Professor Sarah Bekessy

Research

Sarah is interested in the intersection between science and policy in environmental management and is currently involved in an interdisciplinary range of research and consulting projects, including an ARC Future Fellowship titled ‘Socio-ecological models for environmental decision making’. Sarah leads the Interdisciplinary Conservation Science research group.

Research interests

• Threatened species management
• Environmental decision analysis
• Urban ecology
• Population and landscape modelling
• Education for sustainability
• The role of science in environmental policy

Research projects

• Sarah has recently commenced an ARC Future Fellowship investigating socio-ecological models for environmental decision making.
• She leads a research theme under the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions that seeks to develop and test tools to support transparent decision-making for environmental management and she is a node leader in a National Environment Research Program for Environmental Decisions.
• Sarah has funding from the Myer Foundation to undertake a project titled Reimagining the Suburb: Planning for biodiversity in the urban fringe. This project aims to improve prospects for grassland conservation within housing developments, and investigate urban development scenarios that mitigate impacts on existing grasslands. We are working with a range of sectors to ensure issues such as human health, housing affordability and transport are considered. Considering biodiversity in this context will make a stronger case for appropriate urban and peri-urban development and will target urban designers and developers.
• Sarah has an Australian Research Council research project titled Planning for biodiversity in the urban fringe: multiple actors, multiple actions and multiple uncertainties. This project builds on recent advancements in ecological modelling and mathematical optimisation to develop and test tools to facilitate transparent decisions based on optimal trade-offs between competing values. The main objective is to develop and encourage a more strategic approach to planning for biodiversity in urban environments. The project is part of a larger collaboration based at RMIT University consisting of six separate, but mutually supportive research projects that investigate the potential for significantly improved ecological, economic and social sustainability outcomes in development at the urban fringe.
• Sarah recently completed an Australian Research Council research project titled . This project investigated methods for incorporating sustainability issues in non-traditional disciplines. Achieving change for sustainability requires both individuals with the capacity to implement sustainability principles in their professions and models for profound organisational change. Using universities as a case study, this research developed and implemented an organisational change model for up-scaling and embedding sustainability as standard practice. Integrating systems analysis and organisational learning, the research illustrated methods for overcoming barriers to the adoption of sustainability principles. The project addresses the acknowledged demand for graduates with sustainability expertise and resulted in practical strategies for organisational change for sustainability.
• Sarah was recently involved in a landmark study of peri-urban regions in two Australian states, Victoria and Queensland. This project, titled , investigated the nature and extent of contemporary peri urban regions in Australia, and aimed to identify future patterns of socio-economic, environmental change in peri-urban landscapes. The project was funded by Land and Water Australia and was a joint research project between RMIT and Griffith University.

• PhD, University of Melbourne
• BSc (Hons), University of Queensland

Awards

2013   ARC Future Fellowship
2005   Brian Robinson Fellowship for Environmental Sustainability
2005   RMIT research award
2005   RMIT collaborative research prize
2004   RMIT research award
2004   Nominated for teaching award, RMIT
2001   John S. Turner award for Botany postgraduate students
1998–2000   Australian Postgraduate Award
1999   Australian Bicentennial Award for postgraduate research