I am an environmental social scientist whose broad area of expertise includes environmental governance, cross-cultural research, and the links between science, policy and practice. I was born in Brazil, where I worked with Indigenous and traditional peoples. My Honours and Masters projects evaluated whether marine protected areas were achieving their environmental and social goals. In 2006 I moved to Spain and England to pursue an Erasmus Mundus Masters in Water and Coastal Management. I have been living in Australia since 2009. My doctoral research at James Cook University involved the identification of social and political factors affecting the uptake of environmental plans by their potential users in Queensland. It included in-depth interviews to government officials, Traditional Owners, landholders, and environmentalists, among others. My post-PhD research included: the social and cultural values of dugongs and marine turtles in Torres Strait, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership in research, and the management of marine resources in Fijian fishing villages.

I have recently concluded working on two NESP Northern Australia projects on participatory scenario planning in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and the evaluation of transdisciplinary environmental research conducted by NESP.

Links between science, policy and practice.
Transdisciplinary (interdisciplinary + participatory + cross-cultural) research and environmental planning.
Factors affecting research uptake by users, and the impacts of research on society and the environment.
Environmental governance and institutions.

Participatory scenario planning.

Social impact evaluation.
Evaluation of social and environmental initiatives (e.g. protected areas, conservation planning).
Indigenous/traditional livelihoods (especially fishing) and the socio-cultural values of environment.
Interdisciplinary research on complex social-ecological systems.