Dr Marilu Melo is part of the Environment and Society Group the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. With a disciplinary background in human geography and cultural anthropology, her research has explored the fields of social housing relocation projects, peri-urban disaster management, water governance and volumetric urbanism.
Marilu’s current research interest is focused on subterranean spaces, expanding geographical scholarship...view more
Dr Marilu Melo is part of the Environment and Society Group the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. With a disciplinary background in human geography and cultural anthropology, her research has explored the fields of social housing relocation projects, peri-urban disaster management, water governance and volumetric urbanism.
Marilu’s current research interest is focused on subterranean spaces, expanding geographical scholarship into a volume ontology, by excavating past, present and future material transformations and geosocial agencies of the underground. This includes a project focus on the political economy of tunneling: how the underground has emerged as a significant site for urban development, thus presenting a pressing need to understand its imaginaries, conceptualisations and challenges from a critical urban perspective.
Marilu is also a lead member of the Community Engagement for Disaster Risk Reduction (CEDRR) initiative, a collaboration with the University of Melbourne and emergency service agencies to develop new methodologies to engage the publics in disaster preparation and mitigation. This work has been informed by her case study research on disasters, which has included projects focused on the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria, the 2010-11 South-East Queensland Floods, and the 2017 earthquake in Mexico City.
Prior to her position at UNSW, Marilu has held a variety of teaching and research positions at the University of Sydney, Macquarie University, the University of the Sunshine Coast, and the University of Melbourne.
My Grants
- A Baker, M Shanafield, W Timms M Melo Zurita and M Andersen “National groundwater recharge observing system” Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Program, Australian Research Council (ARC). 2022 AU$158,845.
- A Thorpe, M Melo Zurita, D Kellermann and T Loughland “Using Artificial Intelligence for Accessibility (and Good): enabling democratic participation for marginalised groups to disrupt the current politics of the Greater Western Sydney development” Sustainable Development Reform Hub @UNSW. 2022. AU$19,373
- T Coyne and M Melo Zurita, “The subterranean turn in Australian geographies” Geographical Society of New South Wales (GSNSW). Symposium Funding Scheme. 2021-2022. AU$4,800
- M Melo Zurita, V Prodanovic, N Sale, C F Matos, Beth Salt, Marion Huxley, “Culturally Inclusive Water Urban Design – addressing the gap between water infrastructure and water literacy” Sydney Water Community Water Literacy Grants. 2021-2022. AU$10,000
- B Martin, C Briggs, N Bertram, L Harper, M Melo Zurita, C Murphy, S Faulkhead, and R Coleman, “Repairing memory and place: An Indigenous-led, practice-based approach to urban water design” Linkage Program, Australian Research Council (ARC). 2022-2025. AU$260,000
- J Norman, G Baeten, L Melgaco Silva Marques, M Melo Zurita, F Mossmark, V Svahn; T Soderquvist, O Sandstrom, and Y Volchko “UNDER: Geosystem services underneath for sustainable communities and improved spatial planning practices” Stage 2 collaborative grant, Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS). 2021-2024. (8,000,000 SEK). AU$1.23 million.
- L Harper, M Melo Zurita and T Chandler “The Rippon Lea Water Story.” The National Trust of Australia Grant. 2021-2022.
- A Casals, M Melo Zurita and V Ramasar, “Digitally advancing early career researchers: From methods to leadership in research.” Universitas 21 (U21) Researcher Resilience Fund, 2020-2021. (US$5,000) AU$7,500.
- J Norman, G Baeten, M Melo Zurita, F Mossmark, V Svahn; T Soderquvist, O Sandstrom, L Melgaco Silva Marques, Y Volchko “Social values and the consequences of integrating geosystems services into urban subsurface planning”. Stage 1 collaborative grant, Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS). 2020-2021. (298,400 SEK) AU$47,000.
- K Iveson, M Melo Zurita, S Webber “Common Infrastructures” Urban Geography’s Workshop Award (US$2,000). 2019-2020. AU$2750. .
- M Melo Zurita, Public perspectives of Water Infrastructure along the Georges River, Georges Riverkeeper Sydney. 2019-2021 AU$16,000.
- K Iveson, M Melo Zurita, S Webber “Common Infrastructures” Geographical Society of New South Wales (GSNSW). Symposium Funding Scheme. 2019-2020. AU$5,000.
- S Hawken, M Melo Zurita, K Zhang and S Sepasgozar. Cross Faculty Urban Lab for Urban Water Resilience, University of New South Wales. 2018-2019; AU$12,000.
My Qualifications
PhD in Human Geography, Kings College London.
MA in Urban Studies and the Environment, El Colegio de Mexico.
BA (hons) in Cultural Anthropology, Universidad de Las Americas Puebla.
My Awards
2020 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, University of New South Wales
2020 David G Stead Award for Best Paper by an Early Career Researcher, Geographical Society of New South Wales (GSNSW).
2019 Deans Award for best designed course, University of New South Wales
My Engagement
Marilu is an editorial board member for the journals Political Geography, and Australian Geographer, and is an active member of Australian Tunneling Society (ATS), the Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG), and the Geographical Society of New South Wales.
Through the Community Engagement for Disaster Risk Reduction (CEDRR) initiative, Marilu has been working in collaboration with the Victorian State Emergency Services (SES), Australian Red Cross and Melbourne Water, to implement a survey instrument that assesses household preparedness for disasters. The project has so far been piloted in the north-east of Melbourne in an area that was heavily affected by the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.
Between 2013 and 2016, Marilu worked as a key researcher in the Stockholm Environment Institute led “Climate Change Adaptation and Water Governance” (CADWAGO) project that focused on informing European Union policy in the areas of energy, water and climate change. CADWAGO involved 30 researchers from 10 different academic institutions across Australia, North America and Europe, and notably used “learning event” workshops that facilitated interaction between academics and EU policy-makers to produce collaborative and innovative responses to environmental dilemmas in the European Union.
