Pedro Fidelman leads strategic projects in the Social and Environmental Sustainability theme at the UQ Centre for Policy Futures, including the Centre's contribution to the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program and Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre.
Pedro’s research focuses on environmental policy and governance with an emphasis on the role of institutions (e.g., regulations, norms, and decision-making processes) in addressing global environmental change (e.g., over-exploitation of natural resources, biodiversity loss and climate change). He is also interested in the process of policy making and associated social and political actors and contextual factors.
His research is predominantly empirical, drawing on case studies in the context of marine and coastal social-ecological systems, climate change adaptation and natural resources management in Australia, Southeast Asia and Brazil. Current research includes governance, policy and regulatory implications of using novel and emerging technologies for environmental outcomes, and policy and regulatory innovation in the context of environmental, social and technological change.
Prior to joining UQ, Pedro held research positions in Brazil (e.g., University of Brasilia) and Australia (e.g., ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and Sustainability Research Centre of the University of the Sunshine Coast).
Professor Daniel Franks is known internationally for his work on the interconnections between minerals, materials and sustainable development, with a particular focus on the role of minerals in poverty reduction and the social and environmental change associated with mining and energy extraction.
Daniel’s work spans the governance of artisanal, small-scale and large-scale mining. While metals and gemstones are a feature of his research, he especially focused on industrial minerals, construction materials and other ‘Development Minerals’ that are mined and used for local and domestic development. These later minerals matter in our efforts to achieve the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals, because they are literally the matter that underpins much of global development, whether it be the clay bricks and roof tiles that provide shelter, the mineral fertilisers fundamental for agriculture, the garnet that filters water, or the gravel and stone that builds bridges and paves rural roads.
Originally trained as a geologist, he began his career as a field geoscientist in Brazil and Australia. After retraining in political and social sciences, he worked as a Senior Social Scientist at the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water. Between 2015 and 2018 he was Chief Technical Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme and Programme Manager of the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme, where he remains an advisor. In this role he was responsible for the delivery of more than 200 training and capacity building workshops, training over ten thousand people from 41 countries, of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific in the governance of minerals for sustainable development. He authored curricula now taught in more than 30 universities and advised numerous Heads of State, Ministers of Mining and Ambassadors on mineral policy and governance.
Prior to his work at the United Nations, Professor Franks held research and teaching positions at Griffith University and The University of Queensland, where he was previously the Deputy Director of the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining. He has held visiting appointments with Columbia University, New York (2013-present), the University of Eastern Finland (2014-present), the University of Western Australia (2013-2015), Central European University, Budapest (2016) and Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile (2011-2015). He has been an invited expert peer reviewer for the World Bank (2018), International Resource Panel, UN Environment (2017), the Academy of Finland (2015) and the Commonwealth Secretariat (2012).
Associate Professor Nina Lansbury (also published as Nina Hall) is an environmental public health research and teaching academic at The University of Queensland’s School of Public Health. Her current research at UQ examines environmental health aspects that support the health and wellbeing of remote Indigenous community residents on both mainland Australia and in the Torres Strait in terms of housing, water and sanitation, and women's health. She also investigates the impacts of climate change on human health, and this involved a role as Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR6 WG II). Within the research sector, she was previously a senior research scientist at CSIRO, manager of the Sustainable Water program at The University of Queensland, and senior research consultant at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS. Within the non-government sector, she was previously the director of the Climate Action Network Australia and research coordinator at the Mineral Policy Institute.
Renuka is an applied economist and Asia-Pacific expert who specialises in a broad range of topics from trade wars (specifically the US-China trade war) to the sharing economy (AirBnb, Uber DiDi etc). Her areas of interest and expertise also extend to empirical and policy analysis in development and agricultural economics, tourism economics, international trade, and productivity growth analysis, using econometrics and macroeconomic models
Lynette is a University of Queensland Amplify Research Fellow.
