Researcher biography
My research falls broadly within environmental policy, governance and economics, with a particular focus on biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. I am an interdisciplinary researcher, and draw on both quantitative and qualitative methods used in the natural and social sciences. The overarching goal of my research is to get better outcomes for the environment and society through an understanding of the policy process: design, implementation and evaluation. As a postdoc, I worked as part of the National Environmental Science Program's Threatened Species Recovery Hub (NESP TSRH), where I investigated cost-effective and innovative biodiversity offsetting approaches for Australian threatened species.
| Featured projects | Duration |
|---|---|
| An expert elicitation framework for more effective biodiversity offsets |
Journal Articles
Jassim, Danya, Witt, Bradd and Evans, Megan C. (2022). Community perceptions of carbon farming: a case study of the semi-arid Mulga Lands in Queensland, Australia. Journal of Rural Studies, 96, 78-88. doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.10.010
Narain, Divya, Bull, Joseph W., Alikhanova, Shahzoda, Evans, Megan C., Markham, Robert and Maron, Martine (2022). A step change needed to secure a nature-positive future—Is it in reach?. One Earth, 5 (6), 589-592. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.05.016
Kujala, Heini, Maron, Martine, Kennedy, Christina M., Evans, Megan C., Bull, Joseph W., Wintle, Brendan A., Iftekhar, Sayed M., Selwood, Katherine E., Beissner, Kahli, Osborn, Dave and Gordon, Ascelin (2022). Credible biodiversity offsetting needs public national registers to confirm no net loss. One Earth, 5 (6), 650-662. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.05.011
Evans, Megan C. (2021). Re-conceptualizing the role(s) of science in biodiversity conservation. Environmental Conservation, 48 (3), 151-160. doi: 10.1017/S0376892921000114
Mayfield, Helen J., Brazill‐Boast, James, Gorrod, Emma, Evans, Megan C., Auld, Tony, Rhodes, Jonathan R. and Maron, Martine (2020). Estimating species response to management using an integrated process: a case study from New South Wales, Australia. Conservation Science and Practice, 2 (11) e269. doi: 10.1111/csp2.269
Maseyk, Fleur J. F., Maron, Martine, Gordon, Ascelin, Bull, Joseph W. and Evans, Megan C. (2020). Improving averted loss estimates for better biodiversity outcomes from offset exchanges. Oryx, 55 (3), 1-11. doi: 10.1017/S0030605319000528
Moon, Katie, Blackman, Deborah A., Adams, Vanessa M., Colvin, Rebecca M., Davila, Federico, Evans, Megan C., Januchowski-Hartley, Stephanie R., Bennett, Nathan J., Dickinson, Helen, Sandbrook, Chris, Sherren, Kate, St. John, Freya A. V., van Kerkhoff, Lorrae and Wyborn, Carina (2019). Expanding the role of social science in conservation through an engagement with philosophy, methodology, and methods. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10 (3), 294-302. doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.13126
Evans, Megan C. (2018). Book review: Economics and Environmental Change: The Challenges We Face, by Clement A. Tisdell. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 62 (4), 713-715. doi: 10.1111/1467-8489.12281
Evans, Megan C. and Cvitanovic, Christopher (2018). An introduction to achieving policy impact for early career researchers. Palgrave Communications, 4 (1) 88. doi: 10.1057/s41599-018-0144-2
Evans, Megan C. (2018). Effective incentives for reforestation: lessons from Australia's carbon farming policies. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 32, 38-45. doi: 10.1016/j.cosust.2018.04.002
Reed, Sarah E., Thomas, Sarah L., Bednarek, Angela T., Dellasala, Dominick A., Evans, Megan C., Lundquist, Carolyn, Mascia, Michael B., Mcpherson, Tsitsi Y. and Watson, James E.M. (2018). Roles for scientific societies to engage with conservation policy. Conservation Biology, 32 (3), 513-515. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13092
Maron, Martine, Brownlie, Susie , Bull, Joseph W. , Evans, Megan C. , von Hase, Amrei , Quétier , Fabien , Watson, James E. M. and Gordon, Ascelin (2018). The many meanings of no net loss in environmental policy. Nature Sustainability, 1 (1), 19-27. doi: 10.1038/s41893-017-0007-7
Evans, Megan C., Davila, Federico, Toomey, Anne and Wyborn, Carina (2017). Embrace complexity to improve conservation decision making. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 1 (11), 1588-1588. doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0345-x
Reside, April E., Beher, Jutta, Cosgrove, Anita , Evans, Megan C., Seabrook, Leonie, Silcock, Jennifer L., Wenger, Amelia S. and Maron, Martine (2017). Ecological consequences of land clearing and policy reform in Queensland. Pacific Conservation Biology, 23 (3), 219-230. doi: 10.1071/PC17001
Lindenmayer, David B., Crane, Mason, Evans, Megan C., Maron, Martine, Gibbons, Philip, Bekessy, Sarah and Blanchard, Wade (2017). The anatomy of a failed offset. Biological Conservation, 210 (A), 286-292. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2017.04.022
Martin, Nigel, Evans, Megan, Rice, John, Lodhia, Sumit and Gibbons, Philip (2016). Using offsets to mitigate environmental impacts of major projects: a stakeholder analysis. Journal of Environmental Management, 179, 58-65. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.04.054
Evans, Megan C., Tulloch, Ayesha I. T., Law, Elizabeth A., Raiter, Keren G., Possingham, Hugh P. and Wilson, Kerrie A. (2016). Better planning outcomes requires clear consideration of costs, condition and conservation benefits, and access to the best available data: reply to Gosper et al., 2016. Biological Conservation, 200, 242-243. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.009
