Diana Dawson

Research

Thesis title: Is sharing responsibility for invasive plant control enough?  How community and government can achieve collective impact for improved biodiversity outcomes in Australia

Weeds can impact biodiversity by displacing native plant species, harbouring pests and diseases, and transforming diverse ecological communities into monocultures.  As part of Australia’s shared responsibility biosecurity system, everyone has a role in managing weeds but in practice, working together collectively can be complex.

Diana’s interest lies in how communities and government work together to effectively manage weeds impacting Australia’s biodiversity.  She will look at local/regional level ‘governance arrangements’ between community-led groups (landcare, bushcare, coastcare etc) and government.  By collecting data from existing examples of such governance arrangements in three Australian states (Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria), the critical dimensions will be distilled with the aim to develop a pragmatic framework or guide for use by weed practitioners.