Sustainability experts

Murdoch University’s sustainability experts are active in research projects and community work on critical issues such as sustainable resource use, population growth, poverty alleviation, technology development, ecological awareness, environmental protection, economic growth, inequality and trade.

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Professor Richard Harper Sustainable water use, salinity Professor Richard Harper is the Alcoa Chair in Sustainable Water Management at Murdoch University. His current focus is on developing land-use systems that ensure water sustainability in the Peel, a rapidly growing region in Western Australia. His research interests revolve around improving water yields and protecting water quality through improved land management, and developing policies and land-use systems that will achieve change over large areas. He has worked on using reforestation and carbon mitigation to overcome salinity, a major issue in inland Australia, and was recently selected as a lead author in the next IPCC Assessment Report.

Professor John Howieson Sustainable agriculture, nitrogen fixation in legumes Professor John Howieson is an internationally recognised expert in sustainable agriculture, specialising in the nitrogen fixation of legume crops. His research interests include the selection and development of root nodule bacteria as commercial inoculants for agricultural legumes, and the selection of annual and perennial legumes for sustainable agriculture. Professor Howieson was the Foundation Director of the Centre for Rhizobium Studies at Murdoch University and he has led the discovery program for several new pasture and forage legumes in Australian agriculture. Currently he is on the steering committee for the project “N2Africa: Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa”. This US$20 million program is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Associate Professor Brad Pettitt Sustainable development and planning; international aid Dr Brad Pettitt is a Senior Lecturer in sustainable development. He specialises in sustainable development, international aid and development, climate change policy, sustainable transport and local sustainability planning. Dr Pettitt is also the Mayor of the City of Fremantle.

John Davis Sustainability, community development and natural resource management John Davis is a Lecturer at the Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy at Murdoch University, and an expert in community-based natural resource management and the implementation and evaluation of international development projects. He is currently researching coastal and marine policy and the adoption of pasture legumes by Western Australian farmers. In addition to his teaching and research at Murdoch University, Mr Davis consults in community development, specialising in project evaluation and monitoring.

Nicole Hodgson Sustainability policy and planning; sustainability assessment Nicole Hodgson is an experienced practitioner in the field of sustainability policy and planning, working with local government, state government and non-government sectors on various projects. Ms Hodgson is currently researching the social and behavioural dimensions of making lifestyle changes for sustainability, and the social dimension of sustainability. She is also examining how communities work with decision-makers to achieve sustainability outcomes, and the use of policy instruments such as sustainability assessment and sustainability indicators in decision-making.

Sally Paulin Natural resource management; rural and urban community participation Sally Paulin investigates how community involvement in natural resource management is affected by government funding mechanisms. The lecturer for Murdoch’s Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy specialises in social sustainability including community engagement and participation, sustainable waste management and resource recovery, sustainable agriculture and the philosophy of “self and sustainability”. Ms Paulin is the Deputy Chairperson of the Waste Management Community Reference Group for the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council, and a member of the Australian Facilitators Network of Western Australia.

Dr Peter McMahon Green business and sustainable development; relationships between technology, organisation and globalisation Dr Peter McMahon says Australian businesses can benefit by adopting sustainable practices. He specialises in researching the relationship between technology, organisation and globalisation. His current focus is on the role of information flows in transforming socio-economic matters to achieve more sustainable development. Dr McMahon is a lecturer for Murdoch’s School of Sustainability on sustainable development and futures studies.

Professor Glenn Albrecht Sustainability, environmental history and environmental politics Director of Murdoch’s Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy, Professor Glen Albrecht specialises in the incidence of mental health issues caused by climate change. He investigates the complexity of human and ecosystem health, and is credited for his “solastalgia” concept - a form of human distress created by negatively perceived environmental change resulting from industrial development, mining, drought and climate change. Professor Albrecht is also examining the resilience of various regions in Western Australia.

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