
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
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science, Griffith University
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), Griffith University
- Doctor of Philosophy, Central Queensland University
Research interests
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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.
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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.
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
2015
Journal Article
The darker side of green
Lyons, Kristen and Westoby, Peter (2015). The darker side of green. Chain Reaction, 123.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Kristen Lyons is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Digital and Agricultural Innovation, and Alternative Agriculture Practices in Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kiah Smith
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Doctor Philosophy
Breaking the bias: delivering gender equality in conservation
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hugh Possingham
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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
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Doctor Philosophy
Postapocalyptic environmental practices: the narratives and political possibilities of the Dark Mountain Project
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Heloise Weber
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Doctor Philosophy
Gender, Conservation and Natural Resource Management in Solomon Islands
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hugh Possingham
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Doctor Philosophy
Postapocalyptic environmental practices: the narratives and political possibilities of the Dark Mountain Project
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Heloise Weber
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Doctor Philosophy
Digital and Agricultural Innovation, and Alternative Agriculture Practices in Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kiah Smith
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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
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Digital and Agricultural Innovation, and Alternative Agriculture Practices in Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kiah Smith
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Postapocalyptic environmental practices: the narratives and political possibilities of the Dark Mountain Project
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Heloise Weber
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Agrarian Transformation in Ghana's Brong Ahafo Region: Drivers and Outcomes
Principal Advisor
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2018
Master Philosophy
What is food in the food regime?: Remaking food and markets in a time of crisis
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Lawrence
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Social impact assessment, social justice and scales of knowledge: exploring the emerging mining industry in Solomon Islands
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Simon Albert, Professor Karen McNamara
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Food sovereignty: alternative policy for a sustainable national food system in Timor-Leste under climate change
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Peter Walters
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
An Island of Success in a Sea of Failure? The MDGs and Sauri Millennium Village in Kenya
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Adjunct Professor Adil Khan
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Resonance of the land grabbing frame in Mali, West Africa: A social movements and political ecology perspective
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Lawrence
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2024
Master Philosophy
Assessment of Menstrual Health and Hygiene interventions in Rural Kenya
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Nina Lansbury
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
What's Cooking in Paradise? An ethnobotanical investigation of a transitioning food system in Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands
Associate Advisor
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Governance and Development Planning: A Case Study of Urban Low Cost Housing in Sarawak, Malaysia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Adjunct Professor Adil Khan, Associate Professor Peter Walters
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2011
Doctor Philosophy
Contesting 'ethicality': Ethical trade, gender and sustainable livelihoods for smallholder farmers in Kenya
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Lawrence
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
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