
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
2004
Book Chapter
Consumer views of organic and GM food
Lyons, K., Lockie, S. and Lawrence, G. A. (2004). Consumer views of organic and GM food. Recoding Nature: Critical Perspectives on Genetic Engineering. (pp. 94-107) edited by R. HIndmarsh and G. Lawrence. Sydney: UNSW Press.
2003
Conference Publication
Food sovereignty, food security and the environment: Australian consumer attitudes to organics and genetic engineering
Lawrence, Geoffrey, Lyons, Kristen and Lockie, Stewart (2003). Food sovereignty, food security and the environment: Australian consumer attitudes to organics and genetic engineering. Conference on Organic Agriculture, Havana, Cuba, 27-30 May 2003.
2003
Conference Publication
Backlash? Media discourses on food, environment and health
Lyons, K., Lockie, S. and Lawrence, G. (2003). Backlash? Media discourses on food, environment and health. Xth Conference of the Australasian Agri-food Research Network, Akaroa, New Zealand, 21-24 April 2003.
2002
Conference Publication
Organics and biotechnology: Never the twain shall meet?
Lawrence, G. A., Norton, J., Lockie, S. and Lyons, K. (2002). Organics and biotechnology: Never the twain shall meet?. World Congress of Sociology: International Sociological Assoc., Research Committee on Agriculture & Food, x, 2002. USA: International Sociological Assoc.
2002
Conference Publication
Global moves on the local level - community supported agriculture
Lyons, K., Lockie, S. and Lawrence, G. (2002). Global moves on the local level - community supported agriculture. Australian Organics Conference 'Local Global Organics', Lismore, NSW, Australia, 3-4 October 2002.
2002
Conference Publication
Localism, community and the politics of organic food systems
Lawrence, G. A., Lyons, K. and Lockie, S. (2002). Localism, community and the politics of organic food systems. Cultivating Communities, 14th IFOAM Organic World Conference, Victoria, Canada, 21-24 August, 2002. Canada: IFOAM.
2002
Journal Article
Eating 'Green': Motivations behind organic food consumption in Australia
Lockie, Stewart, Lyons, Kristen, Lawrence, Geoffrey and Mummery, Kerry (2002). Eating 'Green': Motivations behind organic food consumption in Australia. Sociologia Ruralis, 42 (1), 23-40. doi: 10.1111/1467-9523.00200
2001
Journal Article
The culture and politics of organic food: an Australian perspective
Lyons, Kristen (2001). The culture and politics of organic food: an Australian perspective. Australian Review of Public Affairs.
2001
Conference Publication
Eating 'Green': the relative importance of environmental concerns in the consumption of organic foods
Lockie, S., Lyons, K., Mummery, K. and Lawrence, G. (2001). Eating 'Green': the relative importance of environmental concerns in the consumption of organic foods. Kyoto Environmental Sociology Conference, Kyoto, Japan, 21-23 October 2001.
2001
Book Chapter
What do we mean by green? Consumers, agriculture and the food industry
Burch, David, Lyons, Kristen and Lawrence, Geoffrey (2001). What do we mean by green? Consumers, agriculture and the food industry. Consuming foods, sustaining environments. (pp. 45-68) Bowen Hills, Qld: Australian Academic Press.
2001
Book Chapter
Institutionalisation and resistance – organic agriculture in Australia and New Zealand
Lyons, Kristen and Lawrence, Geoffrey (2001). Institutionalisation and resistance – organic agriculture in Australia and New Zealand. Food, nature and society: rural life in late modernity. (pp. 124-147) edited by Hilary Tovey and Michel Blanc. Aldershot: Ashgate.
2001
Conference Publication
Who buys organics, who doesn't, and why? Insights from a national survey of Australian consumers
Lyons, K., Mummery, K., Lockie, S. and Lawrence, G. (2001). Who buys organics, who doesn't, and why? Insights from a national survey of Australian consumers. Inaugural National Organic Conference 'The Organic Challenge - Unity Through Diversity', Sydney, Australia, 27-28 August 2001.
2001
Book Chapter
From sandals to suits: green consumers and the institutionalisation of organics
Lyons, Kristen (2001). From sandals to suits: green consumers and the institutionalisation of organics. Consuming foods, sustaining environments. (pp. 82-94) edited by Bill Pritchard and Stewart Lockie. Bowen Hills, Qld: Australian Academic Press.
2001
Journal Article
Consuming ‘Green’: the symbolic construction of organic foods
Lyons, Kristen, Lockie, Stewart and Lawrence, Geoffrey (2001). Consuming ‘Green’: the symbolic construction of organic foods. Rural Society, 11 (3), 197-210. doi: 10.5172/rsj.11.3.197
2001
Conference Publication
Organic foods: Australian consumer motivations, concerns and preferences
Lockie, S., Lyons, K., Lawrence, G., Norton, J. and Mummery, K. (2001). Organic foods: Australian consumer motivations, concerns and preferences. IX Conference of the Australasian Agri-food Research Network, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 11-14 September 2001.
2001
Journal Article
Renegotiating gender and the symbolic transformation of Australian rural environments
Lockie, Stewart and Lyons, Kristen (2001). Renegotiating gender and the symbolic transformation of Australian rural environments. International Journal of the Sociology of Food and Agriculture, 9 (1), 43-58.
2001
Book
The research & management of non-urban koala populations
Kristen Lyons, A. Melzer, F. Carrick and D. Lamb eds. (2001). The research & management of non-urban koala populations. Rockhampton, QLD Australia: Koala Research Centre of Central Queensland.
2001
Conference Publication
Organic: what do consumers really think?
Lyons, K., Lockie, S. and Lawrence, G. (2001). Organic: what do consumers really think?. Third National Public Health Association of Australia Food and Nutrition Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 15-17 July 2001.
2000
Journal Article
Constructing "green" foods: corporate capital, risk and organic farming in Australia and New Zealand
Lockie, Stewart, Lyons, Kristen and Lawrence, Geoffrey (2000). Constructing "green" foods: corporate capital, risk and organic farming in Australia and New Zealand. Agriculture and Human Values, 17 (4), 315-322. doi: 10.1023/A:1026547102757
1999
Conference Publication
Standard Resistance: Organic Growers in Australia and New Zealand
Lyons, K. and Lawrence, G. (1999). Standard Resistance: Organic Growers in Australia and New Zealand. Farming for the Future: Organic Producer for the 21st Century Conference, Mackay, QLD Australia, 22-23 September 1999.
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
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
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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