Contemporary research field of whiteness in postcolonial Australia and Indigenous geographies; theoretical debates about identity, specifically concerning urbanism and urbanity, gentrification and cosmopolitanism, and the complex realities of (post)colonial urban life in Australia, and beyond; current research includes projects and collaborations that span the Asia-Pacific region and reach into considerations of The Anthropocene and the human-science research nexus.

Current collaborations include research projects that combine 'science' and 'social science'.

Editor: Geoforum (2015-2018)

2014-2017 Vice president, NSW Geographical Society

2013 Visiting Scholar, Newcastle University UK

2011 Council of the Institute of Australian Geographers

2010 Distinguished International Visiting Fellow, University of Durham, UK

2010 Panelist UNSW ‘At the Edge’ Science Faculty Q&A ‘A sustainable Australia’ http://www.science.unsw.edu.au/at-the-edge-science-lecture-series/
 

Current research, including funded projects (Funding over $4 million)

- Narcissism and environmentalism

- Cable cars as a solution to mass transit

- Bid data: how scientists engage (with M. Ebach, UNSW)

- Human-animal bonds: Lessons from NSW zoos (with Taronga Zoo)

- Various projects in Papua New Guinea (latest with G. Cassis, UNSW, on Canarium weevil)

- Various projects on surviving in the surf (with R. Brander, UNSW)

Recently completed projects:

Accommodating DisabilityCare . Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI, UNSW project)

Biodiversity capacity building in Papua New Guinea and sustainable development of its primary industries (DFAT, UNSW project)

Rip Currents.  Combining social and scientific research methods to improve rip current survival rates in Australia (Australian Research Council & Surf Life Saving Australia, UNSW project)

Coffee Green Scales in PNG: Highland Arabica Coffee and Yield Loss, (UNSW, CABI International & Coffee Industry Corporation PNG) Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR, 2012-13)

Demographics, surf knowledge and behavioural responses of rip current rescue victims, funded by Surf Life Saving Australia (2011)

A historical geography of cotton farming in NSW & QLD: adaptation and adoption, funded by Cotton Catchment Communities CRC Ltd (2010 - 2012)
 
2007-2008 (Indigenous) Homelessness: place, house and home, collaborative (C. Birdsall-Jones Project Leader, Curtin) Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) funded.
 
2006-2009 Sustainable management of Coffee Green Scales in PNG, collaborative (CABI International, P Baker & S Murphy), ACIAR PHT/2004/047

2006-2009, titled 'Assessment and improvement of quality management during postharvest processing and storage of coffee in Papua New Guinea (Dr Robert Driscol Project Leader, UNSW) and PNG Coffee Research Institute. ACIAR PHT/2004/017
 
2005-2008 Land Capability Assessment and Classification for Sustainable Pond- Based, Aquaculture Systems (Dr Jes Sammut Project Leader), UNSW ACIAR FIS/2002/076
 
2006 Contemporary urbanism within the Australian inner city: community and heterogeneity, UNSW Science Faculty ECR grant.
 
2004 Manhattanising Sydney: Apartment Living in the Re-imaged CBD (UNSW, Faculty Research Grant Scheme).
 
2003 'A (Post)Colonial Palimpsest of Hawai`i' (FBE Publication and Research Support Scheme)
 
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