The lab is led by Dr Vanessa Adams. Vanessa is an Associate Professor in Conservation and Planning at University of Tasmania.  A key theme in Vanessa’ research is applying economic concepts and social consultation to make on-ground conservation action more effective and equitable between groups of stakeholders. Vanessa was raised in New Mexico (USA) but calls Tasmania home. She has worked in a variety roles ranging from actuarial analyst for global consulting firm Mercer HR to research scientist at universities. She spent a year as a Fulbright scholar conducting research at University of Queensland in 2004 and completed her PhD at James Cook University in 2011. During her PhD she was awarded a Sir Keith Murdoch fellowship through the American Australian Association to support a component of her research conducted in Fiji modelling costs of conservation actions to local fishermen. Vanessa partners with relevant government agencies and NGOs to ensure that her research is relevant to policy makers and is positioned to influence on-ground conservation. She also serves on relevant society and non-profit boards including President-elect of Society for Conservation Biology, Treasurer of Australian Fulbright Alumni Association, and University of Tasmania Representative on relevant committees for the Protected Areas Learning & Research Collaboration.

For a full list of Vanessa’s publications you can visit her ORCiD and Google Scholar profiles.