Brett Bennett was an SSRC-International Dissertation Research Fellow in 2010. After graduating this past December with his PhD in history from the University of Texas at Austin, he took up his current positions as a permanent lecturer in modern history and an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow from 2011-2014 at the University of Western Sydney. His dissertation and current research explores how state scientific programs in Australia, South Africa, and India encouraged the introduction of exotic species of trees into each region, created novel ecosystems from the mixing of exotic and native plants, and inspired many of the technical methods used globally to select, breed, and grow exotic trees in plantations today.