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Professor Kristen Lyons
Professor

Kristen Lyons

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 52020

Overview

Background

Professor Kristen Lyons is a public intellectual with over twenty years experience in research, teaching and service that delivers national and international impacts on issues that sit at the intersection of sustainability and development, as well as the future of higher education. Trained as a sociologist, Kristen is comfortable working in transdisciplinary teams to deliver socially just outcomes, including for some of the world's most vulnerable communities. Kristen works regularly in Uganda, Solomon Islands and Australia, and her work is grounded in a rights-based approach. In practice, this means centring the rights and interests of local communities, including Indigenous peoples, in her approach to research design, collaboration, and impacts and outcomes. Kristen is also a Senior Research Fellow with the Oakland Institute.

Availability

Professor Kristen Lyons is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science, Griffith University
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), Griffith University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Central Queensland University

Research interests

  • Climate Change and Human Rights

    Responses to climate change deliver significant impacts at the local level. I lead cross country research that examines the impacts of carbon trading initiatives - one response to climate change - for local communities.

  • Transdisciplinary and Indigenous Rights

    I am engaged in research that examines the social, legal and policy frameworks to support Australia to meet its Indigenous rights obligations, especially in the context of a climate changing world.

  • Transforming Universities for the Public Good

    Today’s university system is increasingly market driven, with institutional requirements that constrain options for public good research and learning. This system stands at odds with the primary and historical role of universities. Higher education movements – including free universities, progressive colleges and civic forums – offer important critical alternatives to this current system. I am engaged in research to analyse a selection of movements, delivering outcomes that will increase knowledge of how alliances and campaigns organise, what their change agenda entails, and how they are transforming universities for the public good.

Research impacts

My recognised role as public intellectual enhances my national and international academic, policy and industry impacts on issues related to the environment, development and human rights. Over the last five years I have led research teams to deliver socially just outcomes for some of the world's most vulnerable communities. For example, I have led research to identify human rights abuses that underpin international carbon offset projects in Uganda. The outcome of this has changed practices of one of the worlds largest plantation forestry and carbon offset companies, and shaped public debates related to global carbon trade projects. Collaborative research with Traditional Owners in Australia has also also delivered outcomes that have impacted public and policy understandings of Australia's indigenous rights obligations in the context of resource development.

To maximise research impact, I regularly work with funding bodies that support collaborative engagement with key partners, and build enduring relations between academic, industry and community groups.

In my role as advisor on a number of government advisory bodies, I have played a part in changing guidelines and policies related to emerging technologies. I was part of a team that provided recommendations to the Department of Industry Science and Resources to ensure Australia's compliance with international organic agriculture and food standards, with outcomes that ensure Australia maintains international market access.

I am committed to publishing broadly in non academic outlets, including in The Conversation (over 126,000 readers, and ranked #3 at UQ in 2018), ABC, New Matilda), and my research regularly features in international and national media.

Works

Search Professor Kristen Lyons’s works on UQ eSpace

174 works between 1995 and 2024

61 - 80 of 174 works

2017

Journal Article

Nano Foods’: There’s No Proof Some of the Tiny Things You’re Eating Are Safe

Lyons, Kristen and Smith, Naomi (2017). Nano Foods’: There’s No Proof Some of the Tiny Things You’re Eating Are Safe. New Matilda, 1-1.

Nano Foods’: There’s No Proof Some of the Tiny Things You’re Eating Are Safe

2017

Journal Article

Liberals lifting higher learning out of reach for poorer Australians

Lyons, Kristen and Hil, Richard (2017). Liberals lifting higher learning out of reach for poorer Australians. Advocate: Newsletter of the National Tertiary Education Union, 24 (2), 22-22.

