GURNEY, Georgina

Senior Research Fellow (Environmental social science) and Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Australia

Team position : member, synthesis strand

Background : I am an environmental social scientist, and my research integrates theories and methods from human geography, political science and psychology to examine environmental governance, in particular, governance of conservation, natural resource management and sustainability initiatives. My current research program has two broad themes: (1) understanding the sociocultural and institutional drivers of opportunities for collaborative marine governance, and (2) identifying the outcomes, especially social, of such initiatives. The interdisciplinary approach I take to research often includes collaborations with biological scientists, and extends to a transdisciplinary approach, involving knowledge co-production with practitioners and policymakers.

Key Disciplines and Skillsets : Environmental governance, social-ecological systems, human well-being outcomes of protected areas.

Expectations : Given that my research to date on the human wellbeing outcomes of protected areas uses fine-scale data (i.e. interview data), I look forward to exploring what new insights will be generated by the remote sensing and artificial intelligence approaches used in this project. I hope the findings and tools produced through this project will inform conservation and sustainability policy and practice and help ensure marine protected areas provide better outcomes people and nature.

Contact : georgina.gurney (at) gmail.com