Researcher biography
My research interests include international environmental policy and its relationship to the local level; issues around the social and ecological effectiveness of conservation management and interventions, such as protected areas; and the emergence of conservation leadership. I also explore issues around the protection of marine biodiversity through connectivity, Protected Area networks, and criteria-based identification processes. My PhD case studies include Indigenous managed sites. As part of my ongoing work with the United Nations, I manage a global registry of locally managed conservation areas, a process which informs my current research. I’m currently working with Indigenous land and sea managers in an Aboriginal community on the Queensland coast at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage site, and have visited more remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Arnhem land, and Western Australia in the context of my research.