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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

81 - 100 of 174 works

2016

Journal Article

The other side of green! Sweden freezes payments in carbon trade deal following expose that global company has cheated local communities and the environment

Lyons, Kristen and Westoby, Peter (2016). The other side of green! Sweden freezes payments in carbon trade deal following expose that global company has cheated local communities and the environment. Fair World Project - Special Issue on Carbon Grabbing

The other side of green! Sweden freezes payments in carbon trade deal following expose that global company has cheated local communities and the environment

2016

Other Outputs

Green resources hedging around growing international calls for radical reform of its plantation forestry practices

Lyons, Kristen and Westoby, Peter (2016, 03 25). Green resources hedging around growing international calls for radical reform of its plantation forestry practices Oakland Institute Blog

Green resources hedging around growing international calls for radical reform of its plantation forestry practices

2016

Journal Article

‘We would rather die in jail fighting for land, than die of hunger’: a Ugandan case study examining the deployment of corporate-led community development in the green economy

Westoby, Peter and Lyons, Kristen (2016). ‘We would rather die in jail fighting for land, than die of hunger’: a Ugandan case study examining the deployment of corporate-led community development in the green economy. Community Development Journal, 51 (1), 60-76. doi: 10.1093/cdj/bsv005

‘We would rather die in jail fighting for land, than die of hunger’: a Ugandan case study examining the deployment of corporate-led community development in the green economy

2016

Book Chapter

Soul, song, music and social change - in dialogue with Kristen Lyons

Westoby, Peter and Lyons, Kristen (2016). Soul, song, music and social change - in dialogue with Kristen Lyons. Soul, community and social change: theorising a soul perspective on community practice. (pp. 107-118) Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate. doi: 10.4324/9781315562919-8

Soul, song, music and social change - in dialogue with Kristen Lyons

2015

Journal Article

Reform won’t do it, Australian universities need revolution

Lyons, Kristen and Hill, Richard (2015). Reform won’t do it, Australian universities need revolution. New Matilda

Reform won’t do it, Australian universities need revolution

2015

Other Outputs

A Shift Towards Industry Relevant Degrees Isn’t Helping Students Get Jobs

Hill, Richard and Lyons, Kristen (2015, 11 09). A Shift Towards Industry Relevant Degrees Isn’t Helping Students Get Jobs The Conversation

A Shift Towards Industry Relevant Degrees Isn’t Helping Students Get Jobs

2015

Journal Article

The role of faith-based organizations in environmental governance: the case of forestry in Solomon Islands

Lyons, Kristen, Walters, Peter and Riddell, Erin (2015). The role of faith-based organizations in environmental governance: the case of forestry in Solomon Islands. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 18 (3), 342-360. doi: 10.1080/1523908X.2015.1098524

The role of faith-based organizations in environmental governance: the case of forestry in Solomon Islands

2015

Other Outputs

How Climate Change Efforts by Developed Countries are Hurting Africa’s Poor

Lyons, Kristen and Westoby, Peter (2015, 09 17). How Climate Change Efforts by Developed Countries are Hurting Africa’s Poor

How Climate Change Efforts by Developed Countries are Hurting Africa’s Poor

2015

Journal Article

Re-imagining the practices of town, social and community planning in Australia: opportunities for planning in neoliberal policy settings

Shevellar, Lynda, Johnson, Laurel and Lyons, Kristen (2015). Re-imagining the practices of town, social and community planning in Australia: opportunities for planning in neoliberal policy settings. Australian Planner, 52 (4), 266-276. doi: 10.1080/07293682.2015.1056816

Re-imagining the practices of town, social and community planning in Australia: opportunities for planning in neoliberal policy settings

2015

Journal Article

The darker side of green

Lyons, Kristen and Westoby, Peter (2015). The darker side of green. Chain Reaction, 123.

