Jackson was privileged to grow up in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, where he gained a strong appreciation of the natural world. He completed his undergraduate degree in biodiversity and conservation at Flinders University in Adelaide, where he became interested in the ability of modern genomics technology to inform conservation of threatened species. In his honours degree, Jackson used a genomic approach to understand the mating system of the Adelaide trapdoor spider. Trapdoor spiders are incredible animals – they have decades-long lifespans, which they spend almost exclusively in humid, lidded burrows to avoid moisture loss. They have a low dispersal ability, with most species restricted to small distributions, many of which have unfortunately been fragmented by land clearing. This land clearing has caused serious declines in abundance in several species, necessitating urgent conservation.

Jackson is now a Forrest PhD Scholar at UWA’s Centre for Evolutionary Biology. He is continuing his research on trapdoor spiders, but is shifting his focus to the shield-backed trapdoor spiders – a diverse group of 17 species, 16 of which are found exclusively in south-west WA. Many species in the group have iconic shield-like abdomens, which they use to plug their burrows, helping them avoid predation and minimise moisture loss. Unfortunately, they are not only threatened by land clearing, which has already resulted in several species being listed as threatened under state and/or federal legislation, but also by climate change, due to their reliance on humid conditions and the drying climate of south-west WA. In collaboration with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Jackson will use genomic approaches to assess the genetic diversity of shield-backed trapdoor spiders and identify populations both at-risk and well-adapted to climate change, which will inform conservation management and help these amazing animals persist well into the future.