Her research interests include climate, energy and industrial policy frameworks to facilitate adaptation to and resilience in a fast changing world.
Previously, an Advance Queensland Research Fellow, she considered the Queensland economy’s resilience to a global energy transition. As part of the Fellowship she created a Queensland Energy Database and a report on strategies to adapt to a global energy transition.
Lynette was a researcher with the Global Change Institute for several years including investigating the feasibility of using Galilee Basin coal for energy poverty reduction in India and how to deliver a competitive Australian power system by 2030. Prior to her work with the Global Change Institute Lynette researched alternative systems for carbon abatement with particular emphasis on incentives for investment in abatement technologies.
Before her academic pursuits, Lynette worked for many years in the Information Technology sector in a variety of roles including financial analysis, product management, relationship management, and financial management.
Reconciling biodiversity conservation with development pressures is one of the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. This is particularly true given the myriad ways that human wellbeing directly depends on well-functioning ecosystems. My research seeks to understand where, when and how to manage and conserve landscapes, so as to beneift both nature and people. I use land use change models, coupled with remote sensing and GIS datasets, to predict how future development projects (e.g. mines, hydropower dams, transportation infrastructure) will impact biodiversity and ecosystem services. This information allows us to compare the costs and benefits of alternative management interventions and, ultimately, provides the knowledge needed to make more informed decisions. My research benefits from collaborating across disciplines (ecology, economics, engineering) and working alongside government and non-government organizations. I am currently conducting projects in Australia, Brazil and the USA.
Bio: Dr. Severine van Bommel is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland's School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability. With a keen interest in rural development and agricultural extension, her research focuses on understanding the role of experts and expertise in orchestrating effective governance performances for systemic transformation of natural resource dilemmas and competing claims. Through an interpretive lens, her research aims to support experts in communicating and collaborating with farmers and communities in situations of social learning, multi-stakeholder partnerships, farmer field schools, community-based NRM or co-inquiry and co-design.
Research Interests:
Rural development
Agricultural extension
Sustainable development
Indigenous engagement
Environmental credentials verification
Current Projects:
- the co-design of a virtual platform for verifying environmental credentials for Australian beef producers
- developing indigenous engagement methods (storian) for Australian researchers working with Ni-Vanuatu livestock farmers
- making visible and challenging gender norms in transdisciplinary research and development practice
- facilitating more-than-human participatory research and practice
Publications: Dr. van Bommel has contributed to significant works in her field, including:
"Rural Development for Sustainable Social-Ecological Systems: Putting Communities First" (Palgrave)
"Forest and Nature Governance: A Practice-Based Approach" (Springer)
Her research contributions have been published in prestigious journals and presented at international conferences such as IPA, MOPAN, IFSA, and APEN.
Teaching: In addition to her research, Dr. van Bommel teaches courses on:
Leadership in rural industries (MSc)
Effective stakeholder engagement (MSc)
Human-wildlife interactions (MSc and BSc)
Mentorship and Community Engagement: Dr. van Bommel is dedicated to mentoring early career researchers interested in interpretive methods within the APSA mentoring program. She also runs an International Virtual Community of Practice for Interpretive Practitioners, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange in the field.
I obtained my first degree in Psychology (Experimental & Theoretical) from Ghent University in Belgium and completed a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Groningen. Following a postdoc at NeuRa in Sydney and a few years lecturing on psychology at the Australian Catholic University, I chose to shift my research focus to environmental issues, and how they affect individual and collective human health and wellbeing. I gained experience with grassroots commmunity conservation projects as a volunteer and completed the interdisciplinary MSc in Conservation Science at Imperial College London in 2016. I was a researcher at Imperial's Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College from 2017-2021. My research is now broadly focused on the human dimensions of environmental change, with a particular interest in how people (emotionally) connect with nature, determinants of pro-environmental behaviour, the health and wellbeing benefits of nature exposure and the mental health impacts of climate change.