The darker side of green

2014

Journal Article

Carbon markets and the new ‘Carbon Violence’: A Ugandan study

Lyons, Kristen and Westoby, Peter (2014). Carbon markets and the new ‘Carbon Violence’: A Ugandan study. International Journal of African Renaissance, 9 (2), 77-94. doi: 10.1080/18186874.2014.987956

Carbon markets and the new ‘Carbon Violence’: A Ugandan study

2014

Other Outputs

Addressing climate change requires real solutions, not blind faith in the magic of markets

Lyons, Kristen (2014). Addressing climate change requires real solutions, not blind faith in the magic of markets. Portland, ME, United States: Inter Press Service.

Addressing climate change requires real solutions, not blind faith in the magic of markets

2014

Journal Article

Carbon colonialism and the new land grab: plantation forestry in Uganda and its livelihood impacts

Lyons, Kristen and Westoby, Peter (2014). Carbon colonialism and the new land grab: plantation forestry in Uganda and its livelihood impacts. Journal of Rural Studies, 36, 13-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.06.002

Carbon colonialism and the new land grab: plantation forestry in Uganda and its livelihood impacts

2014

Journal Article

'Partner or Perish'? The convergence of public and private interests pose new questions for controversial university research

Lyons, Kristen (2014). 'Partner or Perish'? The convergence of public and private interests pose new questions for controversial university research. Chain Reaction, 121, 32-34.

'Partner or Perish'? The convergence of public and private interests pose new questions for controversial university research

2014

Journal Article

Urban Food Advocates' tactics to rebuild food systems convergence and divergence in food security and food sovereignty discourses

Lyons, Kristen (2014). Urban Food Advocates' tactics to rebuild food systems convergence and divergence in food security and food sovereignty discourses. Dialogues in Human Geography, 4 (2), 212-217. doi: 10.1177/2043820614537163

Urban Food Advocates' tactics to rebuild food systems convergence and divergence in food security and food sovereignty discourses

2014

Journal Article

Enacting food sovereignty: values and meanings in the act of domestic food production in urban Australia

Larder, Nicolette, Lyons, Kristen and Woolcock, Geoff (2014). Enacting food sovereignty: values and meanings in the act of domestic food production in urban Australia. Local Environment, 19 (1), 56-76. doi: 10.1080/13549839.2012.716409

Enacting food sovereignty: values and meanings in the act of domestic food production in urban Australia

2014

Book

Carbon violence: the real cost of carbon markets. The impacts of green resources and plantation forestry in Uganda

Lyons, Kristen, Richard, Carol and Westoby, Peter (2014). Carbon violence: the real cost of carbon markets. The impacts of green resources and plantation forestry in Uganda. Oakland, CA United States: Oakland Institute.

Carbon violence: the real cost of carbon markets. The impacts of green resources and plantation forestry in Uganda

2014

Journal Article

Critical engagement, activist/academic subjectivities and organic agri-food research in Uganda

Lyons, Kristen (2014). Critical engagement, activist/academic subjectivities and organic agri-food research in Uganda. Local Environment, 19 (1), 103-117. doi: 10.1080/13549839.2012.719018

Critical engagement, activist/academic subjectivities and organic agri-food research in Uganda

2014

Other Outputs

The darker side of green plantation forestry and carbon violence in Uganda

Lyons, Kristen, Richards, Carol and Westoby, Peter (2014). The darker side of green plantation forestry and carbon violence in Uganda. Oakland, CA, United States: The Oakland Institute.

The darker side of green plantation forestry and carbon violence in Uganda

2013

Journal Article

Can government fulfil its commitment to engage the public about nanotechnology?

Lyons, Kristen and Whelan, James (2013). Can government fulfil its commitment to engage the public about nanotechnology?. Social Alternatives, 32 (3), 51-57.

Can government fulfil its commitment to engage the public about nanotechnology?

Funding

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2024
    Building Climate-Resilient Agri-Food Futures: Reducing Emissions and Improving FoodSecurity Through Agroecology (Monash administered Australia Awards Fellowship)
    Open grant
  • 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 Australia

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Kiah Smith

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Breaking the bias: delivering gender equality in conservation

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Hugh Possingham

  • 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

    Digital and Agricultural Innovation, and Alternative Agriculture Practices in Australia

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Kiah Smith

  • 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