The Academic
By day I've built a career as a social and behavioural researcher. My main area of expertise is methodological, as I have extensive experience designing and undertaking large-scale social surveys.
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I've worked across a range of social and behavioural areas including road safety, health, and social inclusion. But my passion is environmental behaviour change. Some of my environmental projects include understanding how people connect with and protect nature, evaluating the effectiveness of eco-labels on consumer behaviour, and identifying householder segments based on their food waste-related behaviours,
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In 2018 I took the plunge and enrolled in a PhD exploring the role of media and social norms in encouraging avoidance of single-use plastics. The project was heavily influenced by nerdy side, i.e. my love of nature documentaries and general confusion regarding what's "normal" (check out The Nerd page to see what I mean). I submitted my thesis in December 2020 and was conferred in May 2021.
Research Profile
I completed my PhD at Monash University, specialising in Behavioural Science - Environment. I also completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) at Monash University specialising in Behavioural Studies and Anthropology.
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My research experience lies in the area of social and government research where I've worked with a number of large organisations and departments such as Australia Post, DHHS, DELWP, and Sustainability Victoria.
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Prior to joining BehaviourWorks Australia (BWA) I worked across many different topic areas including road safety, mental health, vocational health and safety, patient satisfaction and the environment. I also played an active role in designing and testing best practice methods for survey data collection.
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I've been involved in a variety of research projects at BWA, initially exploring attitudes and behaviours related to health and social inclusion. In recent years, I started to specialise in environmental behaviour change, undertaking projects related to connection to nature, eco-label effectiveness, wildlife management, and waste prevention and disposal. I am currently overseeing a large multi-year research collaboration on Responsible Consumption.
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My main area of interest is minimising the impact of human behaviour on the natural world, particularly related to material consumption and conservation.
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In addition to my research roles, I am also a member of Zoos Victoria's Science Advisory Committee and Plastic Oceans Australasia's Technical Advisory Panel.