Commencing in the early 1990’s, Dr Claridge’s formative research examined interrelationships among wildlife, plants and mycorrhizal fungi. These interrelationships have been shown to offer resilience to forested and woodland landscapes, even during times of extreme stress such as after wildfires. From there, he has since led projects looking variously at: (i) the use of satellite tracking technology to explore landscape-scale movement patterns of wild dogs in relation to farming landscapes and conservation reserves; (ii) the non-target impacts of 1080, in relation to native predatory marsupials; (iii) the efficacy of fox control in restoring threatened native wildlife, and; (iv) environmental impacts of introduced deer in the Australian Alps. All of this research has led to practical outcomes for land management.

Dr Claridge is the southern NSW site leader for the NSW Feral Cat Project, focussed on examining ways to manage feral cats at landscape scales, and identifying benefits of control work on that invasive predator for native fauna. That project is principally funded through the NSW Environmental Trust and is a joint venture between the NSW Government and the University of New England. Within that team Dr Claridge collaborates closely with Drs Guy Ballard, Tarnya Cox, Bronwyn Fancourt and Paul Meek, together with other staff at DPI VPRU and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. Major stakeholders in this project also include relevant regional Local Land Services, Forest Corporation of NSW and private landholders and organisations.

Outside of the feral cat project Dr Claridge continues to work on developing optimal monitoring practices for measuring success of invasive species management programs – a topic shared collaboratively among the staff at VPRU. These projects are funded through state government initiatives such as the Saving Our Species Program and involve collaborations with staff across other parts of DPIE. Alongside these research endeavours he is also closely involved in threatened species monitoring programs across the State, including work on the spotted-tailed quoll, which sits at the intersection of operational programs aimed at minimising predation on domestic stock by wild dogs.