Liberals lifting higher learning out of reach for poorer Australians

2017

Journal Article

The last line of defence: Indigenous rights and Adani’s land deal

Brigg, Morgan , Lyons, Kristen and Quiggin, John (2017, 06 19). The last line of defence: Indigenous rights and Adani’s land deal

The last line of defence: Indigenous rights and Adani’s land deal

2017

Journal Article

The Liberals are Lifting Higher Learning Out of Reach for Poorer Australians

Hil, Richard and Lyons, Kristen (2017). The Liberals are Lifting Higher Learning Out of Reach for Poorer Australians. New Matilda, 1-1.

The Liberals are Lifting Higher Learning Out of Reach for Poorer Australians

2017

Other Outputs

Unfinished business: Adani, the State and the Indigenous Rights struggle of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Council

Lyons, Kristen , Brigg, Morgan and Quiggin, John (2017). Unfinished business: Adani, the State and the Indigenous Rights struggle of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Council. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: University of Queensland.

Unfinished business: Adani, the State and the Indigenous Rights struggle of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Council

2017

Journal Article

A Post Neoliberal Academy? Can Academics Do Politics Too?

Hil, Richard and Lyons, Kristen (2017). A Post Neoliberal Academy? Can Academics Do Politics Too?. Arena Magazine (147), 44-47.

A Post Neoliberal Academy? Can Academics Do Politics Too?

2017

Journal Article

Reforming global carbon markets or re-imagining alternative climate solutions and sustainabilities? An analysis of selected NGO strategies in Uganda

Lyons, Kristen, Westoby, Peter and Nel, Adrian (2017). Reforming global carbon markets or re-imagining alternative climate solutions and sustainabilities? An analysis of selected NGO strategies in Uganda. Journal of Political Ecology, 24 (1), 324-341. doi: 10.2458/v24i1.20812

Reforming global carbon markets or re-imagining alternative climate solutions and sustainabilities? An analysis of selected NGO strategies in Uganda

2017

Journal Article

The place of social learning and social movement in transformative learning: a case study of sustainability schools in Uganda

Westoby, Peter and Lyons, Kristen (2017). The place of social learning and social movement in transformative learning: a case study of sustainability schools in Uganda. Journal of Transformative Education, 15 (3), 223-240. doi: 10.1177/1541344617696970

The place of social learning and social movement in transformative learning: a case study of sustainability schools in Uganda

2017

Other Outputs

Carbon colonialism: failure of Green Resources’ carbon offset project in Uganda

Lyons, Kristen and Ssemwogerere, David (2017). Carbon colonialism: failure of Green Resources’ carbon offset project in Uganda. Oakland, CA, United States: Oakland Institute.

Carbon colonialism: failure of Green Resources’ carbon offset project in Uganda

2016

Journal Article

How the pursuit of carbon and fossil fuels harms vulnerable communities

Lyons, Kristen (2016, 12 05). How the pursuit of carbon and fossil fuels harms vulnerable communities

How the pursuit of carbon and fossil fuels harms vulnerable communities

2016

Journal Article

Community teak forestry in Solomon Islands as donor development: when science meets culture

Walters, Peter and Lyons, Kristen (2016). Community teak forestry in Solomon Islands as donor development: when science meets culture. Land Use Policy, 57, 730-738. doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.06.029

Community teak forestry in Solomon Islands as donor development: when science meets culture

2016

Journal Article

The new corporate enclosures: plantation forestry, carbon markets and the limits of financialised solutions to the climate crisis

Richards, Carol and Lyons, Kristen (2016). The new corporate enclosures: plantation forestry, carbon markets and the limits of financialised solutions to the climate crisis. Land Use Policy, 56, 209-216. doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.05.013

The new corporate enclosures: plantation forestry, carbon markets and the limits of financialised solutions to the climate crisis

2016

Journal Article

Privatisation: challenging the privatised university

Lyons, Kristen (2016). Privatisation: challenging the privatised university. Advocate: Newsletter of the National Tertiary Education Union, 23 (3), 31-31.

