Consultancies
I consult and research on a range of regional development projects globally. My work tackles socio-economic development, community wellbeing, regional prosperity and environmental sustainability. Below are previous funded projects.
WAterways
This program seeks to generate cultural, social, economic and governance change around how we think of and manage Western Australian rivers, wetland and ecosystems. It involves a diverse range of stakeholders from across community, academia, government and industry. The program seeks to implement pilot projects across WA waterways and stimulate public discussion through a workshops and publications.
Critical minerals and battery manufacturing development in Australia
With growing need for global action on climate change, national concerns on resource security and supply chain vulnerabilities, green technologies and energy storage systems have become critical. This report aimed to better understand the value proposition for geography in developing critical minerals processing and battery manufacturing hubs in Australia. It looks globally to understand the state of play of the industry and lessons from other key players that might be transferrable to Australia.
Socio‐economic impact of first build of the Trans‐Sulawesi Railway
This project is funded by Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Partnership for Australian-Indonesian Research, in collaboration with Universitas Hasanuddin. It investigates the socio‐economic impacts of the railway on rural communities. It focuses on the role and employment of females workers. The project will support economic strategic planning, private sector resilience, open markets and supply chains, improved livelihoods and inclusive growth, being critical aspects in supporting Indonesia's economic growth. Insights will enable policy formation, support for farmers and small‐scale entrepreneurs, and increase female employment opportunities.
Agritourism in WA Southwest
Agritourism is becoming an important part of the Australian tourism market providing direct and indirect benefits to agricultural businesses and rural communities across Western Australia (WA). Whilst agritourism is a subset of rural tourism, there are considerable variations in what constitutes an agritourism experience. This report explores what the agritourism offerings of WA's Southwest. It finds that successful industry development relies creating an authentic WA agritourism experience and story. It provides insights for agritourism operators, government and travel providers
Human - nature interactions and emergence of pandemics
COVID-19 demonstrated that the coordinated actions of individuals and decision makers can make a difference to the outcome of a grave threat to society. This project provides evidence of how a focus on economic growth without sustainable production and consumption processes has led to higher risk of future pandemics. It models how local consumer and producer decisions influence land use changes elsewhere in the world. Five land use policy interventions are given as call to action to minimise the risk of emerging infectious diseases in a globally connected world.
Working from home
This research provided in-depth knowledge on the spatial incidence of working from home (WFH) during the COVID19 pandemic, the extent of travel reduction and productivity benefits. It draws on a case study of Perth firms and workers, with its results informing WFH policy and initiatives to capitalise on WFH societal benefits, while recognizing potential negative effects.
Ecosystem services for street verges
This report was conducted within the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, which aimed to establish a network of urban greening study sites across Australian urban centres to understand and measure the multiple benefits of urban greening, focussing on outcomes for biodiversity, culture and human health and wellbeing. The findings of this report are relevant across Australia, and contribute to the growing global interest in greening our cities as the benefits to humans of living with urban green space become increasingly well documented.
RailSmart
The RailSmart Dashboard was developed as a proof-of-concept planning support system. It was developed by a large interdisciplinary and multi-agency research team managed by PATREC. The final product demonstrates, as a proof of concept, that the application of advanced academic research can be applied and presented in a user friendly manner to inform planning. Grant funding from the Australian Government under the Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. My contribution was tool 3: the enhanced self-sufficiency tool.
Transformational infrastructure projects in Australia's outer suburbs
Australia's fast growing outer metropolitan suburbs house nearly 5 million people. Growing double the national rate, their populations are predicted to reach 7.5 million by 2031. The right infrastructure investment is central to their prosperity. This study analysed ten infrastructure projects of outer Australian city suburbs to provide examples of transformational change as a resource for fast growing outer local governments in how to maximise a projects transformational impact. This includes costs, benefits, funding opportunities, policy, governance and paths to implementation.
Ward boundaries and political representation
This report was commissioned to investigate ward boundary changes in the Shire of Dandaragan for the purposes of fair representation across its four communities. The primary concern was that less populated communities would have increasingly less representation with the growth of Jurien Bay. This report provides recommendations based on an analysis of six ward boundary scenarios in accordance with five considerations of Schedule 2.2 of the Local Government Act 1995. It is supported by regional statistical analysis and interviews with Shire of Dandaragan stakeholders.
Committee for Perth FACTBase Program
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