Researcher biography

My research interests broadly centre on the trade-offs and synergies between multiple ecosystem services within production (agricultural and forestry) landscapes. Because of the inherent influence of people in these areas, socio-economic and political factors (and not solely ecological and physical conditions) are critical drivers of land management decisions. I’m particularly intrigued by the interplay of these natural and societal factors in the maintenance of socio-ecological systems, and how pressures (especially climate change) might shift the dynamics – e.g. viability of certain agricultural production; suitability of wildlife habitat; change in hydrological or carbon storage services. Through all the doom and gloom in global environmental change science, I still think we can use this knowledge to find ways for environmental services and human livelihoods to complement one another and be resilient through time, by developing appropriate incentives and rationale for land managers and decision-makers.

I am doing my PhD research under the ARC Discovery project on assessing the environmental and economic implications of land management strategies, and applying decision-support technology, in the Brigalow Belt bioregion of Queensland, Central Kalimantan, and British Columbia.

This PhD is supported through The University of Queensland International Scholarship and an ARC Discovery award.