Privatisation: challenging the privatised university

2016

Journal Article

Australia’s coal politics are undermining democratic and Indigenous rights

Lyons, Kristen (2016, 10 26). Australia’s coal politics are undermining democratic and Indigenous rights

Australia’s coal politics are undermining democratic and Indigenous rights

2016

Journal Article

The great divide: the new fat cats in Australia’s universities

Hil, Richard and Lyons, Kristen (2016). The great divide: the new fat cats in Australia’s universities. Arena Magazine (144), 9-11.

The great divide: the new fat cats in Australia’s universities

2016

Journal Article

Weighing up the evidence: a response to Fischer et al

Lyons, Kristen and Westoby, Peter (2016). Weighing up the evidence: a response to Fischer et al. Journal of Rural Studies, 47, 269-270. doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.06.015

Weighing up the evidence: a response to Fischer et al

2016

Journal Article

Academics are unhappy – it’s time to transform our troubled university system

Hil, Richard and Lyons, Kristen (2016, 09 20). Academics are unhappy – it’s time to transform our troubled university system

Academics are unhappy – it’s time to transform our troubled university system

2016

Journal Article

Introduction to the special issue: Challenging the Privatised University

Lyons, Kristen, Tager, Jeremy and Sales, Louise (2016). Introduction to the special issue: Challenging the Privatised University. Australian Universities Review, 58 (2), 3-4.

Introduction to the special issue: Challenging the Privatised University

2016

Journal Article

Privatising development and environmental management: undermining social license in the Ugandan plantation forest sector

Westoby, Peter and Lyons, Kristen (2016). Privatising development and environmental management: undermining social license in the Ugandan plantation forest sector. Environmental Sociology, 2 (3), 1-10. doi: 10.1080/23251042.2016.1163963

Privatising development and environmental management: undermining social license in the Ugandan plantation forest sector

2016

Journal Article

Community organising in the oil conflict zone: Friends of the Earth Uganda ‘Sustainability School’ advocacy initiative

Westoby, Peter and Lyons, Kristen (2016). Community organising in the oil conflict zone: Friends of the Earth Uganda ‘Sustainability School’ advocacy initiative. Chain Reaction, 126, 46-47.

Community organising in the oil conflict zone: Friends of the Earth Uganda ‘Sustainability School’ advocacy initiative

Funding

Past funding

  • 2020 - 2023
    Centring Community-based planning and participation alongside low carbon transition: a global south-north comparative study
    UQ-FAPESP Strategic Research Fund SPRINT
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2020
    ''We are the people from that land'': Beyond big coal by centering Indigenous peoples' rights in the transition to a sustainable low carbon future (GCI Flagships)
    Research Donation Generic
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2017
    Enhancing Economic Opportunities offered by Community and Smallholder Forestry in Solomon Islands (ACIAR Project Administered by Griffith University)
    Griffith University
    Open grant
  • 2012
    UQ Category 2 Travel Award - Kristen Lyons
    UQ Travel Awards for International Collaborative Research (Category 2)
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2012
    Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change (administered by Griffith University)
    Griffith University
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2015
    The New Farm Owners: Finance Companies and the Restructuring of Australian and Global Agriculture
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2012
    The politics of food security in a global age: Community impacts and responses to biofuel production in Ghana, West Africa
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Professor Kristen Lyons is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Digital and Agricultural Innovation, and Alternative Agriculture Practices in Australian

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Kiah Smith

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Political and Environmental Contributions of Agro-Forestry and Permaculture to Build Resilience to Climate Change

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Sonia Roitman

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Postapocalyptic environmental practices: the narratives and political possibilities of the Dark Mountain Project

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Heloise Weber

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Gender, Conservation and Natural Resource Management in Solomon Islands

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Hugh Possingham

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Postapocalyptic environmental practices: the narratives and political possibilities of the Dark Mountain Project

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Heloise Weber

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Green extractivism, environmental justice and Indigenous Rights: The case of lithium mining in Chile

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Sally Babidge

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

Contact Professor Kristen Lyons directly for media enquiries about:

  • carbon markets and human rights
  • development and environment
  • East Africa
  • nanotechnology in food and agriculture
  • privatised university
  • Solomon Islands and logging

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au