University of Adelaide

Faculty Member, Geographical and Environmental Studies

Senior Lecturer

About

Melissa is a social scientist that is interested in the incorporation of community or communities of interest in decision making. She worked for many years with Indigenous peoples in northern Australia, which included work training Indigenous rangers on country, and development of management plans, such as the Hope Vale Turtle and Dugong Management Plan and the Girringun Co-management agreement along the Great Barrier Reef.

While living in Tasmania and working for the Australian Maritime College (UTAS), Melissa was active in building research in climate change adaptation for fisheries and local government. For example, she developed a risk assessment tool for adaptation to climate change for local government and led a risk perception study as part of a vulnerability assessment of Tasmanian Rock Lobster to climate change. She is currently working on the development of climate change adaptation training and curricula for maritime professionals. She is co-theme leader of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Network for Marine Biodiversity, and Director of the Social Science for Climate Change Research Network.

She also believes in teaching for and about environmental sustainability, and teaches courses in Indigenous resource management, marine conservation, environmental ethics, climate change, environmental management systems, integrated coastal zone management and global change. She recently won a national teaching award for making an outstanding contribution to student learning in the area of critical thinking and environmental sustainability.

Melissa is a historian by training, but now works generally in the disciplines of geography and Indigenous studies. She has published 2 books, and many chapters and articles on climate change and Indigenous resource management respectively.

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