ESS researchers
Staff
(alphabetically)
- Dr Helena Bender
Helena Bender is a teaching specialist who is interested in the intersection between social and biophysical systems and the sustainability of the global ecosystem. More information at: Find an expert (University of Melbourne)
- Dr Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb
Ellycia is a Lecturer in Ecosystem Governance & Policy. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist and her research focuses primarily on the governance of the global ocean.
- Dr Amy Hahs
Amy Hahs is an urban ecologist with an established research career investigating how urban landscapes impact the local ecology. Since 1999, Amy has written and co-authored over 100 academic articles and delivered more than 70 talks, lectures and interviews to Australian and international audiences. More information at: Find an expert (University of Melbourne)
- Professor Tom Kompas
Tom Kompas is a Professor of Environmental Economics and Biosecurity and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia.
- Dr Stephanie Lavau
Stephanie Lavau is a Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Environmental Practice. Her research and teaching focus on social and cultural aspects of environment management, knowledge and governance, particularly in relation to water management and biodiversity conservation. More information at: Find an expert (University of Melbourne)
- Dr Rose Macaulay
Rose Macaulay is an Associate Lecturer in Environmental Psychology. Her research explores how people experience and engage with nature, and the psychological outcomes of those experiences.
- Maddison Miller
Maddi Miller is a Darug woman whose research looks at ways of knowing Country. She is interested in ways of bringing non-Indigenous and Indigenous sciences together to understand and care for Country, particularly through storytelling.
- Dr Andrea Rawluk
More information at: Find an expert (University of Melbourne)
- Dr Danny Spring
Danny Spring is a Research Fellow. His main research interests are in Environmental Economics, with a focus on decision theory applications in biodiversity conservation and biosecurity. More information at: Find an expert (University of Melbourne)
- Dr Tessa Toumbourou
Tessa Toumbourou is a postdoctoral research fellow facilitating a collaboration between Australian and Indonesian researchers to identify just, inclusive and sustainable principles for peatland restoration in Central Kalimantan.
- Professor Kathryn Williams
Kathryn Williams is a Professor of Environmental Psychology and much of her work focuses on people’s relationships with forests, bushfire and grasslands as well as ‘urban nature’ including parks, gardens and green infrastructure.
Honoraries
- Dr Himlal Baral
More information: Find an Expert (University of Melbourne)
- Professor Ruth Beilin
Professor Ruth Beilin is Honorary Professorial Fellow in Landscape and Environmental Sociology. Her more recent studies have focused on ‘the disaster landscape’: fire, flood, coastal inundation, and drought.
- Dr Thu Ba Huynh
- Adjunct Professor Jim McLennan
- Dr Peter Morison
Dr Peter Morison is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences. Pete supports the Waterway Ecosystem Research Group in the Melbourne Waterway Research-Practice Partnership through its social and community engagement program.
- Dr Hemant Ojha
More information: Find an Expert (University of Melbourne)
- Dr Rebecca Ford
Rebecca Ford is a Research Fellow concerned with social dimensions of forest and fire policy and management. She draws on psychological and interdisciplinary frameworks to study people and their interactions with forests and forest and fire management by observing aspects such as values, experience, social acceptability, institutions and decision-making. More information at: Find an expert (University of Melbourne)
- Professor Rod Keenan
Rod Keenan has a B. Sc. (Forestry) from the ANU and a PhD in forest ecology from University of British Columbia, with research interests in forests and climate change, forest ecosystem services and forest and environmental policy. He is Chair Of Forest And Ecosystem Science. More information at: Find an expert (University of Melbourne)
- Dr Prativa Sapkota
Prativa Sapkota is a research fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is interested in social aspect of forest and fire management.
- Dr Kate Lee
Kate Lee is a research fellow in SAFES and a member of the Green Infrastructure Research Group. Much of her work is focused on the role of nature in boosting mood, wellbeing, and productivity for people living and working in cities.
Graduate Researchers
- Rebecca Toohey
PhD Candidate
- Debbie Gonzalez Canada
Debbie Gonzalez Canada is a PhD Candidate researching participation in biodiversity citizen science. She investigates how digital technologies (such as apps and digital platforms) are re-shaping knowledge and caring practices of biodiversity monitoring volunteers.
- Anastasia Gramatakos
Anastasia Gramatakos is a PhD candidate exploring the ways in which time is conceptualised in social ecological systems and how diverse experiences and expressions of time can be accounted for. She is particularly interested in the diverse ways that time is experienced, expressed and negotiated in urban green spaces.
- Christopher McCormack
Christopher McCormack is studying a PhD in conservation psychology, investigating the links between narrative and connection with nature. Chris is the co-founder and managing director of Australia’s first nature connection charity, Remember The Wild.
- Gabrielle Miller
Gabrielle is a PhD Candidate at SAFES. Her research broadly focuses on the socio-political dimensions of land and fire management in southeast Australian landscapes.
- Oliver Miltenberger
Oliver Miltenberger is a PhD student at the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences and the Climate-Energy College. His PhD work focuses on the development of policy and finance mechanisms that enable large-scale ecosystem services markets.
- Maddy Sbeghen
Maddy Sbeghen is a PhD candidate and their PhD project explores human-bird interactions and community engagement in the context of threatened migratory shorebird conservation in Australia and Japan, part of the East Asian Australasian Flyway.
- Kaiwen Zhou
Kaiwen is a visiting PhD student at SAFES, exploring the interaction between people and urban nature. Her research investigates how people perceive and experience urban nature, as well as how their pro-environmental behaviours are influenced.
- Natale Froia
PhD candidate