Dr Megan Evans
- Doctor of Philosophy,听Australian National University
- Bachelor of Science with Honours Class 1,听The University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Arts (Mathematics 鈥 Extended Major),听The University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Science (Ecology),听The University of Queensland
I am a Senior Lecturer in Public Sector Management within the听. I am an interdisciplinary social scientist whose work aims to inform the design, implementation and evaluation of environmental laws, policies and tools.
My research has contributed significantly to environmental policy in Australia and internationally: key examples include work on forest regeneration carbon offset integrity that triggered the Independent Review of Australian Carbon Credit Units (Chubb review), the development of the Australian government鈥檚 biodiversity offset policy under federal environmental laws, and work on the economics of land-based carbon offsets that informed the establishment of the $500 million Land Restoration Fund in Queensland. I was a member of Professor Graeme Samuel AC鈥檚 Consultative Group as part of the Independent Review of the EPBC Act in 2020, and have engaged extensively with the federal government鈥檚 Nature Positive law reform process. 听
I recently completed an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (2020-2023) which examined the growth of private sector investment in biodiversity and natural capital, and currently supervise five PhD students researching various aspects of environmental policy and governance.听 I hold undergraduate degrees in mathematics and ecology (UQ), a PhD in environmental policy (ANU), and I am a member of the editorial board of the journal .听
Recent media and comment
- Threatened species have declined 2% a year since 2000. Nature positive? Far from听it. The Conversation.
- 'Australia鈥檚 long-sought stronger environmental laws just got indefinitely deferred. It鈥檚 back to business as usual. . April 2024.听
- 'Pretending to grow forests in the desert': New research questions integrity in safeguard mechanism scheme. , March 2024
- 鈥淚t makes climate change worse:鈥 Carbon credit projects claiming to regrow forests are failing. . March 2024
- Labor plan for nature repair market rehashes old proposal and risks failure, experts say. . February 2023.听
- What are biodiversity credits and how do they work?听听January 2023.
- 鈥楢bysmal鈥 number of Australian banks and super funds have policies to mitigate environmental risks: report. . December 2022.听
- Biodiversity market has huge potential for rorting and greenwashing, expert. October 2022.听
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- 2022: $32,160. Environmental offset scarcity under the EPBC Act. Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (Investigators: Maron, M, Evans M.C., Dutson, G.).
- 2021: $39,800. Interrogating cross-sectoral narratives around the role of private sector finance and investment. School of Business, 黑料网大事记 Canberra (Investigators: Evans, M.C., Bazbauers, A., Chand, S., Rooney J.)
- 2021: $5,000. Review of Environmental Offsets Policy Guidance. Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. (Investigator: Evans, M.C)
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2020: $41,600.听WWF-Australia. Modelling pathways to a carbon neutral Queensland beef sector through policy and investment to drive transition from deforestation to reforestation.听
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2020-2023: $379,729. Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA)听The Effectiveness of Impact Investing for Biodiversity Conservation
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2017鈥2018: $95,786. Project funded by New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage to develop response to management models for priority species (Investigators: Maron, M, Evans M.C., Rhodes J).
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2017: $3,000. Awarded a Visiting Fellowship (RMIT University) by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED).
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2015: $7,000. Funding for a workshop on the legal and institutional dimensions of biodiversity offsetting by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED).听
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2013 鈥 2016: $87,500. Australian National University Australian Postgraduate Award.
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2013 鈥 2016: $49,500. CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship Top-up Scholarship.
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2021: Awarded the for the Australian Capital Territory by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science
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2018: Winner of the University of Queensland Faculty of Science Rising Star (Academic) Award (selected from 29 nominations and 349 eligible academics).
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2014: Awarded competitive scholarship by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) to participate in a year-long leadership program for 14 early career researchers, which included media, facilitation and leadership training, and individual and group projects.
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2014: Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists Science Program Scholarship.
Expertise
- Environmental markets, policy and governance
- Sustainable and conservation finance
- Public policy
- Carbon offsets
- Science-policy interface
- Interdisciplinary research
Research Impacts
- My research has made significant national and international policy impact. My collaborative work on<