann, V. (2021) Climate change and invasive species: a physiological performance comparison of invasive and endemic bees in Fiji. Journal of Experimental Biology 224:1-9. Doi: 10.1242/jeb.230326.
• Ongoma, V, Galvin, S, Rahman, MA, Ayugi, B, Nisha, F, Shilenje, ZW, Ogwang, BA (2020) Variability of diurnal temperature range over Pacific Island Countries – a cases study of Fiji. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics 133:85-95. Doi: 10.1007/s00703-020-00743-4.
• Boehmer, HJ, Hanson, GC, Lodhar, S, Matthieu, J-B, Lens, M-I, Galvin, S, Lowry, J (2016) Rapid emergence of a novel ecosystem in a Pacific island forest reserve. Proceedings of the 49^th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland 276-277.
• Cawley, M, Galvin, S (2016) Irish migration and return: continuities and changes over time. Irish Geography 49:11-27.
• Galvin, S, Potito, A, Hickey, K (2014) Evaluating the dendroclimatological potential of Taxus baccata (yew) in southwest Ireland. Dendrochronologia 32:144-152. DOI: 10.1016/ j.dendro.2014.03.004.
• Galvin, S (2012) Using urban areas as field sites for physical geography – a case study examining weathering in Galway City. Geographical Viewpoint 40:28-29.
• Galvin, S, Hickey, K, Potito, A (2011) Identifying volcanic signals in Irish temperature observations since A.D. 1800. Irish Geography 44:97-110.

• Lenz, M-I, Galvin, S, Keppel, G, Gopaul, S, Kowasch, M, Watling, D, Dyer, MJ, Lodhar, S, Hanson, GC, Erasmi, S, Boehmer, HJ (2022) Where to Invade Next: Inaction on Biological Invasions Threatens Sustainability in a Small Island Developing State of the Tropical South Pacific. In: Low, PS (ed.) Sustainable Development – Asia-Pacific Perspectives pp. 393-406. Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/9780511977961. 035.