Dr Lesley Instone

Biography

After gaining my PhD in 2002, I was offered a shortterm appointment with Resource Management in Asia Pacific Program, ANU, then taught briefly at Monash University before taking up an appointment as an online educational designer at Charles Darwin University. At CDU I worked on a range of online projects including Cross-cultural engagement for natural resource mangers; Tour guide training for Kakadu and Uluru-Kata-Tjuta national parks; and Fire ecology and management in northern Australia. I was award the ASCILITE Prize for ‘exemplary use of electronic technologies in teaching and learning in tertiary education’ in 2005. In 2006 I joined the University of Newcastle where I teach in geography and environmental studies. On my appointment I was awarded the role of convenor of postgraduate coursework programs in Environmental Management. In this role I have redesigned an developed the postgraduate courses and programs which are now offered fully online.

Qualifications

• PhD, Monash University, 2002
• Master of Environmental Science, Monash University, 1985
• Bachelor of Arts, Macquarie University, 1975

---

Research

Research keywords

• Australian landscapes and identities
• contemporary social and cultural theory
• cultural geographies of nature
• cultures of environmental regulation
• geographies of belonging
• human-animal relations

Research expertise

My research is located at the intersection of cultural studies, environmental studies and geography. I am particularly interested in the key roles that belonging, identity and place play in questions of biodiversity management, environmental regulation and sustainability. Exploring the complex relations between people, animals, land and place requires a multivalent approach, and I draw on a diverse and rich theoretical landscape including non representational theory, postcolonial studies, and performativity. My recent work focuses on critical questions of nature-society delineation and aims to explore the active engagements of bodies, text, land and non-humans that shape Australian landscapes and everyday engagements with them. This approach has led me to work on dingoes, landscapes of detention, fencelines, national parks and northern Australian perspectives. Current research explores socio-cultural dimensions of urban ecological restoration, human-plant relations and urban natures, especially urban parks.

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
160400	Human Geography	100

Centres and Groups

Centre

• Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS)

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

• Member - Institute of Australian Geographers

Committee/Associations (relevant to research).

• Member - Australian Animals Study Group
• Member - Association for the Study of Literature, Environment and Culture - Australia-New Zealand

Editorial Board.

• Member - GEOView

Awards

Prize

2005

ASCILITE Prize ASCILITE prize for exemplary use of educational technologies in teaching and learning ASCILITE (Australia) This prize was awared for the overall high quality of an online educational package on Fire Ecology and Management In Northern Australia. The prize was adjudicated by an international panel of educational design and technology experts. ASCILITE is the pre-eminent Australian body for research and practice in tertiary educational design and technology.

Invitations

Unruly ecologies: Art and Biodiversity Symposium SymbioticA, UWA, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2010
Children and Place Research Symposium University of Canberra, Australia (Invited Presenter)	2010
Visiting research scholar ANU, Australia (Invited visting scholar)	2004

---

Administrative

Administrative expertise

Program Convenor - Graduate Diploma, Master, and Master (honours) of Environmental Management

Program Convenor - Graduate Diploma, Master of Environmental and Business Management

Course coordinator - EMGT3070, ENVS2010

---

Teaching

Teaching keywords

• environmental planning, policy and legislation
• social development and the environment
• sustainability

Teaching expertise

Environmental legislation and planning, sustainability, Australian environmental history, cultural geographies of nature, environmental thought, socio-environmental issues

Courses

• ENVS2010 - Environmental Legislation and Planning
• EMGT3110 - Integrated Impact Assessment
• ENVS6530 - Environmental Management