I am interested in participatory research that integrates conservation and production. The concepts of ecosystem services and adaptive management are important components of my work, and I like to work directly with landholders, especially those that are forging the way with practices that regenerate and sustainably use complex natural systems such as grasslands, shrub-lands and woodlands. These landholders actively adapt their management according to the uncertainty of the seasons and the market. There is a strong need for research strategies that take into account this adaptive approach. I am a member of the Steering Committee for the $4.2million ÔCommunities in LandscapesÕ project, CiL, which aims to work together to integrate conservation and production across Box-Gum Grassy Woodlands. Please click here to find the latest documents for CiL. I am coordinating the Sydney University components, which include managing the socio-cultural aspects of the project, conducting a benchmark study of landholder innovators who are already integrating conservation and production, coordinating cross property planning to achieve landscape scale management of biodiversity and setting up a demonstration site on the UNSW Wellington Field Station in central west NSW. I co-supervise 3 PhD students looking at different socio-cultural aspects of the project: monitoring the impact of the project on the community; investigating the experience of innovators; and the development of cross-property landholder groups to achieve landscape-scale benefits. I am an Australia 21 scholar (http://www.australia21.org.au/) working on the development of a national approach to ecosystem services including the development of a National Ecosystem Services Network. I have also worked closely with a number of Indigenous groups to help generate community benefit from involvement in conservation through use strategies