Gibbons, Philip, Evans, Megan C., Maron, Martine, Ascelin, Gordon, Le Roux, Darren, von Hase, Amrei, Lindenmayer, David B. and Possingham, Hugh P. (2016). A loss-gain calculator for biodiversity offsets and the circumstances in which no net loss is feasible. Conservation Letters, 9 (4), 252-259. doi: 10.1111/conl.12206
Maron, Martine, Ives, Christopher D., Kujala, Heini, Bull, Joseph W., Maseyk, Fleur J. F., Bekessy, Sarah, Gordon, Ascelin, Watson, James E. M., Lentini, Pia E., Gibbons, Philip, Possingham, Hugh P., Hobbs, Richard J., Keith, David A., Wintle, Brendan A. and Evans, Megan C. (2016). Taming a wicked problem: resolving controversies in biodiversity offsetting. Bioscience, 66 (6), 489-498. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biw038
Evans, Megan C. (2016). Deforestation in Australia: drivers, trends and policy responses. Pacific Conservation Biology, 22 (2), 130-150. doi: 10.1071/PC15052
Evans, Megan C., Tulloch, Ayesha I.T., Law, Elizabeth A., Raiter, Keren G., Possingham, Hugh P. and Wilson, Kerrie A. (2015). Clear consideration of costs, condition and conservation benefits yields better planning outcomes. Biological Conservation, 191, 716-727. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.08.023
Maron, Martine, Bull, Joseph W., Evans, Megan C. and Gordon, Ascelin (2015). Locking in loss: baselines of decline in Australian biodiversity offset policies. Biological Conservation, 192, 504-512. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.05.017
Evans, Megan C., Carwardine, Josie, Fensham, Rod J., Butler, Don W., Wilson, Kerrie A., Possingham, Hugh P. and Martin, Tara G. (2015). Carbon farming via assisted natural regeneration as a cost-effective mechanism for restoring biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Environmental Science and Policy, 50, 114-129. doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2015.02.003
Tulloch, Vivitskaia, Tulloch, Ayesha, Visconti, Piero, Halpern, Benjamin S., Watson, James E. M., Evans, Megan C., Auerbach, Nancy A., Barnes, Megan, Beger, Maria, Chadès, Iadine, Giakoumi, Sylvaine, McDonald-Madden, Eve, Murray, Nicholas J., Ringma, Jeremy and Possingham, Hugh P. (2015). Why do we map threats? Linking threat mapping with actions to make better conservation decisions. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 13 (2), 91-99. doi: 10.1890/140022
Miller, Katherine L., Trezise, James A., Kraus, Stefan, Dripps, Kimberley, Evans, Megan C., Gibbons, Philip, Possingham, Hugh P. and Maron, Martine (2015). The development of the Australian environmental offsets policy: from theory to practice. Environmental Conservation, 42 (4), 306-314. doi: 10.1017/S037689291400040X
Tulloch, Ayesha I. T., Tulloch, Vivitskaia J. D., Evans, Megan C. and Mills, Morena (2014). The Value of Using Feasibility Models in Systematic Conservation Planning to Predict Landholder Management Uptake. Conservation Biology, 28 (6), 1462-1473. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12403
Wilson, Kerrie A., Evans, Megan, C., Di Marco, Moreno, Green, David C., Boitani, Luigi, Possingham, Hugh P., Chiozza, Federica and Rondinini, Carlo (2011). Prioritizing conservation investments for mammal species globally. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 366 (1578), 2670-2680. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0108
Evans, Megan, Possingham, Hugh and Wilson, Kerrie (2011). Extinctions: Conserve not collate. Nature, 474 (7351), 284-284. doi: 10.1038/474284a
Evans, Megan C., Possingham, Hugh P. and Wilson, Kerrie A. (2011). What to do in the face of multiple threats? Incorporating dependencies within a return on investment framework for conservation. Diversity and Distributions: a journal of conservation biogeography, 17 (3), 437-450. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00747.x
Evans, Megan C., Watson, James E. M., Fuller, Richard A., Venter, Oscar, Bennett, Simon C., Marsack, Peter R. and Possingham, Hugh P. (2011). The spatial distribution of threats to species in Australia. Bioscience, 61 (4), 281-289. doi: 10.1525/bio.2011.61.4.8
Taylor, Martin F. J., Sattler, Paul S., Evans, Megan, Fuller, Richard A., Watson, James E. M. and Possingham, Hugh P. (2011). What works for threatened species recovery? An empirical evaluation for Australia. Biodiversity and Conservation, 20 (4), 767-777. doi: 10.1007/s10531-010-9977-8
Conference Papers
Evans, Megan C., Maron, Martine, Gibbons, Philip and Possingham, Hugh P. (2013). A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush: ecological time preference and biodiversity offsets. 15th Annual BIOECON Conference, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 18 – 20 September 2013.
Watson, James E. M., Evans, Megan C., Carwardine, Josie, Fuller, Richard A., Joseph, Liana N., Segan, Dan B., Taylor, Martin F. J., Fensham, R. J. and Possingham, Hugh P. (2011). The capacity of Australia's protected-area system to represent threatened species. Hoboken, NJ, United States: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01587.x
Research Report
Mayfield, Helen, Rhodes, Jonathan, Evans, Megan and Maron, Martine (2019). Saving our Species: Guidelines for estimating a evaluating species' response to management. Sydney, NSW Australia: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.
Newspaper Article
Ritchie, Euan, Nimmo, Dale, Driscoll, Don, Heard, Geoffrey, Watson, James, Evans, Megan C. and Doherty, Tim (2017, 10 12). Australia’s species need an independent champion The Conversation